"SeasonalCooking" news and stories

If cooking is the way to one's heart, Daniel Boulud should be able to attribute much of his success to his understanding of food. "I think that every restaurant is the chef's soul," he says in documentary "A Certain Taste for America."

In an ongoing series entitled "Art de Vivre: The Art of Eating Today," led by the French Institute in New York City on Monday, a screening of the film (very doting on Boulud) was followed by a panel discussion reflecting upon the art of eating and, more specifically, the importance of sustainability and sourcing food.

As a world-renowned chef hailing from a small hamlet outside Lyon, Boulud has achieved his veritable empire -- 10 successful restaurants based in New York, Palm Beach, Las Vegas, Vancouver and Beijing -- by striving to keep a strict culinary focus on seasonal cooking and high-quality ingredients.

More on Boulud's rise to fame, and the panel discussion on sustainable produce, obesity in America, seasonal cooking and its debatable expenses, after the jump.

'Williams-Sonoma New Flavors for Appetizers'
Edited by Chuck Williams
Recipes by Amy Sherman
Photos by Tucker + Hossler
Oxmoor House -- 2009 (hardback)
Buy it at Amazon

Ready to move beyond dips and carrot sticks for your soirees, but not ready to face the Full Martha? This is the guide for you. The book is divvied into sections highlighting each season's freshest ingredients and simple, elegant ways to show 'em off. Bonus -- a goodly bit of space is devoted to party planning tips, basic recipes (mayo, risotto, pizza dough), a glossary, techniques for handling veggies and a guide to what is freshest when.

Takeaway tips: Freshness is your best ingredient. Using seasonal ingredients means you'll need to do little to adorn them -- just make sure to use cooking methods, seasonings and pairings that show them off to their best advantage, and add flavor in layers. Specific methodologies are generously shared throughout the book.

Quality of pictures: Appetizing -- if a little washed out by the matte paper. Not step-by-step instructive, but oriented toward the finished product.

We tested: Pan-Seared Spring Lamb Chops with Mint-Pistachio Pesto and Olives and Feta Marinated with Lemon and Ouzo
Recipes were incredibly easy to follow, accessible, thorough and aided by sidebars offering further explanations of ingredients' flavor profiles and best methods for use. Lovely balance of veggie-friendly dishes and slightly heartier fare.

Worth the investment: Would make a great hostess or shower gift, or smart inspiration for anyone who's ready to bump their parties' sophistication level up a notch or two.

There's been a lot of talk about summer cooking on the interwebs recently. It's the end of the season and the available produce is ridiculously abundant. However, who wants to spend too much time in a hot kitchen when the outdoor mercury is also near to bursting out of the top of the thermostat?

If you're one of the many people who prefer easier cooking in the summer, here's a round up of recipes for you.

1. Try some crispy tilapia with pico de gallo sauce.
2. These kefta and zucchini kebabs will make you want to light the grill.
3. Here's a super easy steakhouse style dinner that's on the table pretty quickly.
4. Maybe not as seasonal, this Bucatini ai fagioli still looks simple and delicious.
5. Eggplant mini pizzas are seasonal, easy and tasty.
6. A Pinot Noir and cherry soup could make a perfect summer starter.
7. How can you get a better summer dessert than grilled peaches?
8. A simple, seasonal ratatouille is an ultimate summer meal.

I've something of a crush on Molly O'Neill since I read her autobiography, Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food and Baseball a couple of years ago. She communicates a love of and respect for food that is unlike many other writers I've encountered. So, when I came across a copy of her book, A Well-Seasoned Appetite at my library's used bookstore, I added it to towering stack in my arms.

Published in 1995, it was one of the first of the current crop of cookbooks to combine recipes and essays in this manner, and to organize them by season. She starts with Spring and moves forward through the seasons, allowing for those challenging in between times by including shorter sections devoted to the times of year when it is nearly Summer, but just not quite.

For those of us who always want more with our recipes--more information, more notes and more detail as to how the recipe came into being, then this is a wonderful book to have in the collection. There's not a single recipe in here that doesn't satisfy that desire for more. The only problem I've discovered in reading it is that after just two or three pages, I am absolutely ravenous and in need of instantaneous sustenance (preferably whatever I had just been reading about). Most of the time I have to satisfy my cravings with an apple or a handful of pretzels. I'm hoping that soon, I'll instead get to sate my hunger with her Spinach with Garlic and Lemon or the Sour Cherry Crumble.

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Farmers' Market and CSA season has finally started here in the Philadelphia area. The beginning signs of vegetal abundance and warmer weather has me delighted. Where I was once, just recently, totally uninspired by food and cooking, I am now itching to spend every free minute in my kitchen. Ivy Manning's new book, The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally has played a large role in this resurgence in food energy, as her books is filled to bursting with gorgeous pictures and accessible recipes.

In the past, I have often found that when I'm presented with glossy, beautifully bound cookbooks, I never want to actually cook out of them, because I'm afraid that I will ruin them with a single trip into the kitchen. However, I've had no such hesitations with this book, despite its beauty, because the recipes are just so appealing.

Manning has arranged her recipes by season and begins the book with Spring. Tucked in between each of the section title pages and the recipes is a two-page spread entitled Meet the Producers. In each of these four essays, Manning takes her readers out to the farms, homes and markets of the people who grow, raise and make the foods she buys. It is a lovely addition to the cookbook, as it builds an emotional connection between the reader and the food.

I would definitely recommend this cookbook for those of you who are excited to shop at Farmers' Markets this summer or who have joined a CSA, as it offers lots of good inspiration.

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