By Yvona Fast
Bloated Toe Publishing, 2013
Softcover 255 pages, $24.95
Local seasonings
Yvona Fast’s Garden Gourmet: Fresh & Fabulous Meals from your North Country Garden, CSA or Farmers’ Market compiles recipes from eight years of the author’s North Country Kitchen column which has run in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise since 2005.
Like the weekly column, the book focuses on using local North Country produce and ingredients to create food that is not only healthy and fresh but most importantly, simple to prepare.
“Cooking does not have to be complicated,” states the author, “A salad of freshly picked, vine-ripe tomatoes accented with a little salt, pepper, parsely and chives is simple. Add a hard-boiled egg or some crumbled feta and you have protein. Add some hearty bread and you have a simple but complete meal.”
The book emphasizes eating what is in season and is arranged accordingly, giving great ideas for preparing what is fresh and locally abundant at any given time of year.
Fiddleheads with Browned Butter and Ramp Potato Soup are two that I will be trying out when the time comes next Spring, and Ratatouille Stew will definitely be on the menu in the upcoming week.
As an added bonus, Fast also includes a handy guide to the Tri-Lakes region’s zone 4 growing season, making it easy to keep track of what is available when.