Vegetable Harvest: Vegetables at the Center of the Plate

by Patricia Wells

Overview

The potager, or French vegetable garden, represents the very best of French cuisine: fresh, flavorful, and easily accessible for home cooks everywhere. In Vegetable Harvest, Patricia Wells presents a collection of recipes inspired by the garden she tends at her home in Provence.

No one has done more than Patricia to bring the art and techniques of French cooking into American kitchens. Now, in her tenth cookbook, she covers every kind of produce favored by French cooks from north to south. In addition, there are charming profiles of French farmers, home gardeners, and cooks, with sixty-five stunning color photographs.

From arugula to zucchini, Patricia offers up a wealth of dishes that incorporate vegetables, herbs, nuts, legumes, and fruits fresh from the garden. And her recipes aren't limited to summer's bounty—there are plenty for fall squash and winter potatoes, too.

The recipes in Vegetable Harvest include everything from appetizers, soups, and salads, to meats, poultry, and pasta. There are classics like Spicy Butternut Squash Soup, Roast Leg of Lamb with Honey and Mint Crust, and Pea and Mint Risotto, as well as innovative new dishes that are sure to become time-honored favorites, such as Potato-Chive Waffles with Smoked Salmon, Capers, and Crème Fraîche, Tomato and Strawberry Gazpacho, and Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Basil. To finish your meal with a flourish, there are decadent, fruity desserts like Pistachio-Cherry Cake with Cherry Sorbet, Rhubarb-Berry Compote in Grenadine, and Crunchy Almond-Pear Cake. In addition, there is a chapter on pantry staples that includes Patricia's recipes for Zesty Lemon Salt, Truffle Butter, and Fresh Cilantro Sauce.

And while Patricia's wonderful dishes sound sinful, they are in fact quite healthful, low in fat and calories; nutritional information is given for each recipe.

With Vegetable Harvest, you'll be eating the best nature has to offer—fresh, flavorful produce—all year round.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060752446
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/10/2007
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Patricia Wells is a journalist, author, and teacher who runs the popular cooking school At Home with Patricia Wells in Paris and Provence. She has won four James Beard Awards and the French government has honored her as a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, recognizing her contribution to French culture. A former New York Times reporter, she is the only foreigner and the only woman to serve as restaurant critic for a major French publication, L'Express. She served as the global restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune for more than twenty-five years. She lives in Paris and Provence with her husband, Walter Wells.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     x
Appetizers, Starters, and First Courses: Les Amuse-Bouche, les Hors-d'Oeuvres et les Entrees     1
Salads: Les Salades     21
Soups: Les Soupes et les Potages     47
Fish and Shellfish: Les Poissons, Coquillages et Fruits de Mer     75
Poultry and Meats: Les Volailles et les Viandes     107
Pasta, Rice, Beans, and Grains: Les Pates, Riz, Legumes Sec et Cereales     135
Vegetables: Les Legumes     155
Potatoes: Les Pommes de Terre     221
Eggs, Cheese, and Friends: Les Oeufs, les Fromages et leurs Amis     233
Breads: Les Pains     247
Desserts: Les Desserts     267
The Pantry: Au Garde-Manger     293
Index     315

Editorial Reviews

Wells, the author of several cookbooks including The Provence Cookbook, puts vegetables center stage in this appetizing and innovative collection. After surveying the bounty of her backyard garden, Wells became inspired to build meals around vegetables rather than starting with meat, fish or poultry. She tripled the number she served at each meal and tried different cooking methods, looking for the best-tasting, most wholesome ways of cooking each type. She includes nutritional information and an equipment list for each recipe, and selectively offers wine suggestions, translations of French food idioms, and nuggets of folklore connected to the dish or main ingredient. Recipes are plentiful and tantalizing, all with a slightly unusual approach. She moves from appetizers and salads through meats and side dishes to breads and desserts. The section on pasta, rice, beans, and grains is especially appealing, with such offerings as Pumpkin and Sage Risotto, and Roasted Chickpeas, Mushrooms, Artichokes and Tomatoes. Unusually titled chapters such as "The Pantry" and "Eggs, Cheese, and Friends" provide more than a few gems: Parmesan, Pine Nut, and Truffle Gratins, Fresh Figs on Rosemary Skewers, and Zesty Lemon Salt. Wells offers a fresh perspective and wealth of options for making vegetables the centerpiece of every meal. This collection is highly recommended for cooks and gardeners alike. (Apr.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

Cookbook author, journalist, and teacher Wells spends much of her time in the south of France, and several of her previous titles, including The Provence Cookbook, have featured the food of that region. Here, she focuses on the abundance of vegetables available to her there, with simple but delicious recipes ranging from Chunky Corn Soup with Cilantro and Smoked Paprika to Lemon-Roasted Potatoes with Bay Leaves. Vegetables are the featured player, but this is not a vegetarian cookbook: there are recipes for meat and fish main courses as well. Wells's recipes are always mouth-watering, and her books are always popular. Highly recommended.

—Judith Sutton

Library Journal