cover image Fresh from the Garden: Cooking and Gardening Throughout the Seasons with 250 Recipes

Fresh from the Garden: Cooking and Gardening Throughout the Seasons with 250 Recipes

Perla Meyers. Clarkson N Potter Publishers, $30 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-517-59357-8

Meyers, whose The Seasonal Kitchen (1973) moved a new generation to cook with each season's bounty, extends her reach to the kitchen garden. Drawing on her experience in American and European gardens, she offers pointers on planting, growing, harvesting, storing and preparing more than 25 fresh ""jewels of nature."" Organized by season, chapters on individual vegetables begin with a discussion of the vegetable's best uses and preparation tips, recommended varieties, advice on storage, optimal gardening results and harvesting; recipes follow. In Summer's ""Carrots,"" for instance, readers who garden in heavy soil are advised to grow ""shorter, stubbier varieties""; we learn that winter squash should be cured in the sun or a warm place for 10 days, then moved to cool, dark storage. Recipes range from such variations on classics as ""Spicy Catalan Gazpacho"" and ""Pan-Seared Salmon with French Sorrel and Lemon Mayonnaise"" to updated standbys such as ""Corn-Studded Polenta with Parmesan,"" ""Proven al Ragout of Eggplant, Fall Vegetables and Sausage"" and ""Carrot and Pineapple Muffins."" Meyers blends authority, conviviality and expertise in 250 recipes, suggesting, for instance, that adding stale rye bread to the blanching water will remove the bitterness of Belgian endives. Informative headers recommend variations and simple meal planning to round out another solid Meyers contribution to the kitchen- and beyond. (May)