Thoughtful Cooking: Recipes Rooted in the New South

Dissen, the chef behind Asheville, N.C.’s the Market Place restaurant, takes a farm-to-table approach to Southern-style cooking in his exciting debut. He celebrates locally grown ingredients at the peak of their ripeness by dividing the recipes by season. Highlights include slow roasted pork shoulder with asparagus cream and green strawberry relish for spring, cornmeal fried catfish with butter bean and boiled peanut stew with green tomato chowchow for summer, candy roaster squash soup with blue cheese and pumpkin seeds for fall, and heirloom corn grits with mushroom ragout and poached egg for winter. Dissen also shares his passion for foraging ingredients, which inspired him to create dishes including wild ramp and new potato bisque, and pea and ricotta-stuffed morel mushrooms. A few offerings—including cioppino with tomato fennel broth and sourdough toast with saffron aioli, and charred romaine with miso tahini dressing, fried croutons, and mint—feel off-theme, but Dissen’s creative flavor combinations are sure to intrigue adventurous home cooks. He admits that the recipes are “not designed to be convenient and quick,” but his clearly written instructions are easy to follow. This is a trove of inspiration for weekend and holiday meals. Agent: Ellen Scordato, Stonesong. (Apr.)