Deborah Madison is an American chef, writer and cooking teacher. She has been called an expert on vegetarian cooking and her gourmet repertoire showcases fresh garden produce. Her work also highlights Slow Food, local foods and farmers' markets.
Interesting and excellent recipes that are epicurian but not too difficult. My volume unfortunately has no picutres, which is one of my favorite things about cookbooks, but it doesn't matter. Still 5 stars worth. Oh, and these are vegetarian recipes, not that that should discourage carnivores.
This is a vegetarian cookbook, but I never think of it that way. Deborah Madison is not only so inventive, but her recipes really work and she is very humane (you'll find asides to the effect of, "try to find this ingredient, but it's not a big deal if you can't," or, "you really have to use this particular ingredient and here's where you can probably find it." I LOVE the Spinach Pasta with Ricotta and Walnuts in this book - there's also a great recipe for Pear Coffee Cake, one for macaroni and cheese, etc. My passion for carbohydrates is showing - the book is much broader than my personal hang-ups. You could pick this up and make something great in a very short amount of time - that's one thing I really like about this book (plus, the breadth of interesting ingredients and flavors). The thing I don't always love is buying some unusual oil that I wouldn't normally use to make something - I probably don't cook enough. But, even, I, a complete ditz, in the kitchen can make nice things with this book. I highly, highly recommend it.
Great in concept, but frustrating. She seems to be locally and seasonally challenged even though it's part of her shtick. Is there really lovage available in the Southeast in December? Is lovage available anywhere? What the hell is lovage?
This is one of my very favorite cookbooks, and one of the first ones I ever owned. I actually read this, not just consult it. I love Madison's writing style and her sensibilities.
Some of my favorite recipes come from this book, recipes that I feel that now I can't live without. Lentils stewed in red wine. Winter squash soup with milky herb broth. Garlic tonic soup.