Beans, Greens & Sweet Georgia Peaches: The Southern Way of Cooking Fruits and Vegetables

by Damon Lee Fowler

Think of Southern fruits and vegetable, and tomatoes, corn, okra, and watermelon come to mind. But what about grapefruits, oranges, and key limes from Florida? Or peas, beans, and greens from the fields of Mississippi? In Beans, Greens & Sweet Georgia  Peaches, Damon Lee Fowler, who is passionate about preserving Southern culinary traditions, offers recipes for transforming Vidalia onions, sun-ripened tomatoes, field peas, butterbeans, sweet potatoes, Georgia Peaches, plump figs, watermelons, key limes, and Florida citrus into fruit and vegetable glories of the Southern table.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 1998

Reviews

[Shana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this cookbook as a Goodreads giveaway. I am thoroughly impressed with the details that Damon Lee Fowler put into this cookbook. It is a great explanation of foods that are found in the South, and how to prepare them, along with several wonderful recipes! Great job! I have added this to my Cookbook collection as a wonderful resource. My favorite recipes are Blackberry Cobbler found on page 166 and Broccoli Gratin found on page 196. I hope you enjoy this cookbook as much as my family and I have!

[MD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually I sit down with a new cookbook and scan through it in a few hours, marking the recipes that interest me with post-its. This one took MUCH longer. I really enjoyed reading about the role and history of how the various fruits and vegetables became part of Southern cooking over the years and how it has changed in many cases. I found it really interesting that Mr Fowler credits the combination of mostly-English cooking practices combined with African innovations for thr distinctive character of Southern cooking. His obvious love for the South and for cooking is truly contagious and makes this one of the most interesting cookbooks I have ever owned.

One thing that surprised me was how key to southern cooking animal fats are, especially bacon drippings and lard. But although this is not a vegetarian cookbook, he does go out of his way to suggest vegetarian alternatives for most recipes that include those, which I appreciate.

Here are a few of the recipes I have marked to try: hoecakes (cornmeal pancakes), Creole Deviled New Potatoes, Sweet Potato Salad, Cousin Tillie's Pecan Pie (no corn syrup!), and Brussels Sprouts with Pecans. I also learned an easy buttermilk substitute I had never heard before.

I received a copy of this wonderful cookbook free in return for an honest review and I highly recommend it!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a lucky goodreads first reads of this cookbook. After reading through some of the recipes I am looking forward to trying some of they delicious sounding dishes. The author Damon Lee Fowler breaks up his cookbook into four seasons. A great idea since this is a vegetable and fruit cookbook. it gives the reader the best recipes that would be available according to when they are in season.
I found it very helpful to how to cook each vegetable for best taste. {I found out I have been cooking asparagus wrong for a long time for example} there is a lot of helpful information in this recipe book. Such as the correct cheeses,spices etc to use. there are even some good looking recipes for making your own sauces etc. a very factual book on southern cooking. I only hope I can learn to make a few of these dishes half as good as they look. I am looking forward to trying some of the recipes. I learned a bit more about southern cooking and think others will too.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prior to leafing through this cookbook, I didn't know anything about southern cuisine other than the impressions of 1) lots of fats (especially deep-fried foods), and 2) lots of okra and ham and green beans.

It turns out that there are plenty of healthy recipes featuring fresh fruits and vegetables.

Beans, Greens & Sweet Georgia Peaches organizes recipes by seasons, beginning with Spring and featuring fruits/vegetables such as asparagus (e.g. asparagus with pecan brown butter -- neat combination), spring blossoms (e.g. nasturtium sandwiches), and strawberries (e.g. strawberry soup).

Each recipe is preceded by a short anecdote, often interesting but at the expense of having fewer recipes for the book. Personally I'd prefer to have a greater variety of recipes showcasing each type of produce!

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Received a copy via First Reads

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should begin this review by saying that I was lucky to receive a free copy of this book through the Goodreads FirstReads Giveaway Program. I’m not from the south but my husband is and I thought it would be great to try out some southern cooking. There was a great selection of recipes in this cookbook. I liked the way the recipes were organized by season to encourage cooking produce at its peak of ripeness (for best taste/texture/nutritional content). There are some very excellent recipes in this book. I would especially recommend the Peach Kuchen. However living here in the Rocky Mountains, I found that some of the ingredients were very hard (or impossible) to find.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't as fascinating to me as the Thomas Jefferson cookbook, but hey, who doesn't want to read about dilly beans in January?! The section about sweet potatoes vs. potatoes vs. yams was informtive as well. The intro. to the recipes featuring zucchini was laugh-out-loud funny!

[Ronnie]

I won this book a while ago and have not received it.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice balance between traditional and something to entice the gourmand.