The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook: A Year of Cooking on Martha's Vineyard

by Chris Fischer, Catherine Young, Gabriela Herman (Photographer)

A year of fresh, simple, seasonal cooking from a rising-star chef running his grandfather's five-acre farm on Martha's Vineyard.

This is the heartfelt declaration of a new American way of food, celebrating a year of cooking and farming on the island of Martha's Vineyard.

Chris Fischer is a chef, farmer, and writer whose roots on the island run twelve generations deep. His cooking combines practical, rural ingenuity with skill acquired in the world's leading kitchens. The result is singular and exciting.

Beetlebung Farm, his grandparents' five-acre parcel in the town of Chilmark, is both Fischer's inspiration and the source for the fine raw materials he showcases. These recipes express the unique understanding of ingredients that comes from a life spent hauling in lobster pots, cultivating vegetables, tracking game in the woods, and butchering his own meat.

In this beautifully illustrated homage to the family and community that raised him, Fischer weaves seasonal menus through stories of growing up on the island, conjuring the smoke of oak-wood fires, the brine of Great Pond oysters, and the satisfaction of a well-earned meal. The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook is a clear and essential record of contemporary New England cuisine.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 2, 2015

Reviews

[Shana M. Essig · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful story with deep familial roots and fresh farm cooking. Beautiful pictures and I can't wait to Carmelize Brussels sprouts and drink a Concord grape Bellini and make a fresh blackberry pie! I can smell the ingredients as I read the recipes!

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful ode to family and the farming/fishing traditions of Martha's Vineyard. Fischer's love and reverence for both are apparent in this cookbook. There are very few recipes in here that I would actually cook (so much amazing seafood that I can't afford, alas), but I thoroughly enjoyed living vicariously through Fischer's descriptions of gorgeous, seasonal meals.

Recipes bookmarked:
* Potatoes Crisped in Olive Oil (simple, unfussy cooking)
* Gravy (interesting use of caramelized onions instead of a roux to thicken)
* Rice with Scallops (scallops and rice cooked with bacon/pancetta)
* Olivia's Honey Pie
* Pea Green and Pancetta Salad
* Spring Pea, Spinach, and Potato Salad

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a cookbook with many essays about foods and memories, this is as much a browsing book as a book for recipes. Many of the food ideas count on freshly caught fish or recently killed meat. As someone who doesn't burn off bad food with heavy labor, I look at a recipe for mashed potatoes that assumes four tablespoons of butter EACH PERSON, before adding on anything at the table, and laugh. This is a taste and idea joy, and I bought it after returning the library copy, but I'll be very surprised if I ever make anything from it. But I will croon over it anyway. (BTW, this is one of the few cookbooks I purchased in Kindle format. The photos are not flashy nor do they provide instructions. I decided all I really needed was the language.)

[Yu-Jie Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good cookbook, but even better stories about the author's personal experience, and family history and life on the island. I like those beautiful photos, although a few isn't directly related to the recipes, but to the stories.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got interested in Chris Fischer after watching him and his wife Amy Schumer on Food Network’s, Amy Schumer Learns To Cook. This is not just a cookbook but a well written memoir of family growing up in Martha’s Vineyard. Loved it! Now to,try some of the recipes. Even reading the recipes was fun.

[Shannan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came for this book because I watched a show on tv where he cooked. I stayed for this book because I was captivated by his short essays on life in Martha’s Vineyard. I didn’t stay because of the recipes. But they were a nice little touch. I’ll probably try a few.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read for island and family history, current and culinary views. Plus, the author, Chris Fischer, married Amy Schumer. An interesting duo.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some takeaways - Roasted Plums (with black peppercorns!). Leek and Asparagus soup. Scrambled eggs - beat the eggs for one minute before cooking. It does make them lighter and fluffier.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

In compliance with FTC guidelines, I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. This is a cookbook for a seasoned chef, someone who wants to try something out of their comfort zone, someone who wants to cook like an upscale restaurant chef, or someone who has a cookbook collection and wants to add another one. In the advanced copy that I received, all of the pictures were in black and white, however, I could tell from their quality that they were going to be extraordinary when the finished copy showed them in color. The cookbook has some nice recollections of life on the small farm just outside of Martha's Vineyard and personal anecdotes. However, for the humble, home cook like myself, the recipes weren't necessarily too complicated, but they required ingredients that most home cooks don't find in their local grocery story. Examples of some of the recipes: Potted Duck with Radishes, Sausage in Grape Leaves with Oysters on the Half Shell, Veal Tartare with Shiitakes, Pot Roasted Pheasant with Bread, Bonito Crudo, etc. For me, it was a nice cookbook to page through and read the recipes, the small passages with them and look at the beautiful pictures, however, the recipes, for the most part, are not ones that I would use.

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as part of Goodreads advance copy giveaway in May. The setting of Martha's Vineyard is evident in the number of recipes calling for seafood. Living on the coast, I found the ingredients needed very easily, and the author used a wide variety of them. If you enjoy coastal cuisine, then this is a great book for you. Instead of recipes listed together based on meal, these recipes are grouped together by season, suggesting that the hope cook take advantage of the prime ripeness of the ingredients used. The book has a great selection of photographs scattered throughout the book, so the reader never forgets the Martha's Vineyard setting. From appetizers to dessert, this book has what you need to have a great meal thoughout the year.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book in the Goodreads giveaway. I thought this cookbook would be highlighting Farm cooking recipes and it certainly did offer many recipes to try. However, the recipes were for more exotic recipes, not easily found ingredients which made is a little hard for me to say I would be trying them. However, I would say that the writing, pictures and writing is excellent. I think a more adventurous cook would love this cookbook.

[Maryalene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful book, but the recipe for cooking chicken breasts in salt was a disaster. Not sure if I did something wrong, but they were so salty that they were inedible.

The book is divided into menus based upon seasons, and recipes seem to lean heavily on seafood/fish. An interesting read but not a practical cookbook for me.

[Ashley]

Charmingly personal stories interwoven with this history of the island and its people make this cookbook special. The recipes are generally simple with short ingredient lists, the origin of the food always important and respected. Beautiful photography as well.

[Kaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a free copy from the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway Program and think that it interesting. I would recommend it to everyone.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book, as much so because of the family stories and traditions that this young chef/farmer relays as the recipes he shares.

[Emily Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

This cookbook was almost painfully wordy. I appreciated that the recipes were sorted seasonally, but the memoir aspect was a snooze and the recipes were unnecessarily 3-4 pages long.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful book, good stories and nice recipes.