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New England Open-House Cookbook: 300 Recipes Inspired by the Bounty of New England
“I’ve adored Sarah Chase’s cookbooks for decades! This is exactly what you want to cook at home—delicious, satisfying, earthy food your friends and family will love.”
—Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks and Television
From a born-and-bred New Englander comes a book that sings with all the flavors and textures of the beloved region. Sarah Leah Chase is a caterer, cooking teacher, and prolific writer whose books—including The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook (as coauthor) and Nantucket Open-House Cookbook—have over 3.4 million copies in print. For New England Open-House Cookbook, she draws from her memories of growing up in Connecticut and Maine; her experience living and cooking on Cape Cod; and her extensive travels meeting farmers, fishermen, and chefs. The result is a wide-ranging cookbook for everyone who has skied the mountains of Vermont, sailed off the coast of Maine, dug for clams on Cape Cod, or just wishes they had. It reflects the bountiful ingredients and recipes of New England, served up in evocative prose, gorgeous full-color photographs, and 300 delicious recipes.
All of New England’s classic dishes are represented, including a wealth of shellfish soups and stews and a full chapter celebrating lobster. From breakfast (Debbie’s Blue Ribbon Maine Muffins) to delightful appetizers and nibbles (Tiny Tumbled Tomatoes, Oysters “Clark Rockefeller”) to mains for every season and Baked Bluefish with New Potatoes and Summer Rib Eyes with Rosemary, Lemon, and Garlic. perfect picnic recipes, farmstand sides, and luscious desserts.
—Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks and Television
From a born-and-bred New Englander comes a book that sings with all the flavors and textures of the beloved region. Sarah Leah Chase is a caterer, cooking teacher, and prolific writer whose books—including The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook (as coauthor) and Nantucket Open-House Cookbook—have over 3.4 million copies in print. For New England Open-House Cookbook, she draws from her memories of growing up in Connecticut and Maine; her experience living and cooking on Cape Cod; and her extensive travels meeting farmers, fishermen, and chefs. The result is a wide-ranging cookbook for everyone who has skied the mountains of Vermont, sailed off the coast of Maine, dug for clams on Cape Cod, or just wishes they had. It reflects the bountiful ingredients and recipes of New England, served up in evocative prose, gorgeous full-color photographs, and 300 delicious recipes.
All of New England’s classic dishes are represented, including a wealth of shellfish soups and stews and a full chapter celebrating lobster. From breakfast (Debbie’s Blue Ribbon Maine Muffins) to delightful appetizers and nibbles (Tiny Tumbled Tomatoes, Oysters “Clark Rockefeller”) to mains for every season and Baked Bluefish with New Potatoes and Summer Rib Eyes with Rosemary, Lemon, and Garlic. perfect picnic recipes, farmstand sides, and luscious desserts.
940 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 2015
73 people are currently reading
695 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 15, 2023
Overall I enjoyed it. There were a few fish dishes in particular that looked worth trying as well as classics like Clam Chowder and Lobster Rolls. However there were also quite a few recipes in here that I would definitely not consider to be staples of New England cuisine. She included things like tiramisu, for example, which while certainly enjoyed in New England thanks to Italian immigrants is not New England in origin.
March 4, 2019
I took this out of the library and then ordered it immediately from a secondary seller on Amazon. I've read it cover to cover twice in less than a week, and am totally inspired in the kitchen!
This is not a book that would have appealed to me ten years ago when I had picky eaters in the house, and it wouldn't have appealed to me 20 years ago (before picky eaters but when I was really just learning to cook). Barefoot Contessa cookbook author and tv personality Ina Garten has referenced Chase's books many times, and now I completely see the roots of many of Ina's recipes have come from Sarah Leah Chase.
Greek Girlfriend Baked Chicken will be making a regular appearance on my table. If you like to cook and know your way around the kitchen, this book might just inspire you, too!
This is not a book that would have appealed to me ten years ago when I had picky eaters in the house, and it wouldn't have appealed to me 20 years ago (before picky eaters but when I was really just learning to cook). Barefoot Contessa cookbook author and tv personality Ina Garten has referenced Chase's books many times, and now I completely see the roots of many of Ina's recipes have come from Sarah Leah Chase.
Greek Girlfriend Baked Chicken will be making a regular appearance on my table. If you like to cook and know your way around the kitchen, this book might just inspire you, too!
August 30, 2017
With a vision clearly stated in the title, Chase gives us a huge variety of recipes and name drops restaurants, breweries and local purveyors of food from all over New England all arranged in an orderly manner. My mom has one of her first books, The Nantucket Open House Cookbook, on her kitchen counter on Block island so when a cookbook club member suggested this title, I was all for it. I loved reading through this big book.
July 30, 2018
Lots of recipes I'll likely never try, but I enjoyed reading every single one of them! It all sounds yummy and I liked the photos(not every recipe is accompanied by photos, sadly...). There was one recipe I will make,come to think of it, the roasted marrow bone one! I love marrow bones! enjoyed all the little notes and stories tucked in among the recipes, too. Kind of like visiting with a bud while cooking!
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February 6, 2021As someone living in the (just-about) geographical opposite of New England, I don't think reading a cookbook celebrating the meat and produce of New England was such a good idea. Hence the lack of a star rating.
November 26, 2017
Good cookbook though I do wish that Chase would acknowledge that New England is not just the coastal regions (I live in New England and far from the coast).
July 12, 2019
Great cookbook. Great reader. Great recipes. Most are doeable. Ingredients easy to find. Have used a lot of recipes from the book. All were successful.
October 12, 2021
Not a good cook book for me
July 20, 2023
Love this cookbook. This is the fourth time I checked it out of my local library. Great recipes and serving ideas. I only wish I lived closer to a local fresh fish or seafood store.
April 11, 2025
I want to make everything in this cookbook so I will probably purchase it. Thank you to my Library for letting my try before I buy
April 19, 2017
I cook and bake as a hobby. Food is my love-language, and I collect cookbooks of all kinds. I was very excited to check this one out.
This is a big, beautifully done book. There are 300 recipies, stunning photos, and a good deal of informative writing included. You may or may not like the addition of the writing. I do, so that's a plus for me. I'm a really visual person so the pictures and stories included paint a visual that elevates a cookbook. The author clearly knows her subject matter and it shows. There is a wide variety covered from drinks to salads, soups to clam bakes.
I did struggle with many of the recipies (for my taste) being overly complicated. When a recipe starts by telling me to get a good nights sleep, and lists a wheelbarrow and cinder blocks needed...well, you've probably lost me. I consider myself a decent cook. I cook from scratch, source from local farms, etc., but others certainly may feel differently. Not all recipes are as involved, but enough that I can't give this higher then three stars.
I received this cookbook from a goodreads.com giveaway, however all opinions and comments are my own.
This is a big, beautifully done book. There are 300 recipies, stunning photos, and a good deal of informative writing included. You may or may not like the addition of the writing. I do, so that's a plus for me. I'm a really visual person so the pictures and stories included paint a visual that elevates a cookbook. The author clearly knows her subject matter and it shows. There is a wide variety covered from drinks to salads, soups to clam bakes.
I did struggle with many of the recipies (for my taste) being overly complicated. When a recipe starts by telling me to get a good nights sleep, and lists a wheelbarrow and cinder blocks needed...well, you've probably lost me. I consider myself a decent cook. I cook from scratch, source from local farms, etc., but others certainly may feel differently. Not all recipes are as involved, but enough that I can't give this higher then three stars.
I received this cookbook from a goodreads.com giveaway, however all opinions and comments are my own.
July 15, 2016
300 recipes to celebrate the bounty of New England
Sarah Leah Chase does an admirable job of collecting and describing foods that she prepares with a New England provenance. I enjoyed the stories associated with each recipe. There were quite a few recipes that I plan to sample although some of the ingredients may be difficult for someone in a land locked area to acquire. My one quibble with the cookbook is that there are very few photographs of the food. So if you are someone who buys cookbooks for the pictures of the food, this book may not be for you.
Sarah Leah Chase does an admirable job of collecting and describing foods that she prepares with a New England provenance. I enjoyed the stories associated with each recipe. There were quite a few recipes that I plan to sample although some of the ingredients may be difficult for someone in a land locked area to acquire. My one quibble with the cookbook is that there are very few photographs of the food. So if you are someone who buys cookbooks for the pictures of the food, this book may not be for you.
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December 19, 2016A number of these recipes seem to require either hard-to-find ingredients for those of us living outside New England (fair enough) or a good deal of time/effort commitment. Eh.
There are lovely photographs, but I wash there had been more of them of food. Pretty, pretty New England scenery, but hardly any of the recipes. If you eat with your eyes first, then you also meal-plan with your eyes first, too.
Many of the anecdotes that preceded the recipes just didn't resonate with me, either, and besides that, I detected some repetition in phrasing.
There are lovely photographs, but I wash there had been more of them of food. Pretty, pretty New England scenery, but hardly any of the recipes. If you eat with your eyes first, then you also meal-plan with your eyes first, too.
Many of the anecdotes that preceded the recipes just didn't resonate with me, either, and besides that, I detected some repetition in phrasing.
July 25, 2015
I won this cookbook on Goodreads.com.
This cookbook has 300 recipes and before each recipe is a little story behind the recipe. Very well written. There are pictures throughout the book, too.
Even if you don't make a single recipe from this book, it is worth getting just to read the stories. The foreword is written by Ina Garten.
I am very happy with this cookbook.
This cookbook has 300 recipes and before each recipe is a little story behind the recipe. Very well written. There are pictures throughout the book, too.
Even if you don't make a single recipe from this book, it is worth getting just to read the stories. The foreword is written by Ina Garten.
I am very happy with this cookbook.
October 10, 2015
No index or list of recipes with links
The book contains a lot of really tasty recipes. But in this day-and-age of sophisticated ebooks, how can the publisher release an ebook without complete recipe lists and/or no index at all, much less one without links to the recipes?
It will be a tedious effort to bookmark recipes.
The book contains a lot of really tasty recipes. But in this day-and-age of sophisticated ebooks, how can the publisher release an ebook without complete recipe lists and/or no index at all, much less one without links to the recipes?
It will be a tedious effort to bookmark recipes.
May 29, 2022
I love cookbooks. I buy them often. I like to buy them on vacation. That is how I obtained this one. Now it can take me a bit of time to read them. I pick it up and read only a few pages. This one definitely took me a long time. I may have an implicit bias against Nantucket soccer moms... so I challenged it and I read this whole thing. I do think I will like some of the recipes.
June 30, 2016
A personal writing voice combined with charming photographs of food and locales - I think this would appeal to any fan of New England home cooking. One potential drawback could be the availability of some items, such as location-specific brands (e.g. hot dogs) or specific kinds of fish/seafood.
September 13, 2015
I'm a big fan of her concept of preparing the New England foods that I know and love in a modern clean way that I can enjoy. And the photography is beautiful!
June 21, 2016
Yum! Makes me want to win the lottery so I can have a home in New England and eat all the fresh seafood from this cookbook. Mouth watering.....
July 18, 2016
Wonderful.
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September 8, 2016Great recipes
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews