The Broad Fork: Recipes for the Wide World of Vegetables and Fruits: A Cookbook

This is not a vegetarian cookbook: it's an invaluable resource for those of us who want to work more veggies and fruits into our family's diet. In fact, dozens of recipes pair vegetable sides with meat and other animal products: lamb, pork, ham, veal, venison, chicken, lobster, crab, shrimp, trout, scallops, octopus, and eggs. The author even tells us how to make our own liverwurst.Chef Acheson may be a multiple James Beard award winner, but, in this book, he's focused on family. He hopes that we'll experiment with a CSA share and will frequent our Farmers' Markets, but, most of all, he wants to help us make our kids want to eat their veggies. He tells us that his kids do--without coercion--and he provides abundant suggestions for how to make this happen in our own families.That doesn't mean that the author has dumbed it down: there is a lot of technique required in many recipes, and he challenges us with some that may be new to us: for example, smoking fish on our outdoor grill; how to cure egg yolks; or how to make classic full-sour dill pickles.As for ingredients, the vast majority are accessible for most of us. I live far north of Georgia, in a very cold region of the U.S., in one of the seven states without a Whole Foods, yet I find almost all of the author's ingredients and recipes accessible to me, either at my local Farmers' Market, via Amazon, or even in my local, small, middle-of-nowhere grocery store. The author often suggests substitutions (although don't even think about instant grits) or provides sources. Chef is not a food snob: when cooking at home, he admits to using store-bought mayo, pancake mix, juice boxes, and more. He frequently tells us his favorite brand names.And, oh my, the vegetables! He waxes poetic about his favorite varieties of turnips, some of which I may not be able to find at my local Farmers' Market, but, come next summer, I'll enjoy bringing a list and asking my farmers about the varieties they offer. In fact, re-reading the book for this review, I realize that "Broad Fork" has to be one of my go-to sources when I'm planning what to buy and cook every Saturday at my summer Farmers' Market--or for figuring out what to do with the impulse purchases I've brought home.Kindle format review: gorgeous color photos are abundant, but not necessarily for every finished dish. Kindle formatting is excellent, including clickable embedded recipes.Finally, the writing is simply wonderful. How can a cook not love a James Beard-award-winning chef who, when advising how to cook celeriac, writes, "Be the bulb"? (Don't worry, he explains what he means at great length). Chapter introductions, ingredient descriptions, vignettes (for example, "Roux" and "Perfectly Poached Eggs") are always informative and frequently humorous. The author's wry sense of humor pops up in all sorts of unexpected ways. For example, a recipe for "Cabbage Sauerkraut" begins: "1. Wash your hands." I loved it!

This book offers multiple treatments of lots of different seasonal fruits and vegetables. It is the most stunning of all of Hugh Acheson’s cookbooks.

We belong to a CSA, and sometimes we get a LOT of veg- some of which it can be hard to use. This book- like the "Victory Garden Cookbook" (another go-to)- promises to give lots of ideas about what to do with that celariac. The main difference is that Broad Fork is more "cheffy"- though not inaccessibly so- and Victory Garden is more middle-America.I love that preserving and fermenting are included! My first project will be to can some spiced blueberries, and I am contemplating kimchee as well. If these, and a a couple more recipes, go well, I'll probably get the hardcover version to supplement the ebook. (I bought the ebook at a discounted price from the listed one.)It's a very exciting cookbook! I bookmarked the recipes I wanted to try... and there are SO MANY!I do love the format: season first, then vegetable (or fruit), with various options.

This is my new favorite cookbook. I love the recipes and that it's divided by season, so you can cook accordingly. Most of the recipes are surprisingly easy, great for week night cooking. Some are a little more elaborate, for when you want to go out. I've cooked through probably half of the spring and summer recipes now and have a lot of new favorite recipes! (especially the fennel and arugula chapters!) I can't wait for fall to come, to try out those recipes! My kids have loved eating all these veggie recipes too!There are quite a few preserving recipes, a lot of recipes that could be a whole vegetarian meal or a side, and most chapters also have a whole meal recipe around that veggie.Hugh Acheson, please write a follow up cookbook! There are so many more veggies out there that I'd love to learn how to cook with your awesome combination of delicious, classic taste combos, and new creative recipes!

Beautiful cookbook. A lot of pickled and fermented foods.

While the food is certainly rooted in Southern traditions and ingredients, I wouldn’t describe the food as “Southern” in a traditional sense, which makes it unique. Organized by seasons and focused on fruits & vegetables (although there’s tons of meat) is a great reminder of how we should be trying to eat and cook and I appreciated the voice in the writing- enthusiastic but humorous, too. Much like Yotam Ottolenghi did for contemporary Middle Eastern cooking, these recipes are layered, technical, somewhat challenging, and have lots of ingredients that people outside the south might have to source, but it’s worth the effort!

There are a lot of really great sounding recipes in this book, but to be honest I haven't tried even one of them. I bought this book to try to avoid wasting unfamiliar things in my CSA share (weekly delivery of local produce), which is also the reason the author wrote it, and it certainly has a lot of recipes for a lot of weird stuff, but many of them either A) are either not particularly profound (recipe for "Egg In a Hole, Crisped Brussel Sprout Leaves, and Shaved Gruyere" c'mon, it's egg and cheese on toast with some baked greens on top!) or B) require a lot of other expensive things to go with your veggies, like shellfish or lamb or whatever, and treat the veggies more as a garnish. So in short, lots of good recipes, but for making the most of your CSA share I'm afraid this kind of missed the mark for me. I oscillated between 2 and 3 stars, but decided to go with 3 because it is well written, the recipes are easy to follow, and it sure looks nice in the kitchen.

Lots of great ideas

awesome cookbook!

I was looking for a recipe for pickled Blueberries, I found it in this book. There are also lots of other great recipes. I Will enjoy trying them out over the winter months.