Monday, May 2, 2011

the kitchen garden cookbook

9780756671884Hthe kitchen garden cookbook – more than 200 recipes, picking and cooking tips, preserving ideas
Published at DK Canada

About the book

Featuring delicious seasonal recipes to help make the best use of homegrown produce, The Kitchen Garden Cookbook is packed with imaginative, inspiring ideas to turn your beautiful bounty into delicious dishes. With techniques and expert advice to help you harvest, preserve, and prepare your crops successfully, The Kitchen Garden Cookbook is the fruit-and-vegetable-grower’s perfect kitchen companion.

My Thoughts

This book is simply fabulous!   It starts with being divided in season – spring, summer, autumn and winter.  For each season, you have a series of vegetables and fruits  that are ready during that time of the year and it gives you fabulous recipes to use the vegetables or fruits in.   For example, in the Spring section I have learned that spinach is in season.   One recipe for the spinach is a spinach and coconut shrimp curry.   Yummy!   The picture accompanying the recipe is mouthwatering to say the least…   It reminds me of a Thai recipe and to be honest and I am sure it will become a favourite in our family!

This book also contains interesting information on the vegetables and fruits  presented in it like when to pick, eat and store fresh, how to preserve and freezing options.    If you are wondering which vegetables and fruits are included in this book here`s the list:

  1. Spring: asparagus, peas, fava beans, Swiss chard, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce, arugula, radishes,and  rhubarb.  Technique presented is how to preserve vegetables in oil.
  2. Summer: green beans, runner beans, artichokes, tomatoes, peppers, Chile peppers, eggplant, okra, cucumbers, zucchini, corn, fennel, potatoes, herbs, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, black currants, red currants, melons, cherries, peaches, and apricots. Techniques presented are how to freeze vegetables, dry vegetables, make freezer pickles, make cold pickles, make relish, store under soil, freeze herbs, dry herbs, make freezer jam, make fruit jam, freeze fruit, bottle fruit in alcohol, make conserves.
  3. Autumn: pumpkins and squash, onions, shallots, garlic, kohlrabi, celery, beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, cranberries, grapes, apples, pears, quinces, plums and figs. Techniques presented are how to store onions, garlic and shallots, store crops naturally, store root crops in boxes, make jelly, oven-dry fruits, make chutney.
  4. Winter:  broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Asian greens, kale, cabbage, leeks, Belgian endive, celery root, Jerusalem artichokes, rutabagas, turnips, and parsnips.  The technique presented is how to salt vegetables.

I am a bit disappointed that not all recipes have pictures.   I find that I have a tendency of doing the recipes that have pictures.    Mind you I am sure that the recipes in this book are delicious.   From the recipes included in this book I am most interested in some preserving ones..   We started canning last year and we got hooked on it.  *grin*   I am open to try new canning ideas this year for sure.   

The book also contains ideas on how to store vegetables for the winter seasons.   I was very impressed with the ways of storing carrots.    Even though I do not have a garden in my backyard yet, nothing can stop me to store come fresh carrots I could buy at the market in the cooler section of the basement next fall season.   One of the cakes my husband like to eat is a carrot cake.  This recipe book contains a recipe of a carrot cake made from scratch.  Since his birthday is in December, having some fresh carrots stored in the basement would be nice to have so I can bake a homemade carrot cake for his 40th birthday this year!

Now if only my oven can get fixed (it stopped two weeks ago and a piece is out of stock at this moment) I could prepare different recipes to my family!   

The kitchen garden cookbook is available at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

GREAT NEWS!

DK Canada has agreed to give away one copy of the kitchen garden cookbook to one of my readers.

To participate, tell me which NEW vegetable or fruit presented in the list above you would plant in a garden and why this one in particular (whether you have one or not)! This entry is mandatory. Don’t forget to include your email address in the comment.

EXTRA ENTRIES
1) Subscribe to my feed on the left side of this blog and let me know about it.
2) Like Canadianladybug Reviews! on facebook and tell me about it.
3) Follow Canadianladybug Reviews! on twitter and like me you twitter name.
4) Follow Canadianladybug Reviews! with Google Friends on the left side of this blog and tell me about it.
5) Tweet about this contest and give me the link about it. (One entry per day!)
6) Blog about this contest and give me you link (3 entries) – Give me your link and enter three times in the comment section.

Don’t forget to include your email for each steps. No email means I will have to pick someone else. I need to be able to contact you if you win! Random.org will be use to determine the winner. You will have 24 hours to contact me and give me your mailing address so I can send it to my contact which in turn will ship the prize to you!

Open to Canadian residents ONLY.

Deadline: May 28, 2011.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

27 comments:

  1. I would plant leek. I never have but we love leek soup, and grilled leek, such a good veggie full of nutrients.
    spynaert@gmail.com

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  2. I would like to try sweet potatoes. I love this super food and would like to incorporate into my diet more.
    catamorg (at) gmail (dot) com

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  3. I would plant chili peppers! It sounds cool and i love using them in most things.

    billiondollarprincesss@hotmail.com

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  4. This year we discovered Kale,i regularly make portuguese soup now and also kale with white beans.Id love to grow that.

    mitch1066(at)gmail.com

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  5. I would love to try the green beans :) We are younger and this year will be our first garden! This is a must read :) Thank you Kindly for spreading the work on this book and for my entry to possible win one :)

    mandykins33@gmail.com

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  6. Oh my goodness!!! I so love the looks of this!!! I have never had celery root. I would love to try it in some recipes.

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  7. I would plant asparagus, a bed lasts for over 20 years.
    Liked on facebook and twitter as disaanders

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  8. Once I have my own garden I would love to plant my own blueberry bushes because they are great for baking and also freezing for later use.

    There are so many great recipes for blueberries such as Jams,jelly's,sauces,muffins,
    breads,cakes,pies etc.Fresh blueberries would be the best!:)

    bd_657(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  9. Subscribe to your feed under Google Reader!

    bd_657(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  10. "Like" your Facebook page under Berendina.D

    bd_657(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  11. Following you on twitter.@theartofbaking
    http://twitter.com/#!/TheArtOfBaking

    bd_657(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  12. Following you on Google Friends Connect under Berendina.

    bd_657(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  13. Tweeted about this giveaway!

    http://twitter.com/#!/TheArtOfBaking/status/67426495735406592

    bd_657(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  14. http://twitter.com/mitch1066/statuses/68006624169701376

    dAILY TWEET....MITCH1066(AT)GMAIL.COM

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  15. I would love to plant asparagus mainly because it's one of my favorites

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  16. http://twitter.com/mitch1066/statuses/70563788528697344
    Daily tweet....mitch1066(at)gmail.com

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  17. http://twitter.com/mitch1066/statuses/70885428525412352
    Daily tweet....mitch1066(at)gmail.com

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    Daily tweet....mitch1066(at)gmail.com

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    Daily tweet....mitch1066(at)gmail.com

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  21. http://twitter.com/savvycouponmom/statuses/74153643007422464
    Daily tweet....mitch1066(at)gmail.com

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  22. http://twitter.com/mitch1066/statuses/74504278152200192
    Daily tweet....mitch1066(at)gmail.com

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  23. I've only recently discovered that I like artichokes so that is what I would plant. I've been wanting to try my hand at making my own cheese and articoke dip. Thanks!

    ctoan72(at)gmail(dot)com

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  24. I subscribed to your feed. Thanks!

    ctoan72(at)gmail(dot)com

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  25. Tweeted here: http://twitter.com/ennsee/status/74569245756882945

    ctoan72(at)gmail(dot)com

    Thanks!

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