Get recipes from Steven Satterfield's 'Vegetable Revelations'
While Root to Leaf
and Vegetable Revelations both espouse cooking with produce, Satterfield took different approaches when writing the respective cookbooks. With the former, I think the approach there was as simple as possible, Satterfield said. Lets just explore seasonality, get the home cook comfortable with shopping at a farmers market, and following some really easy methods and recipes.
In contrast, Vegetable Revelations, a project that Satterfield began in the early days of the pandemic, is about looking at the world as a bigger place, Satterfield noted.
We live in a very multicultural city, so what I took a snapshot of was the main ways vegetables could be explored with a global pantry, he said. To me, the spirit of the book is about challenging yourself a little bit, shaking up your routine, and making some things you dont normally make.
Credit: Andrew Thomas Lee
Credit: Andrew Thomas Lee
The cover of Vegetable Revelations evokes Salvador Dali, mainly because the surrealistic still life features meat and seafood hanging above the produce. Although all of the recipes in the cookbook are vegetable-forward, meat and fish occasionally make an appearance
.
I liked the idea of that, because to me this is an omnivores vegetable book, Satterfield said. But it could be interpreted in so many different ways. If youre a vegan, there are plenty of options. If youre a meat-eater who wants to get more produce into your diet, its a great solution.
The headnotes to the recipes explore the feelings of each dish, Satterfield allowed. They might conjure a hot sunny summer day, or a walk through the woods.
Satterfield puts an emphasis on using every part of the vegetable, and not wasting any of the flavorful bits. He offers ideas for transforming asparagus bottoms into a lovely spring soup and using beet roots with their green tops for a stir-fry.
That was a big thing in Root to Leaf, and thats a big thing in my lifes work, and a big thing at the restaurant, he said.
Vegetable Revelations is about rediscovering the joy of cooking with vegetables. The triumph is that we came up with a beautiful book that still celebrates whole vegetable cooking and theres still so much more to explore.
RECIPES
These recipes from James Beard Foundation Award-winning chef Steven Satterfield offer ways to cook a wide range of vegetables, with a variety dishes for each season. Arranged by both botanical families and culinary categories, the recipes are truly Vegetable Revelations.
Credit: Andrew Thomas Lee
Credit: Andrew Thomas Lee
Gingered Carrot Bisque
You know those carrots that look like they were maybe forgotten in the field and got really big? Thats the kind I like to use here, writes Steven Satterfield about this bisque recipe. They have an earthy sweetness that gives body and depth to this soup laced with hints of ginger, lime, star anise and clove. The tangy cultured dairy garnish adds a nice contrast to the mellow spices.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 2:46 pm