A Year at Catbird Cottage
Recipes for a Nourished Life [A Cookbook]
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
IACP AWARD WINNER • 100 recipes for seasonal, locally sourced, and foraged dishes from the owner of the idyllic Catbird Cottage B&B in upstate New York.
“Melina Hammer shows us that there is beauty all around us when we cook seasonally. . . . A joyful, inspiring book for cooks, bakers, artists, and dreamers.”—Amanda Hesser, founder and CEO, Food52
At the foot of the Shawangunk Mountain Ridge lies the hamlet of Accord, New York, dotted with orchards and farms, population 562. There, Melina Hammer welcomes guests from near and far to stay and eat at Catbird Cottage, a B&B run out of her charming home. Her eclectic table is set with meals that showcase stories and ingredients from her own garden, New York’s wild landscape, and her travels around the globe.
In her debut cookbook, Melina shares the beloved recipes from this special place, all presented seasonally just like the meals at Catbird Cottage. These recipes are organized by season, since the seasons dictate what’s on the Catbird Cottage table. Whether it’s Wild Salmon Gravlax, Scallop-Shiso Ceviche, Buttery Scrambled Eggs and Chanterelles, Sour Cherry Pie, or a fall-apart persimmon served with triple-cream cheese and freshly baked sourdough bread, Melina’s food is deeply satisfying and sustaining—and emphasizes cooking and living in a more connected and joyful way.
Melina also shares her foraging and preserving know-how, allowing readers to stock their pantries, cupboards, and freezers. But these recipes don’t require you be a fully-fledged homesteader, expert forager, or connoisseur of global flavor. The book takes the foundations of these sustainable practices and integrates them into an accessible kitchen vernacular of complete nourishment. The food of Catbird Cottage is community on a plate—grown, harvested, persevered, and presented with love—and shared with cherished companions.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Nature has become my partner in crafting menus," writes Hammer (Kid Chef) in this delectable collection inspired by the culinary creations of her B&B in Hudson Valley, N.Y. A fervent forager, Hammer employs the bounties of the seasons to deliver recipes that serve body and soul. Stocks in the spring are made with asparagus trimmings, and winter features ginger and bone-infused options fortified with immune-boosting wild ingredients such as ground elder and Dryad's saddle. A pictorial listing of forageable plants includes where to find them—along roadsides, in forest walks, and backyard gardens—how to harvest them ("only take one third to one half of your discovery and leave the rest for nature"), and ways to use them. Elderberry flowers and berries go into syrups and jellies, including a gelée that's served alongside pâté and pickled ramps, while lambsquarters leaves are mixed with "just-picked" tomatoes and sweet raw corn. Showcasing her skills as an accomplished food photographer, Hammer composes dishes that are visually stunning yet simple to prepare—including a delicate ceviche of thinly sliced scallops, purple shiso, plumcot, and pickled pearl onions—and helpfully indexes them according to "lifestyle": gluten free, vegan, no-cook, make ahead, one pan, crowd friendly. The great outdoors beckons in these rich and innovative dishes.
