Castle Street Cafe Cookbook

Chef Ballon is an migr from the New York City restaurant scene; since 1989 he has owned and runs Castle Street Caf in Great Barrington, MA. The recipes here are arranged by type of food that is served at the cafsoups, salads, vegetables, pasta, seafood, poultry, meat, sauces, and desserts. All have been adapted for the home cook. One of Ballon's tenets is simplicity, so most of the recipes use no more than ten ingredients. He also stresses the use of indigenous, seasonal produce; he includes recipes using Berkshire Blue cheese, wild ramps, blueberries, tomatoes, and shad roe. An additional plus for this cookbook is the inclusion of a separate chapter of essays written by the chef. In two or three pages for each essay, he writes on carbohydrates, braising, farming fish, giving the gift of food, and more. Recommended for libraries in the Northeastern United States or those that have regional collections.Christine Bulson, SUNY at Oneonta Lib. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.