Cooking in the Moment

Starred review from December 6, 2010
Chef and James Beard nominee Reusing's outstanding, beautifully photographed debut is a seasonally driven collection of 130 recipes. With an emphasis on local ingredients, this "mix of childhood favorites, standbys that can be prepared quickly, simple restaurant dishes, and celebration dishes to feed a crowd." Casual, easy family dishes such as escarole in broth with lemon and eggs, cream of tomato soup with tomato leaves, kale panini, and chilled berry pudding with cream are balanced by guest-worthy selections, including roast moulard duck with kumquats and salt-cured chiles, roasted spareribs with crushed fennel and red chiles, and squab with grilled red onion and sweet cherries. Moments paired with dishes, such as the "Tuesday Afternoon, Late May" roasted shiitake mushrooms with garlic oil, and "Sunday Morning, September" pickled figs, take readers into the author's experience of sourcing, using, and enjoying the best ingredients of the season. Informative and humorous essays on everything from watercress to "schlepping food," make this a book that's just as sit-down-and-read as open-and-use. A well-researched section for finding ingredients rounds out this must-have title for both new and experienced cooks.

February 15, 2011

This debut cookbook follows Myra Goodman's The Earthbound Cook, Alice Waters's In the Green Kitchen, and Darryl Estrine and Kelly Kochendorfer's Harvest to Heat in encouraging the home cook to buy and use locally grown ingredients. Reusing is chef-owner of the award-winning restaurant Lantern in Chapel Hill, NC. She combines recipes, arranged by season, with vignettes about ingredients, times of the year, and farming. The recipes, inspired by pan-Asian cuisine and Southern cooking, are generally simple, though adventurous cooks will find Roast Fresh Ham with Cracklings and Whole Fish Baked in a Salt Crust. Roasted Spareribs with Fennel and Chiles, Oyster Stew, and Roasted Japanese Turnips with Honey use local pork, oysters, field peas, sweet potatoes, and turnips. VERDICT A regional cookbook recommended for those interested in sustainable food and community-supported agriculture.--Christine Bulson, SUNY at Oneonta

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2011
Preparing a meal using the freshest produce of the moment, preferably locally grown, is the holy grail of contemporary cooking. Reusing has scoured regional North Carolina farms and markets to supply her restaurant as well as her familys table. She keeps her cuisine simple, adorning meats, fish, and vegetables with uncomplicated spices and herbs, letting the pristine goodness of just-harvested and just-butchered items come through in full, ripe glory. Fresh ham is plainly brined, but its skin is carefully scored to create crispy cracklings. Winter greens such as kale help mute the seasons lack of other fresh delights, and Reusing creatively imagines a hearty, warming m'lange of macaroni, beans, squash, and ham hocks to keep everyone cozy and comforted. She includes her own bar creations, her take on the classic Manhattan cocktail starring her own pickled sour cherries. Text and photographs profile local farmers and their aspirations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)