Joanne Weir's enthusiasm for the land she calls "heaven on Earth" — the California wine country — suffuses this unusual cookbook. Weir's discovery that Northern California lies on the same latitude as Spain, Greece, Turkey, and southern Italy inspired her to make a culinary connection between them. Weir Cooking takes olives, goat cheese, crostini, mushrooms, and other local and seasonal ingredients and transforms them into rustic European-style dishes such as Crispy Polenta Cakes with Wild Mushroom Ragout, Warm Squid Salad with Tangerine Oil and Olives, and Grilled Leg of Lamb with Lavender and Rosemary Rub. In addition to the recipes, Weir explores the Northern California small-family farms and farmers' markets that provide the raw material for these delectable dishes. 80 full-color photographs and more than 120 original recipes are featured.

Customer Review: Fresh and Healthy

I, like many other readers, bought this cookbook after watching Joanne Weir prepare most of these recipes on PBS. Her ingredients are fresh, healthy and simple and they seemed to result in delicious meals. I also loved the fact that as a chef she seemed very at ease and therefore her recipes must reflect her basic approach. (That woman can use a butcher's knife in practically any situation!) I'm not very fond of long, involved recipes and have not yet encountered a problem with anything I have made, my only regret being that I wish that I had ingredients that look as ripe and fresh as Joanne's! I plan on ordering her next book as soon as possible.

Customer Review: A Beautiful Book!

The photographs are gorgeous, and Joanne's stories at the start of each chapter are wonderful. Her recipes are for the most part, easy to prepare, and everything is fresh and delicious...very little here in the way of processed or canned ingredients. Joanne is a gifted teacher...her PBS show is what made me buy this book. I think you will enjoy it, too.

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