Bruce Von Stiers

I watch the Food Network quite a bit. One of the shows on that cable network is East Meets West hosted by Ming Tsai. He has mentioned a particular store a time or two on his show. This store is the Whole Foods Market. There are over 100 Whole Foods Market stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. They provide natural ingredients and organic produce for a healthier eating experience. The stores have proven to be such a success that they decided to put out a cookbook. This cookbook was co-authored by Steve Petusevsky and the Whole Foods Market Team Members. Steve is a former chef for Whole Foods Marker and is a featured writer for several cooking publications. The Whole Foods Market Team Members comprise a cross section of people who are involved with the store at various levels. The title of this book is The Whole Foods Market Cookbook: A Guide to Natural Foods with 350 Recipes. It was published by Clarkson Potter.

The cookbook is softcover and has 452 pages. It was copyrighted in 2002.

There are 20 different sections in the book. They range from a section on salads to one that includes rosemary griddlecakes. Interspersed with the recipes are tips on how to do things and recommendations on things like adding black peppercorns to rib eye steaks. Along with the tips are supplemental details about certain ingredients and variations on recipes.

The Introduction covers a lot of things that you should know before embarking on your culinary travels. They tell you how to prep cut vegetables and what temperature your oven should be when trying to achieve a golden crust. You are told that a large pan set is not necessary but a good, long lasting set is better than having to replace it every few years.

Some of the recipes in the book are unusual and others a little different but very tasty. In the Hand to Mouth section there is a Fragrant Ginger-Lime Chicken Fingers recipe. It combines the fragrance of ginger with the tartness of lime to give you an exquisite crunchy taste treat that is not very greasy. One of the unusual recipes is Grilled Sesame and Garlic Tofu with Wilted Bok Choy. For some folks, that may not be too unusual, but for this meat and potatoes boy it sure is. I have never been a big fan of tofu.

Some of the recipes are variations of ones that have been handed down through the ages. A maple glazed carrots recipe is similar to one that my wife has used before. The same thing with the Parsnip Mashed Potatoes. Only this calls for less butter than the other one I have seen.

There is a tartar sauce that should complement any seafood dish. It is called Creole Remoulade Sauce and contains fresh tarragon, dill pickles, lemon juice, red onion and Dijon mustard. This recipe can be used in conjunction with the Cajun Seafood Cakes recipe that is contained in the Burgers, Patties, and Griddlecakes section of the book.

For those of you who are into beverages, there is a section that has several wonderful drinks. Passion Potion is a drink that involves watermelon, cloves, cinnamon, a half banana and papaya for some spicy fruity fun. There is also something called Ultra Refreshing Triple Citrus Limeade that has you combine various fruits for an enjoyable citrus drink.

A section for kids has a recipe for cottage cheese pancakes. There is also a fish recipe that calls for potato chips to be used as part of the crust. And Ants on a Log involves celery stalks, raisins and peanut butter.

Swing by the cookbook section of your favorite bookstore and take a look at this book. If you do, then you will know that this is one that should be part of your cookbook collection. Not only are there wonderful recipes, the book is chock full of useful information about things like flours, mushrooms and oils.

The Whole Foods Market Cookbook lists for $ 29.95 U.S. If you can’t find it at your local store, you can get it through the Clarkson Potter web site, the Random House site or even the Whole Foods Market site.

The URL's for these are www.clarksonpotter.com, www.randomhouse.com and www.wholefoodsmarket.com.