Maggie's Table

Camberwell Victoria: Lantern an Imprint of Penguin Group, 2005. Soft cover. Very Good. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Griffiths, Simon (photography). Square quarto, 337 pages, plus index. Overseas customers please note the book is heavy and will attract additional postage. "Maggie Beer is a long-time resident of South Australia's Barossa Valley. She is deeply involved in the food culture of the area as a producer, chef and enthusiastic champion of all the Valley has to offer. Here are recipes and stories that capture the rich flavours and colours of Maggie's home. Season by season, we discover how she cooks with fresh, local produce for simple family dinners and large festive occasions. We travel with her to the local dairy for fresh cream to make ice-cream, to the butcher for smoked meats, and to the neighbouring beekeeper for delicious honey. The large wood oven in the garden is lit for baked lemony chicken and potatoes, a picnic is prepared to take to the local pine forest to search for mushrooms, and we join Maggie's husband, Colin, on a crabbing expedition in order to make classic crab cakes in the electric frypan. Come sit at Maggie's Table to celebrate the art of country cooking and to share the generosity and joie de vivre of one of Australia's favourite cooks - the marvellous Maggie Beer." (publisher's blurb)