Andrea Reusing’s first cookbook, “Cooking in the Moment,” will make Triangle residents proud.
Over the years, Andrea, chef/co-founder at the Asian-inspired Lantern in Chapel Hill, has made quite a national name for herself through her creative cooking and reliance on local ingredients. She’s been profiled personally or through her recipes in a dozen national newspapers and food magazines. This April, one of her recipes graces “O, the Oprah Magazine.”
And now you, dear reader, can get your hands on a year of Reusing recipes in the cookbook, subtitled “A Year of Seasonal Recipes.” The book is officially out April 5, but likely will be available a little earlier for you eager cooks. Check around.
Author Andrea Reusing. (I'd love to hear the story of this photo shoot.)
In her introduction, Andrea writes that the book is a year of cooking for friends and family at home. I’ve heard several people refer to this as the “Lantern Cookbook,” but it most decidedly is not.
More than anything, “Cooking in the Moment” is a celebration of home cooking, gatherings, and the natural bounty we have here in North Carolina (though most of the products can be found nationally). The more than 130 recipes range from childhood favorites (such as “Hen and Dumplings,” pictured below), one-pot dinners, and family feasts. The book is set up seasonally, with recipes for each season interspersed with lovely essays/ruminations on topics from eggplant and okra to junk fish. I get the feeling reading this that “Cooking in the Moment” is exactly the book Andrea wanted to write, not one that a publisher cooked up.
Hen and Dumplings, a childhood favorite
Locals will be especially happy to see an index of area markets and local farms. Those include (but certainly aren’t limited to) Carrboro Farmers’ Market, Durham Farmers’ Market, Johnny’s in Carrboro, Ayrshire Farm, Cane Creek and Braeburn farms, Brinkley Farms, Chapel Hill Creamery, Chicken Bridge Bakery, Coon Rock Farm, Fickle Creek Farm, Lil’ Farm, and of course Peregrine Farm, owned by sustainability leaders Betsy and Alex Hitt of Alamance County.
Fashion-mag-worthy photos of Andrea are sprinkled throughout, as well as a few of her husband Mac McCaughan and children, Oona and Arthur. (Well, I assume the kids are theirs and not models.) Mac, as most of you probably know, is co-owner of Merge Records and singer/guitarist in Superchunk, which recently went out on I think its first tour in a while. Rock tour, book tour (hers kicks off April 9 at Flyleaf Books) … such a famous family! And good folk, too!
Photos reprinted from the book Cooking in the Moment by Andrea Reusing. Copyright © 2011 by Andrea Reusing. Photographs copyright © 2011 by John Kernick. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, Inc
