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The luck of the Irish
REVIEWS BY SYBIL PRATT
By Margaret M. Johnson Chronicle, $24.95 224 pages, ISBN 0811833879
How does your garden grow?
By Ellen Ecker Ogden Morrow, $29.95 272 pages, ISBN 0060008415
Quick's quick fabulous fixes
By Susie Quick Potter, $32.50 208 pages, ISBN 0609610716
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Not all that long ago, Irish luck didn't include gourmet food. But the times, they are a-changin', and Ireland, now a
top travel destination and a happening place, is in the happy throws of gastronomic revolution. The Irish diet, long
perceived as not much more than Guinness and stew, has taken on a new sheen and sophistication. Young, inventive chefs
have brought in international techniques and approaches to enhance the bounty of the Irish countryside. After all,
Ireland has some of the best beef, lamb and pork, wonderful fresh fish, fresh veggies and a growing number of artisan
cheese makers. Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, Margaret M. Johnson celebrates Irish cuisine with
The New Irish Table, an elegantly designed paperback with gorgeous
full-color, mouth-watering photos throughout. There are 70 recipes divided into five chapters, "Small Bites,"
"Starters," "Main Courses," "Side Dishes" and "Sweets." Don't worry, time-honored Irish favorites haven't been scrapped.
The superb smoked salmon you've always loved is front and center in patÈ and chowder. Basic black pudding is used in
several new ways—paired with wild mushrooms in a salad, as a topping for crostini, and as the stuffing for
breast of pheasant. A cup and a half of Guinness adds its traditional goodness to rich, chewy brownies. Irish eyes
are smiling and so will yours and your guests' when you sit down at the new Irish table.
Support your 
Pouring over seed catalogs, dreaming of summer's succulence is a wonderful way to pass cold, dark winter nights.
I'm not much of a gardener, but I've long loved looking through the Cook's Garden Catalog produced by one of our
finest organic mail order seed companies. The catalog, with its beautiful woodcuts by Mary Azarian, reflects and
stimulates the growing interest in heirloom tomatoes, unusual lettuces, interesting herbs, edible flowers and
varying varieties of veggies. Ellen Ecker Ogden, who overseas the catalog, has peppered it with recipes since
its inception, offering her devoted seedophiles innovative ways to cook what they grow. Now she's gathered 150
of these simple, simply delicious dishes, along with the charming woodcuts, in From the Cook's Garden: Recipes
for Cooks Who Like to Garden, Gardeners who Like to Cook and Everyone Who Wishes They Had a Garden to Cook From. When you cook from the garden, the operative word is fresh, and
seasonal recipes are what come naturally. Ellen takes her culinary cues from Mother Nature; things that grow
together go together, and she provides bright, exciting ideas to spark up every season. And though the focus
is on the garden-based, you'll find new ways to serve fish and poultry too, plus invaluable info on what's
what in the gardener's world. Even if you don't or can't garden, go to a local Farmer's Market or roadside
stand, pick up a plenitude of produce and let Ellen's book inspire you.
Susie Quick learned to cook the old fashioned way in her mother's kitchen, when making dinner took the better part
of an afternoon. She moved onto the elaborate repertoire of the trendy mags, believing that, "food could be delicious
only through hours of slavish effort." Now, as a senior food and nutrition editor of Health magazine, she's evolved a
cooking style that fits our time and time-challenged lives and lays it all out for us in her aptly titled new book,
Quick Simple Food. Her guiding goal here is to get elegantly easy
meals—made from scratch—on the table in the time it takes for the pizza you might have been tempted
to order to arrive at your door. Susie is big on one-dish meals conveniently served in bowls, grains "with attitude,"
Asian noodles and healthy takes on meat, chicken and fish. You'll find super-satisfying, spicy Singapore Noodles,
Lemon-Spinach Bulgar Risotto, White Bean-Escarole Soup with Polenta Croutons, Swordfish Masala Kebabs with Mango
Raita and 146 other smart, stylish, hassle-free choices, from salads to desserts, all in a handsome package packed
with luscious full-color photos.