Cookbook Project, #201

"The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market Cookbook," Christopher Hersheimer and Peggy Knickerbocker

Last year when umbran was sent to San Francisco for work, he came home with several lovely trinkets and souvenirs for me, including this cookbook. It's a big, beautiful, dense book full of details about what sounds like a truly epic farmer's market, hints about different seasonal foods, and recipes from local grocers, restaurants, bakeries, and farms. It was a delight to read through; the only challenge was finding something cookable that was appropriate for a small number of people and that didn't require me actually being at a farmer's market. (Sadly, this year, my work schedule was heavy enough that I didn't get out to any of the local markets. Tragic, but such is life.)

But there was a recipe at the end of the book that caught my eye, if only because it looked... interesting. Different. Unique. And part of why I like this project is that it encourages me to try different things.

It was for a dish just called "Joe's Special," apparently a specialty of a bunch of local restaurants. It was kind of a one-dish meal with browned ground beef, spinach, and a couple of seasonings, scrambled together with eggs, and I figured... I like all of those ingredients. It sounds good. What could go wrong? Clearly this cookbook is wise.

.....it was hideous.

Seriously, I managed the mandatory one-bite to make it an official Cookbook Project recipe, and then aborted to pizza. umbran managed to actually eat the stuff, but I couldn't get past the texture of the spinach and the utter lack of seasoning given the bulk of the dish. I have to call this one a fail, and only the third out of over 200 books.

I'm hoping it's just the recipe, and not the book itself; at some point I'll go back and try something new when I have time to haunt our farmer's market for fiddleheads and pea tendrils and all that good stuff....