The Summer Shack Cookbook

Our second Cook the Book Club pick is Jasper White's The Summer Shack Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Shore Food. This is a great addition to your bookshelf and would make a terrific house gift when visiting friends this summer.

White is a James Beard award-winning Boston chef, who went from owning a high-end restaurant to owning four casual seafood eateries called the Summer Shack. His recipes include lobster rolls, creamy Cape Cod clam chowder, steamed sea bass with ginger and scallions, coleslaw with a kick, fresh parsley salad (finally a use for all that parsley), creamy horseradish dipping sauce and homemade blueberry pie. The book is also a great how-to book: how-to grill a fish, how to shuck an oyster, how to clean a squid, how to freeze vodka - smart tips and techniques that have evolved from a lifetime spent cooking by the shore.

To purchase the book online from Amazon, click on the title above (we appreciate your support). JOIN US and add your comments about the book to our site - we want to hear your adaptations, what recipes you like, and know what you have learned.

TIP: The basic beach pantry must include salt. Instead of trying to wrangle clogged table salt from a shaker, place coarse kosher or sea salt in a small open bowl or tea cup and use a demitasse spoon as a scoop.

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creamy potato salad

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 10, 2007 - 6:17am.

this is a classic recipe with egg. it is so good. you will crave it.

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best sauces

Submitted by suzanne simon (not verified) on August 9, 2007 - 9:42pm.

i am loving the quick and tasty sauces in this book. try the wasabi, lime and soy dipping sauce (pg. 59) over simple grilled tuna and a side of greens, the curry paste (used mango instead of apple and a little less jalepeno) brushed on grilled scallops served over grilled fennel slaw (pg. 184), the soy-ginger sauce (pg. 348) brushed on bok choy and grilled, and the corn relish served with fish. a great sauce makes the rest of the meal so easy.

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party idea - freezing vodka

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 9, 2007 - 9:32pm.

there is a tip in the book about freezing vodka (pg. 55) in a container (tomato can, orange juice container). a nice addition is to add cut up lemons or fresh herbs to the water. when you pull out the bottle the lemon and herbs are also frozen inside the ice making a festive addition to the table. try with the oyster shooters.

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