The East Coast Celebrations Cookbook
By Craig Flinn (Formac)

The Grounds Café: Seasonal Dishes from Murray’s Century Farm
Recipes by Nick Van Mele (Boulder)

Most cooks will attest there’s no such thing as too many cookbooks and now there are two more East Coast editions to add to your must-have collection.

Nova Scotian chef and media personality Craig Flinn is well known for his passion for local ingredients. He’s gathered up a collection of favourite recipes in The East Coast Celebrations Cookbook, which, as the title suggests, is divided up by celebratory events.

 Flinn kicks off the cornucopia of recipes with New Year’s, and finishes up with the Christmas feast, with each section offering a few appetizers, main courses, and desserts. Along the way, rediscover familiar favourites such as Boeuf Bourguignon and Good Friday Fishcakes with green tomato chow-chow, but with Flinn’s own spin on them. As a bonus, an appendix offers recipes for some homemade condiments including Sauerkraut Coleslaw, Pineapple Vanilla Jam, and Cider Vinegar Syrup.

This is a cookbook for any skill level. There’s nothing overly complicated among the recipes and not a lot of exotic ingredients to find. Many of the components are grown or produced locally. “My dishes are traditional, comforting, and tend to celebrate the small moments we experience in life,” Flinn says in his introduction.

The Murray family of Portugal Cove (near St. John’s, N.L.) has worked the land of their homestead for more than 200 years. They’ve evolved into operating a number of complementary businesses, including Murray’s Garden Centre, Murray Meadows Farm, and the Grounds Café, which they describe as a farm-to-table restaurant near the other businesses. The café’s head chef, Nick van Mele, loves to cook using locally grown or foraged foodstuffs, and he has created a firm fanbase among local foodies. He’s gathered up some of his recipes in The Grounds Café: Seasonal Dishes from Murray’s Century Farm, a colourful hardcover book with some innovative dishes that are as beautiful as they are tasty.

You won’t find fish and brewis, or toutons, or Jiggs’ dinner among the dishes offered here. This is new Newfoundland cuisine, celebrating the best that can be grown, caught, or wild-crafted (harvested from the wild) on that rocky island. Dishes like oyster mushroom and chive tartlet with garlic cream, beef fritter bowl, and shakshuka take pride of place.

The sections are divided seasonally from spring to winter, focusing on what is readily available (or easily substituted) in each season. The shakshuka recipe, for example, calls for large, fresh tomatoes, but notes you can use canned tomatoes. I can’t wait for next year, to collect fireweed (a wildflower that grows everywhere in this region) and make fireweed jelly.

See Flinn's recipe for Mum's Apple Crisp and Van Mele's Chive and Cheese Curd Scones.