Every once in a while a cookbook comes a long that is inspirational as well as educational. From The Hill By The Sea by Chef Seadon Shouse is just such a book. This book is part cookbook and part memoir and inspiration for a life well lived. Chef Season Shouse is the Executive Chef of Halifax Hoboken. This cookbook focuses on the Chef’s Nova Scotia roots of foraging, hand-making and cooking. Chef Seadon, “My intention was to draw readers out and inspire them to try new (and wild) ingredients and cooking methods.”
Reading through Chef’s recipes and stories from his childhood spent in Coastal Nova Scotia you can feel his connection to the land, the sea and the food that comes from that land and sea. These recipes come from a life spent picking wild blueberries and mushrooms, to fishing alongside his father, foraging for mushrooms and collecting shellfish. You can almost taste the goodness as you read through each one. Recipes that jumped out to me specifically were the Bread and Butter Vegetable Pickles, The Roasted Brussel Sprouts, the Biscuit Dough Boys, Fire-Roasted Chicken, Brown Sugar Bacon and especially the Shellfish Bisque. I will work on making each of these over this Winter and Spring.
A vast number of these dishes are not complicated but require some effort to acquire the ingredients but don’t let that stop you from making the effort to make them. This book makes a great gift to those who you know will be inspired like I have been by Chef Seadon’s words. You can purchase this book from HalifaxHobooboken.com or from Amazon.com.
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