The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook

"The delicious food and the recipes on our homepage and throughout this site were prepared by Chris Fischer. I recall that early morning meeting with Chris about this web project. Chris showed up with a box of well-used cookbooks as a starting point for our discussions on food and food photography, along with a tattered blank page journal for notes. 

We sat outside at a local café and spent the next four hours talking, drawing and menu planning for the upcoming LeRoux Kitchen photoshoot. I had known Chris for a long time as a customer at our store and as a talented farmer, writer and chef, but we had never worked together before. 

I knew that he had cooked in some of the top restaurants in the world and had authored one of my favorite cookbooks, the James Beard Award-winning The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook, but until I worked with him I didn’t realize what a genius Chris is.

Our conversation about ingredients and methods easily flowed and became inspiring. It was exciting. Chris wrote lists that became recipes, followed with sketches of how these various recipes might be plated. We discussed creating delicious food, by keeping the recipes somewhat loose and not too fussy. 

Our goal was to make simple, delicious food from local ingredients that would be purchased at the farmers market the morning of the photoshoot. Knowing all along that the menu plan would change with the quality and availability of the ingredients, we both agreed this is how we cook. 

I was reminded that when you are working with someone truly talented and connected to the land and nature, it’s easy to create beautiful and delicious food." 

- Michael Levandowski, LeRoux Kitchen Owner