What’s Cookin’? – Smithtown
By Nancy Vallarella
Holiday Foodie Finds 2012
You don’t have to look far to find that perfect gift for the foodies in your life. In and near Smithtown are great restaurants and specialty food purveyors offering gift certificates, gift baskets and cook books for purchase. Buying local will not only save time and gas, it will also give a boost to the health of the local economy.
Want to wow your foodie friends and give them a health boost? One of the most extraordinary local finds 
available this year is The Infused Palate – cooking with extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars by Eileen Sanger Profit. It is not just another cook book; it is an adventurous exploration and learning experience. It will awaken anyone’s current recipe repertoire and help guide the sense of taste, smell, sight and touch with new ideas and ingredients for familiar dishes.
Eileen Sanger Profit’s muse came calling when she accepted employment at The Crushed Olive of Stony Brook. It is here where she began helping customers pair the flavor infused balsamic vinegars and extra virgin olive oils. She then began experimenting with recipes at home and offering samples at the store. Customers loved her samples and asked for the recipes. As time passed the number of recipes grew.
Having a background in art coupled with a sound enthusiasm for food and wine, Ms. Profit channeled these passions through her palate and onto the page for all to enjoy. Purchase this book along with a Crushed Olive gift certificate for the perfect gift pairing at all three store locations (link available through Smithtown Matters Food & Restaurant Guide). A book signing schedule and on-line purchase of The Infused Palate can be made at www.theinfusedpalate.com.
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My other fabulous cookbook find this year is The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook. Author Leeann Lavin takes an intimate look at local, seasonal, sustainable, farm fresh products with the local chefs that use them and the artisans that produce them. Like The Infused Palate; this book is much more than a collection of recipes. It is a history of local farmers, fishers, poets and culinary artisans that shape our island. Beautifully photographed, this book belongs on your coffee table. It does contain recipes from local super rock star chefs such as: Guy Reuge, Tom Schaudel and Eric Lomando; to name only a few. If one feels worthy of trying recipes of such local culinary greatness this book belongs in the kitchen. I keep my copy in my car. I use it like a passport to some of the most remarkable meals I have eaten. Each meal is documented with that chef’s signature (the stamp) proving my attendance to an amazing dining experience. This is a foodie must have gift. Pair it with a gift certificate to the one of the restaurants profiled in this book for a truly memorable culinary event.
I have also had the experience of attending a book signing dinner featuring The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook at Mirabelle this past summer. Chef Guy Reuge prepared his recipes from this book. There is a game among chefs. It is the verbal sharing of one’s ultimate meal, your last meal…a Death Row Meal – I had mine that night at Mirabelle.
The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook can be purchased through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or at a scheduled book signing. For information on book signings and book signing dinners - “ LIKE” The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook on Facebook . Rumor has it there will be a book signing dinner at Tom Schaudel’s Jewel in Melville in January. Maybe Eric Lomando will follow with one at Kitchen A Bistro? – My Christmas Wish.