Baja Cooking on the Edge by Deborah Schneider

I’m a professional chef, author of 3 cookbooks and cooking teacher, based in San Diego.

My cooking career has taken me from yachts in the Greek Islands to some of California’s finest restaurants, and most recently into new associations with the gorgeous cooking school and organic garden of Rancho La Puerta, and with SOL - an exciting new restaurant concept based on my travels and writings about Baja California.

I believe that food and cooking should be approachable, fun and un-stuffy. I know that great-tasting food can also be healthy food. And I encourage everyone who loves eating as much as I do to support sustainable seafood and local organic farmers, so that future generations will enjoy all the pleasures of the table.

Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta: Recipes from the World Famous Spa

Chosen by the Today Show as one of the years best!

In this book, our goal is feeling good: full of energy, vitality, creativity and Deborah’s favorite word- joy.

Food and cooking can be one of the great pleasures of your life. When you eat well and enjoy yourself, you’ll feel better. Well-being is not just about living a long life. It’s about feeling great for every beautiful, irreplaceable day of it. Read more…

Rancho La Puerta is truly an exceptional place-when you arrive you feel an instant connection to the beautiful landscape. And when you prepare the fresh, seasonal, delicious meals in this book, you begin to understand that something as simple as the food you eat can put you in direct harmony with the natural world.

- Alice Waters, Chez Panisse

The recipes in this new book from Rancho La Puerta look so fresh and delectable-and I know from experience that they are. This garden and ocean-based collection of seasonal dishes finally connects spa food with real food and demonstrates how deep Rancho La Puerta has grown its culinary roots in the past decade.

- Deborah Madison, Author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

What a glorious and gorgeous book! More than a cookbook, it is a guide to the seasons and the unique ingredients that each turn of the earth provides us. The recipes are all fresh, beautiful and healthy, and the menus provided are whimsical, but also useful. This book is the magical Rancho LA Puerta at its very best.

- Joan Nathan, Author of The New American Cooking

Video: Visit La Cocina Que Canta

Video Recipe: Bananas Flambé with Chocolate and Pistachios

This is fun to cook right at the table if you have a chafing dish and brave guests. The dish is very fast, so have all your ingredients ready before you turn on the heat. Serves 6

Welcome!

Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta: Recipes from the World Famous Spa

Video: Visit La Cocina Que Canta

Video Recipe: Bananas Flambé with Chocolate and Pistachios

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