Meat Cookbooks

Vegetarians, avert your eyes, now! This year there are several cookbooks dedicated to cooking meat. If you are like me, you are eating less meat, but being more particular about what you consume. I no longer buy meat at the supermarket. I am too haunted by images of factory farming. But I am still eating meat and while it makes up less of the plate, the few days a week I do cook it, I want it to be as deliciously satisfying as possible. Each of the following books are written by James Beard award-winners who know their stuff. Their recipes work, their writing is clear and their knowledge unassailable.

James Peterson is an experienced cooking teacher, he not only knows how to cook, but knows how to explain it clearly to just about anyone. Meat, A Kitchen Education is his latest book. All kinds of cooking methods are covered in it and it's worth pointing out his book includes chicken, turkey and fowl. Step-by-step photos show how to carve, make dishes like salt pork and veal chops in papillote. The book focuses on classic dishes like Irish Stew, and Beef Wellington but also has more creative ones such as Oxtail Stew with Grapes, and Mostarda di Cremona. Particularly helpful are illustrations that show where each cut comes from on the animal. The book has 175 recipes.

The most massive tome out this season is Good Meat, subtitled the complete guide to sourcing and cooking sustainable meat, by Deborah Krasner. If you are concerned about sustainability, this is your book. It answers the questions you may have about grass-fed beef, Halal and Kosher meat, the flavor of pastured meat, "pink veal" and other modern meat issues that are not necessarily covered in other books. It is lovingly written, I don't know how else to describe it. The photos are stunning of both animals and dishes. There are recipes for using offal, pheasant, and pig's tail, in addition to much more accessible cuts and types of meat. Recipes I can't wait to try include Lamb Sausage, Eggplant and Orzo Salad, Pork Loin Chops with Ruby Port, Prunes, Cinnamon, Turmeric and Ginger and Beef Stew with Vermouth, Yam, and Mint (it included pomegranate molasses). The book has over 200 recipes.

The smallest format book is Falling Off the Bone by Jean Anderson. This is a straight-forward recipe book. Not all the recipes use meat on the bone, but all are for succulent style dishes that will make you swoon. It's a book of comfort food, plain and simple. It includes and braises, soups and stews. There are old fashioned dishes like Country-fried Steak and more out of the ordinary dishes like Aegean Lamb and Fennel Stew, Far East Spareribs on Sesame Sauerkraut and Danish Fricadeller in Onion Sauce. Unlike the other books, this one includes just beef, pork, lamb and veal, and no poultry or game. The book has 163 recipes.

Creating A Meal You'll Love: Book Review

It seems fitting that food writers and chefs, who focus on the pleasures of eating, also help out those who don't get enough to eat. That is the idea behind Creating A Meal You'll Love: Notable Chefs and Food Writers on Their Unforgettable Dining Experiences. It's a book of essays from chefs and food writers and all of the contributors provided their essays "pro bono" with the royalties from the sale of the book going to Share Our Strength, the leading non-profit organization ending childhood hunger in America.

There are some recipes in this book, but mostly there are just wonderfully written essays from a wide range of voices. I am proud to share the pages with people I know like Shauna James Ahern and Jaden Hair, writers I admire like Louisa Chu, Mimi Sheraton and David Sax and inspiring chefs like Marcus Samuelsson, Anna Thomas, Susur Lee and Skye Gyngell. In fact, the essay from Skye Gynegell about a memorable meal that she shared with her father in Tuscany is reason enough to buy this book. My essay is on The Most Important Meal of the Day. Perhaps you can guess which one that is? It's the meal I enjoyed with guests on my wedding day and one I cherish making on the weekends and sharing with my husband.

I write this blog because I love sharing with you, my readers. I ask nothing in return. I do not ask for donations, bore you with sponsored posts or even pester you to click on ads. But I do hope you will purchase a copy of this book either for yourself or to give as a gift. I'm sure you will enjoy it and the money goes to support an important organization and a cause near and dear to my heart. Like the Best Food Writing anthologies, this is a book that shares stories from writers you treasure and will enable you to discover new voices as well.

Keys To Good Cooking by Harold McGee: Book Review

I love Harold McGee's classic tome, On Food and Cooking. I turn to it often when doing research for posts or articles I'm writing. But it's not the best book when I'm looking for practical advice. McGee's latest book, The Keys to Good Cooking is a bit like On Food and Cooking, only for dummies. Keys To Good Cooking is nothing BUT practical advice. And there is no book that I know of that answers quite as many questions about selecting ingredients, cooking and food storage.

The book is a reference guide, not a cookbook. While it might be good to read the whole book the truth is, you are going to turn to various sections when you are cooking and the book is organized to make that easy. For example turn to the Sauces, Stocks and Soups to learn why you may not want to make mayonnaise with all olive oil or go to the Fruit section to learn why European plums are best for baking. My only quibble is that from time to time I would like a little more information, for example McGee says to rinse poultry thoroughly before cooking, but doesn't answer the question why? I've read rinsing is more likely to lead to cross-contamination and that any bacteria will be destroyed by heat during cooking. Though I suppose you have to draw the line somewhere, if McGee is a proponent of rinsing, I want to know why.

Some of the most helpful sections I've come across so far are the ones on cooking temperatures and which are most desirable for different cuts of meat, the explanation of differences between Asian, European and American pine nuts and guidelines that address how long you can store certain ingredients. I also learned which types of bread will keep for a few days--levain and sourdough because of their acidity. Did you know you can store miso indefinitely in the refrigerator? Good to know! As is almost everything in this new indispensable cooking reference guide.