Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects Review

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(More customer reviews)I love that author Karen Solomon considers her new cookbook, Jam it, Pickle it, Cure it, to be a handbook for kitchen food crafting. I often lament the fact that I'm not crafty in the traditional sense. Knitting gives me anxiety, painting makes me angry, and God forbid I try to sew anything, but I certainly know how to use my KitchenAid mixer and with this book as a guide I may yet find my very own alternative craft niche in the world.
While paging through the cozily styled recipes in this book I found myself hard pressed to find a project that I didn't want to try. Homemade Apple Butter - bring it on! Pickled Green Beans - when does the farmer's market open?! And if I have two weeks to spare I can even make my own bacon. Perhaps the item I'm most excited to try my hand at is Strawberry Jam. I'm honestly not sure if I can contain my excitement until June when the strawberries will be at their peak of juiciness in New England.
All of the recipes have thorough and thoughtful instructions. This cookbook will absolutely not disappoint and would make a wonderful gift.

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Do you relish the joys of hot toast spread with your own homemade butter and jam? Love to dazzle your friends with jars and tins of choice goodies–all created by you? The kitchen is a paradise for crafty cooks, and whether you're a newcomer to the realm of amateur artisanal edibles or a seasoned food crafter on the prowl for your next batch of appetizing challenges, Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It has recipes galore for you (75, to be exact). Projects range from perfect pantry staples (Butter, Crackers, Pasta) to festive giftables (Toasted Walnut Brandy, Lemon Curd, Peanut Butter Cups); some give quick gratification (Mayonnaise, Rumkirschen, Potato Chips), while others reward patience (Gravlax, Ricotta Salata, Kimchee). Practical prep-ahead and storage instructions accompany each recipe, several give variations (like Caramelized Onion and Thyme Butter–yum), and most share ideas on how to use it, serve it, and give it away. Complete with color photographs and the accumulated wisdom of author Karen Solomon's years of food crafting, Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It is your one-stop resource for turning your culinary inspiration into a pantry full of hand-labeled, better-than-store-bought creationsKaren Solomon is a food and lifestyle writer and veteran culinary tinkerer and food crafter. She is the author of The Cheap Bastard's Guide to San Francisco, a contributor to San Francisco magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle, and a former editor and columnist for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. She has also contributed to Chow! San Francisco Bay Area, the SF Zagat Guide, and dozens of Bay Area and national publications. She lives with her partner, son, and food-focused dachshund in (you guessed it) San Francisco, California. Reach her at www.ksolomon.com.

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Smoking Food for Pleasure or Profit: How to smoke fish, oysters, mussels, cheese, ham, bacon, sausage and salmon, complete with recipes and diagrams Review

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(More customer reviews)I would give this book negative stars if possible. This was written overseas and apparently the author just discovered liquid smoke. Every recipe in the book uses liquid smoke. I'm sorry but brushing cheese with liquid smoke and letting it set in the refrigerator in NOT smoked cheese. Big waste of time and money.

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A new, extended and revised edition of this long established essential guide, with weights and measures converted for US readers.If you would like to cure and smoke hams, fish, meats and cheeses, produce professional quality smoked food with ease using ordinary kitchen appliances, or even build your own kiln, then this is the book for you. Everything that you need to know about smoking food is in here right down to the last detail, including how to fillet fish and how to prepare it for the smoking process.It even covers production methods and recipes for using liquid smoke.22 pictures, diagrams & 10 recipes in one superbly laid out book, with large print so that you can read the book while you work.

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Hold The Cream Cheese, Kill The Lox Review

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(More customer reviews)In Eternal, Texas, Essie Sue Margolis persuades Ruby, the widow of the former rabbi, and the current rabbi Kevin Kapstein to host a Bar Mitzvah at Temple Rita for her two "lovable" third cousins, Larry and Lester Levee. Very quickly, Ruby and company find the two "terrible twelve" year olds to be monsters of the first order. However, with Essie masterminding the ceremony, the Bar Mitzvah should prove to be the social event of the season for the small congregation. To add luster, lox cutter grandmaster Herman Guenther will perform his miracle dicing and slicing.

Herman fails to show up at a meeting with Essie and Ruby so the two ladies journey to his home only to find the grandmaster murdered. While Essie bemoans the impact on the twin's Bar Mitzvah, Ruby investigates by back trailing where Herman has been to include Alaska and New Jersey. Ruby finds herself up to her gefilte fish in a lox conspiracy that dates back to the Nazi occupation of Denmark.

HOLD THE CREAM CHEESE, KILL THE LOX is an amusing cozy that provides the audience insight into pre-Bar Mitzvah training. The story line is humorous because of the actions of Essie groaning over the murder's impact on the Bar Mitzvah and the havoc caused by the non-mench twins. Though why Ruby and Essie gallivant to Alaska and New Jersey to solve the homicide seems weak, the motivation for murder is fun to follow. Sharon Kahn serves up a taste of Jewish American life with a few kibbutz to nosh on inside a cozy that is clearly not chopped liver.

Harriet Klausner

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Smoked-Foods Cookbook, The: How to Flavor, Cure and Prepare Savory Meats, Game, Fish, Nuts, and Cheese Review

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(More customer reviews)A complete and interesting compendium of recipes and smoke cooking methods. The advanced smoke cooker will enjoy this book and find some new ideas within. The section on sausages and pemican, two of the advanced smoke cooking skills, are expecially helpful. The beginer may be disapointed in the results of applying the recipes due to one major oversight.
The heart and soul of good smoked food is the cure. Smoke goes on the food last. This book although mentioning cures of many types fails to make this point clear and to provide the first time smoke cook with a simple first time recipe. In fact, the cure recipes provided do not have anywhere near enough sugar in them. Having smoked foods for 20 years I have found that the taste for sugar is strong and if not enough sugar is used the complaint of smoked food is that there is too much salt. First timers should use the cure on page 39 but substitute 4 parts sugar to 1 part salt. And don't leave the sugar out of meat cures like the author does.
Curing time is not covered adequately either. Lean meat absorbs salt while fat absorbs sugar (more or less), and time in the cure makes a huge difference in the saltiness of the food. The longer in the brine, the saltier the food will taste. The leaner the meat, the saltier the food will taste. Never leave your meat in the cure longer than the recipe states, or you will have salty meat.
Buy this book to improve your smoke cooking skills, but not to learn how to smoke cook if you have never done so before.

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Smoked turkey, pheasant, salmon, pâté: these expensive delicacies can be make at home for surprisingly low cost. Wild game and domestic meats are prepared in any of dozens of marinades and brines, then set in a smoke cooker to absorb the flavor of hickory, apple wood, mesquite, chestnut, or maple smoke. The smoke cookers - which cost no more then a quality barbecue grill - are readily available from a variety of sources, all listed in the book.
Included are recipes for beef, pork, lamb, venison, chicken, turkey, duck, fish, shellfish, jerky, sausage, nuts, cheese, and even pasta. Complete menus provide guidelines for satisfying meals featuring smoked foods.

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