Bacon - A Love Story (A Salty Survey of Everybodys Favorite Meat)

EBook Description: In this voluminous look at all things bacon, the creator of BaconUnwrapped.com takes her love of pig belly to print. Like its subject, this material is best consumed in small portions; along with anecdotes and opinions from hog farmers, chefs, food bloggers and average Joes, first-time author Lauer also covers topics like bacon production, non-pork variations, and songs devoted to the breakfast meat. Lauer does her best to keep things light, but her relentless cheerleading quickly becomes grating; her phrase "The Best Meat Ever" appears on almost every page. Still, bacon lovers will enjoy (and probably employ) the glut of trivia, including the restaurant chain that first put bacon on a cheeseburger (A&W), the number of states with a town named "Bacon" (six), and alternate uses such as "bacon plaster," assembled with cheesecloth and affixed to one's chest in order to ward off a cold. Even those well-acquainted with bacon will find new recipes like Black Pepper Bacon Chili, Bacon-Wrapped Tater Tots, Bacon Bloody Marys and Candied Bacon Ice Cream. Readers who, like Lauer, possess a borderline-obsessive love for bacon are likely to embrace this as their new Bible, but anyone else will quickly get their fill.

Want to learn about meat? Really learn? Then How to Cook Meat is your book. In great and enjoyable detail it explores beef, veal, lamb, and pork--which cuts to buy, what cooking methods suit each, how to judge doneness, and much, much more. Authors Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, responsible for the bestselling Thrill of the Grill, also provide more than 200 explicit recipes that comprise a wide range of dishes, from prime-rib roasts to hearty stews, lamb-shoulder braises to grilled pork fillets--and they even cover innards and specialty cuts such as ham hocks. It's hard to imagine a meat lover who wouldn't benefit from this comprehensive yet approachable investigation.

Staring with illuminating notes on butchering and meat grading, the supermarket versus butcher meat-buying issue, and other related matters, the book then provides ample notes on cooking techniques. Recipes for the major meat types follow, organized usefully by cut size and tenderness; these treat the most melting cuts, which can stand quick cooking, to the tougher (though often more flavorful) ones that demand braising or stewing. Particularly attractive recipes include Sage-Rubbed Roasted Loin of Beef with Shallot-Bourbon Sauce; Veal, Sausage, and Fava Bean Stew with Lemony Greens; and Traditional Dry-Rubbed Saint Louis-Style Pork Spareribs. With additional recipes for the likes of hash browns and rice, beans, and vegetable sides, plus useful tips, nomenclature, and substitution notes, the book is a real addition to the kitchen library, though it won't remain shelved for long. --Arthur Boehm

PW: misterdanger

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