REVIEW – The Cook & The Butcher

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WILLIAMS-SONOMA – THE COOK AND THE BUTCHER: JUICY RECIPES, BUTCHER’S WISDOM, AND EXPERT TIPS

• Author: Brigit Binns
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Weldon Owen (September 6, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1616281138
• ISBN-13: 978-1616281137

ABOUT THE COOK & THE BUTCHER

With a forward by rock star, NY butcher, Tom Mylan, this stunning new book from Williams-Sonoma features beef, pork, lamb, and veal as the savory stars of your kitchen, and is chock-full of tricks of the trade to help you get the most out of your meat dish.

In her eleventh Williams-Sonoma cookbook, renowned food writer Brigit Binns presents over 100 recipes for preparing a myriad of meaty masterpieces and teams up with over twenty butchers from the country’s finest meat markets like L.A.’s Lindy and Grundy’s Meats, Fleisher’s Grass Fed and Organic Meats in New York, Savenor’s Market in Boston and Chicago’s Gepperth’s Meat Market.

Binns kicks off each of The Cook& The Butcher’s sections with FAQs for “the rock star butcher” Tom Mylan, owner of the Meat Hook in Brooklyn, New York, providing readers with personality-laden primers on how to tell a great ham hock from an average one. “Notes from the Butcher” flesh out many recipes included in this cookbook, as other notable butchers from across the country urge you to step outside your comfort zone/routine whether that is by selecting alternative cuts of meat to approaching your local butcher so you can make your meat dishes memorable.

In The Cook & The Butcher, Binns explains a range of cooking techniques to help readers master the art of stir-frying, sautéing, grilling, roasting, braising and even smoking. Ever wonder how to grind your own meat to make homemade sausages or burgers? Look no further; Binns breaks the methodology into simple, easy-to-follow steps. Think beef jerky is best left to the professionals? Binns turns every reader into one by demystifying the process.

The Cook& The Butcher’s rich, full-color photographs and creative tips from some of the country’s best butchers is the perfect addition to any meat-lover’s arsenal. Just in time for summertime grilling!

About the Author
Brigit Binns is the author or co-author of twenty-four cookbooks and editor of many others. She has helped some of the country’s most respected chefs, including New York’s Michael Psilakis and Los Angeles’ Joachim Splichal, create cookbooks.

Brigit has written many cookbooks for Williams-Sonoma; her recipes are “deliciously inflected with the flavors of Italy, France, North Africa, and Latin America…immensely friendly and appealing. And so is her writing.”
— James Oseland, editor of Saveur magazine.

Brigit lived in Europe for ten years, where she graduated from England’s Tante Marie cooking school, owned her own catering business, and edited the English-language magazine of Spain’s Mediterranean coast.

MY THOUGHTS

I received an advance print copy of The Cook & The Butcher. Chapters include Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal and Salads Sides & Toppings. There’s also a Butcher Directory listing select butchers in the US. i love, love, love that at the beginning of each meat’s chapter there is a recipe index and that the author gives information about meat grades, methods of cooking, proper cooking temperature and cuts of the meat. The recipes in each chapter range from quick and easy to more challenging. The recipes are easy to understand and contain notes and tips from butchers. Colorful, mouth-watering photos are scattered throughout the book and accompany many of the recipes. The only thing missing from the recipes is cooking and prep time, information that I find invaluable when I’m deciding what recipe I’m going to make. The cookbook contains more than 100 recipes and there are quite a number of them that I’m interested in trying to make. This cookbook would make a most excellent addition to any collection, as well as make a terrific gift for those that want to learn more about meats and those that enjoy grilling.

The Cook & The Butcher has a suggested retail price of $29.95 and is available for purchase online and in select stores.

The product(s) featured in this review was provided free of cost to me for the sole purpose of product testing and review. This review has not been monetarily compensated and is based on the views and opinions of my family and/or self. Please note that the opinions reflected in this post have not been influenced by the sponsor in any way.