The Connoisseur S Guide To Meat

From sumptuous steaks and prime cuts to braises and savory stews, this guide is a carnivore’s delight. Gourmets will appreciate the book’s accurate and comprehensive information about when, where, and how to buy meat; how to tell if it’s fresh, and how to prepare, cook, carve, and serve meat to best advantage. From store to kitchen to table, this compendium fills in all the blanks about how to obtain fresh meat from humane and sustainable sources, identify cuts, and fillet and carve them, while offering up a rich trove of reliable recipes. A visual directory that showcases each cut and comments on flavor, preparation, and cost rounds out this indispensable culinary reference.

The sea is a treasure chest filed with the planet’s most delicious, nutritious, and healthful foods. For those eager to make the most of this bounty, this Connoisseur’s Guide not only provides essential advice on how to buy and store seafood, it offers easy-to-follow cooking techniques and delectable recipes, from simple soups, p�tes, and mousses to light lunches, easy family suppers, and sophisticated party fare. And these sumptuous dishes can be enjoyed guiltlessly, since the author has thoughtfully supplied a comprehensive guide to the world’s sustainable fish and seafood.

Sushi restaurants have become more popular than ever, with new locations popping up every day in big cities and small towns all across the country. Though Westerners are quickly learning to appreciate the unique flavors and textures of sushi, few truly understand the intricacies of the preparations, terminology, and culture they find at sushi restaurants. Fortunately, The Connoisseur's Guide to Sushi is here to help. With detailed explanations of everything from maki to sake, Dave Lowry demystifies the language, lore, and - of course - the food that diners may encounter. He offers an alphabetical exploration of both the mainstays of the sushi restaurant (including the types of fish and sushi available) and the more adventurous offerings and toppings. There are also sections on sushi accompaniments, such as pickled vegetables, wasabi, beverages, etc.; on sushi etiquette; and on what to look for in a good sushi restaurant. Advice and anecdotes abound, ensuring that those who read this book will feel confident (and maybe even a little smug) the next time they go out for sushi.

The definitive guide to buying, cutting, and cooking local and sustainable meats, from the owners of Applestone Meat Company and the founders of Fleisher’s Grass-Fed and Organic Meats The butcher has reemerged in American culture as an essential guide in avoiding the evils of industrial meat—which not only tastes bad, but is also bad for one’s health and for the environment. Joshua and Jessica Applestone, a former vegan and vegetarian, are trailblazers in this arena. They owned Fleisher’s, an old-school butcher shop with a modern-day mission—sourcing and selling only grass-fed and organic meat. The Applestones’ return to the nearly lost tradition of the buying and nose-to-tail carving of whole animals—all humanely raised close to their shop in New York’s Hudson Valley—has helped to make them rising stars in the food world. The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat is a compendium of their firsthand knowledge. This unique book—a guide, memoir, manifesto, and reference in one—shares everything one needs to know about well-raised meat, including why pastured meats are so much better than conventional ones and how to perfectly butcher and cook them at home. Readers will learn which cut of steak to look for as an alternative to the popular hanger (of which each steer has only one), how to host a driveway pig roast, and even how to break down an entire lamb (or just butterfly the shoulder)—all with accompanying step-by-step photographs. Differences among breeds and ideal cooking methods for various cuts and offal are covered, and the Applestones’ decoding of misleading industry terminology and practices will help consumers make smarter, healthier purchases that can also help change what’s wrong with meat in America today. Complete with color and black-and-white photographs, illustrations, and more than a dozen recipes, The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat is the definitive guide to eating great meat—responsibly.

Vermont-based master butcher Cole Ward delivers a comprehensive guide to whole-animal butchery that goes beyond conventional "do-it-yourself" books and takes readers inside the world of truly sustainable meat production. The Gourmet Butcher's Guide to Meat demystifies the process of getting meat to the table, and its wide scope will be welcome to those who not only wish to learn the rudiments of butchery, but also want to understand how meat animals are raised, slaughtered, and marketed in a holistic system that honors both animals and consumers. Written in Cole's unique voice of humor and simplicity, the book celebrates the traditional art of culinary butchery, introducing readers to stand-out butchers in America and Europe as well as a diverse group of farmers committed to raising the very best animals with respect. The many methods of raising and finishing meat animals are clearly and thoroughly explained and compared, and sensitive issues like hormone and antibiotic use in meat production are assessed. Readers will learn all the terminology associated with meat and butchery, as well as the complexities of meat grading, carcass yield, marbling scores, and issues with inspection. Also included are recipes, a detailed glossary, and more information on: * The real definition, work, and role of a culinary butcher; * The history and tradition of butchery; * Meat: selecting your breed, grading and aging, tenderness, storing; and reheating; * How meat gets to the table: farmers, slaughtering methods, stress, and animal welfare, the role of meat inspectors, cut sheets, what's legally allowed/not allowed when purchasing meat for further processing, keeping integrity in the local meat movement; * Understanding the commercial meat food chain and recognizing deceptive practices; * Processing your own meat: what you'll need, tools, safety, prep; * Beef: domestication, terminology, how cows work, raising methods (grass, grain, etc.), meat-safety issues, hormone growth implants, antibiotics and feed additives, carcass yield and marbling scores, and a partial list of beef breeds; * Cutting up a beef forequarter and hindquarter; * Pork: domestication, terminology, raising methods, grading and inspection, and a partial list of pork breeds; * Cutting up a side of pork; * Sheep: domestication, terminology, raising methods, and a partial list of meat breeds; * Cutting up a whole lamb; * Chicken: domestication, terminology, how to cut up a whole chicken; * How to make sausages; * Value-added products: what they are and how they can help increase your bottom li≠ * Your own butcher shop: size, equipment, display, marketing; * A better way of thinking about meat: a holistic overview and some conclusions. History buffs will delight in the chapter that traces the roots of butchery from pre-history to modern times, and meat shoppers will welcome Cole's description of what goes on behind the scenes at meat markets large and small. And, of course, new or aspiring butchers will find a well-illustrated slideshow on CD (included in the back of the book) with over 800 images on cutting up a side of beef, a side of pork, and whole lamb and chicken in more detail than is offered in any other book on the subject. Sure to be the ultimate resource on the subject of gourmet butchery, this book will change the conversation and help bring back a traditional art that is in jeopardy, but increasingly important in the local-food and ecological-agriculture movement.

Explains what the human mind does when we read a menu, select a wine, sample a dish, argue with a waiter, or recall a favorite meal, and discusses what it means to be intelligent.

A meat feast awaits! Become an expert on buying, preparing and cooking meat. From discovering why cuts matter to learning how to recognize top-quality meat, this is your one-stop, practical guide. It contains everything you’ve ever wanted to know about meat. Inside the pages of this meat recipe book, you’ll find: • A comprehensive course in preparing and cooking meat with over 250 recipes. • Recipes feature timing and temperature charts to help you create the perfect flavor, plus help you choose which herbs go with different dishes. • A unique “How to Butcher” section provides illustrated step-by-steps and focuses on cuts of meat that can be easily butchered at home. • Expert advice from butchers on the best cooking techniques, as well as tips on how to use a meat thermometer, how to test for “doneness” and how to experiment with flavor pairings. Whether you want to learn how to slow-cook for maximum flavor or create the perfect Sunday roast, this cookbook has all the answers for meat lovers eager to try working with different meats and cuts. Get the best from your meat with step-by-step preparation and cooking techniques, and learn key home butchery skills, like needling, frenching, rolling and tying. Find out everything there is to know about well-raised meat — where to buy it and why it tastes better. Cook more than 250 of the world's best poultry, pork, beef, lamb and game dishes like Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Portuguese Pork with Clams, Kerala Beef and Barbecued Moroccan Lamb. With The Meat Cookbook, you’ll become a connoisseur in no time!

At last, a field guide to identifying and selecting more than 200 different cuts and kinds of meat, from beef and poultry to game and cured meat! An essential resource for every home cook or chef, Field Guide to Meat offers details on virtually every kind of meat available. This practical guide includes more than 200 full-color photographs of cuts of beef, veal, pork, lamb, game, and poultry as well as more than 100 different kinds of cured meats and sausages. Cross-referenced with the photographs are in-depth descriptions of the cuts, including basic history, location in the animal, characteristics, information on how to choose the cut, and flavor affinities. Step-by-step preparation directions tell you whether the item is best marinated, braised, grilled, roasted, or pan-seared. Trips to the butcher’s aisle will no longer be intimidating, and you’ll never end up with a cut that’s too tough for dinner.