Wood-Fired Cooking
Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire [A Cookbook]
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
This contemporary collection of more than 100 recipes from chef-instructor Mary Karlin covers the range of wood-fired cooking options available to home cooks. From flame-licked Plank-Roasted Porterhouse or Grilled Naan to a hearth-baked Milanese Risotto, Leek, and Asparagus Tart or Warm Chocolate-Chipotle Cakes, Karlin's unassuming yet refined kitchen sensibility shines through in every dish. With a vast knowledge of terrific ingredients, the diverse flavor characteristics of hardwoods, and the best live-fire techniques and equipment now available, Karlin is a passionate advocate for this growing trend.
Her globally inspired Indian, Italian, Mediterranean, American, and North African recipes for cooking over live flame and embers are paired with contributions from Peter Reinhart, Bruce Aidells, Deborah Madison, and other fired-up chefs. Whether you're a seasoned barbecue expert or you just bought your first bag of lump charcoal, Wood-Fired Cooking will have you stoking appetites in no time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Karlin has passed down the knowledge of wood-fired cooking for nine years as an instructor at the Ramekins school in Sonoma, Calif., so it is not surprising that her first cookbook is a teacherlike endeavor. It begins with an extensive review of the basics, including a chart that looks at the "appliance characteristics" of a vertical clay top-vented oven, a list of woods and their proper uses (red oak for beef and fish) and a survey of various wood-burning devices including the classic La Caja China Box, a pig roaster on wheels. Next, there is a treatise on "Becoming an Efficient Wood-Fired Cook." Finally, she challenges her readers with 100 recipes ranging from academic to scholarly. Her specialty includes entrees that include the word "smoky" or involve a plank or a brick. Smoky barbecued oysters, grilled on a campfire grate, are served with an intense vinegar-based sauce. Smoked chicken and herb dumplings uses bacon, as well as smoke, to flavor the bird. And mushroom-rubbed plank-roasted steak employs a water-soaked aromatic board to flavor and keep the meat from drying out. For extra credit, there are several complex choices that seem a tough match for the open fire, such as an apricot tart with lavender cr me anglaise.
