Synopsis
A butcher who now has his own cable TV show, Merle Ellis shares 536 of his meat recipes--traditional, new, plain, and elegant. Includes Pork Chops German Style, Szechuan Beef Stir-Fry, Roast Lamb with Ham and Rice Pilaf Stuffing, and Veal Piccata with Pistachios.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1996-09-01 | | Series: | Knopf Cooks American Series |
| Size | | Length: | 338 pages | | Height: | 10.0 in | | Width: | 7.0 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 25.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
Here is the ultimate meat cookbook for Americans today. The eminently qualified Merle Ellis, who first learned the trade at age thirteen apprenticing in his father's butcher shop in Sioux City, Iowa, and has been "cutting up" ever since, knows what he is talking about when it comes to meat. He understands our craving for meat, what meat has meant to us as the centerpiece of the American table, and what its new role is today. He tells us how to buy meat, what to look for, and how to cook the new leaner cuts to coax out of them the richest and subtlest flavors and textures. You'll find here Merle Ellis's formulas for grilling the perfect steak, roasting the perfect roast, making the best-ever hamburger, and what makes a good ham, as well as 300 superb recipes that reflect both the traditional and the new. Throughout, the author's savory tales of cattle trails and chuck wagons, the hogs that gave Wall Street its name and the butcher who was called Uncle Sam, and other aromatic bits of Americana all serve to whet our appetites for a fine helping of the heartiest protein of them all.
Industry Reviews
Author of Cutting Up in the Kitchen (1975), a cookbook/guide to meat and poultry, and frequent guest chef on Good Morning America, Ellis trained as a butcher in his father's meat market, starting at the tender age of 13. Here he shares his knowledge and dozens of his favorite recipes. He has a somewhat folksy style, and many of the recipes are old-fashioned, hearty dishes, such as Basic Pot Roast or Creamy Lamb Stew though some, like Lamb Chops with Dried Cherries, are more sophisticated. Chapters cover the basic four Beef, Pork, Lamb, and Veal with separate sections on "Odds 'n' Ends and Innards" and "Sausages and Such." The food pyramid may have been redesigned, but Americans are still eating meat. For most collections.
Breitman
Carnivores will thrill to this good-natured overview of meat dishes. Historical favorites like Second-Best Chili (so-named because it uses second-best meat) and Basic Meat Loaf are interspersed with newer ideas like Lemon Pork in Cream and Curried Kabobs with Peanut Butter Sauce, made with lamb. A few less successful adaptations of ethnic dishes (Ham and Vermicelli Carbonara; Mexican Beef Stir-Fry) float in a netherworld between the two. The 536 recipes are generally easy to follow, and the abundant tips on cooking methods, preparation and cutting techniques are comprehensive and useful. Ellis offers readers who haven't previously sought out a neighborhood butcher prime motivation to do so: some ingredients will not be found in the supermarket meat section. Lamb Rib Chops with Tarragon Mousse are encased in a layer of caul fat, and a chapter devoted to offal, called "Odds 'n' Ends and Innards," contains Brains and Scrambled Eggs, Pigs' Feet and Sauerkraut and even Rocky Mountain Oysters. The writing here is folksy, drawing on the author's career as a butcher and the history of meat-related topics like cow branding and barbed wire, although Ellis (Cutting Up in the Kitchen, 1975) might better have stayed away from apologies and explanations. His lengthy responses to common protests about veal-raising ring awkwardly defensive and are not likely to assuage readers with those concerns. For meat eaters and cookers, however, this is a valuable overview of a venerable culinary tradition. (Sept.)
Lopate
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