Mrs. Restino's Country Kitchen Review

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(More customer reviews)I have had this book for about 26 years--wow. I can't believe in all that time I only finally got around to writing a review.
Folks, this book is indispensable for anyone who wants to feel at home in their own kitchen--country or otherwise. It is and has been the go to book for just about every problem I've needed to solve in the kitchen, and still continues to amaze me with its exhaustive coverage. Susan Restino has a practical approach, combined with a sense of freedom to explore, that highlights what is important to know about the foods and tools you're working with, and lets you figure out how you want the thing to taste, or what ingredients you might like to sub out. Her recipes are big, broad strokes that are hard to mess up. Her coffee cake recipe alone could get just about anybody out of a scrape. Most importantly, she tells you why you ought to do what she suggests, and what will happen if you fudge it a little, or improvise. She dispels snooty kitchen "magic" myths, and cues you in on many of the shortcuts she's figured out along the way. She helps you think about a meal and what is important about it for which reasons. Are you cooking for someone who's sick? Are you trying to use up a huge pile of zucchini? Mrs. Restino is there for you. She's like the kitchen's own country doctor.

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In the early 1970s, Susan Restino and her husband moved to a remote farm in Nova Scotia with their two small children. Already familiar with European cooking techniques from her time spent as a au pair in France, she spent the next few decades learning to cook for her family with what the farm provided. Mrs. Restino's Country Kitchen combines those two chapters in her life, with recipes from around the world and right next door. Both traditional and experimental, the meals here include chicken with chanterelles, rice dry-roasted instead of fried, salads and stir-fries with seasonal ingredients, and desserts that are good endings to meals, not meals in themselves. There are also sections on making wine and brewing beer, bread- and cheese-making, drying herbs, and operating a wood burning stove.

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Tart and Sweet: 101 Canning and Pickling Recipes for the Modern Kitchen Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Rodale Press has had its ups and down; this volume brings them back to their strong side: teaching the basics to give you success. They have a few odd things that publishers do. The title does not help much. This book is well laid out. First you get the basics and then you get projects that take you through a year of seasons, if you have them. Of course they feel compelled to have 101 recipes.
Canning has also had its ups and downs. It has been down a long time because when it was a necessity for most homes, it was a big part of the working year. Modern conveniences were a welcome relief. But now we have renewed interest because you can achieve effects unique to this process, and not without dietary benefits. Canning got a bad rep from industrial canning which did its level best to destroy vitamins, nutrition and flavor. Not to mention their sinister tricks of loading sugar and salt because they test well in isolated focus groups. But there are excellent commercial canners if you know who they are. I nearly always opt for canned tomatoes over the plastic impostors at the supermarket or pseudo-farmers' markets. The good news is that this book will allow you to achieve superior results on your first try. And the authors are savvy on safety so they do not include anything iffy.
As I said, this book is well laid out. Go page by page and skip nothing except the introduction. Chapter 1 covers all the vital information to put you in control to begin successful work. It is only two dozen pages with no waste. This book is not a commercial to sell equipment, so you tour the basics. But I will tell you right now that I spent the two dollars for a strawberry huller, and another eight on a cherry pitter. And I have seen too many books masquerading as working books that are just two hundred pages of their ads that YOU pay for.
Before you know it, you are through the theory and the set up and into fruit spreads and pickles. By that time you are ready for the seasonal recipe sections where you can jump around as you please. Compotes, whole fruits and vegetables, condiments (such as sauces and syrups). Even cocktails -- a pickled ramp makes a fine martini. Plenty for all tastes and wants. Geary is right, this stuff makes for great parties because you did all the big work long before. She had help from an expert tech writer and it shows in the ease of use. Rodale makes a sturdily bound book (no jacket necessary as the cover is meant to be wiped clean). And it lays flat on your counter, thank you.

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Think You Can't Can? Think Again...

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