Two words describe my first thoughts upon receiving Slow Fires — Blown Away. This book is one of the best put together cook books I’ve seen in a long time.
The photos are stunning, recipes imaginitive, instructions detailed and informative. Even the binding itself is strong and heavy, like “hard cover” books used to be before they became mass market with cheap fiction.
The book is divided into four sections: Braising, Roasting, Grilling and Foundations & Finishes. Each one contains 15-20 recipes with ideas you’ve likely never considered, and definitly never seen done quite so exquisitely. Here are a few examples:
Braising
- Crisp Pork Belly Braised in Milk
- Sicilian Kale-Stuffed Turkey Legs
- Wintertime Clams in Avocado-Chile Butter
Roasting
- Panless Roast Duck with Squash, Cipollini Onions & Caper Oil
- Real Porchetta with Roasted Beets, Grapefruit, and Creme Fraiche
- Crispy Lamb Ribs with Pickled Nectarines
Grilling
- Grilled Herb-Mustard Rabbit Legs with Charred Endive, Fava Beans, Peas and Farmers Cheese
- Beer Brined Suclking Pig with Plum and Basil Salad
- Grilled Fatty Tuna with Citrus Pesto and Coal-Roasted Figs
Foundations & Finishes
- Parmesean-Pecorino Broth
- Salt Water Brined Tomatoes
- Fresh Ricotta
The only criticism I have is that the ingredients are often hard to come by. We raise and process our own pork, so a whole pork middle or belly for a Porchetta roll is easy enough to come by, but fresh octapus, quail, duck, figs and suckling pig are not at every grocery store. That said, the exotic ingredients come together beautifully, and if you’re cooking out of this book you’re not making dinner on a casual Tuesday night after soccer practice. Everything in this book is epic, but requires planning.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
