Organic, Shaken and Stirred: Hip Highballs, Modern Martinis, and Other Totally Green Cocktails Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Step One: Where to find the organic liquors: If you wanna go green and your liquor store does not want you to: As some reviews note that they aren't familiar with a few of the organic brands listed, it should be noted that all brand names and even suggestions of where to track 'em down are in the foreward for the book under the section: "Everything you need to know to build a green bar." But, as the author notes, these are suggestions. If you want to use what you have on hand and go organic part of the time, the recipes are solid enough in taste and preparation that you'll still enjoy the recipes until your order for, say, Vodka 14 arrives from its organic distillary...BUT, that said, ask your local liquor store first. We found our liquor store was happy to order us some organic Vodka as well as tequila, and that another one slightly further from us already stocked them both. So even if you are in an area with little access to organic liquors, with the internet or a friendly request, you may have the same luck as us trying out some great recipes. Where to find any other organic ingredients listed? Read the notes on every recipe and the author will tell you...such as with one recipe that suggests tamarind concentrate (for a very exotic drink) tells us to find it at an Indian food specialty store, an all-natural grocery store, or on the internet. But there are plenty of recipes with nothing exotic so don't let the unique ones scare you off--they just add interest to the book and help you create one-of-a-kind mixers you'd never see otherwise on days you feel like dabbling in a new taste.
Why It Matters: While taste, in my opinion, is greater with organic liquors, the cost follows suit. But anyone going organic knows that this is the norm. Reason being that without synthetic insecticides, and artificial ingredients to maintain freshness longer than is natural, farmers and manufacturers are going to lose more of their crop/ingredients used in distributing their organic product-- whether food or alcohol. Giving new meaning to the phrase "drinking responsibly", an organic cocktail drinker may choose to do so do avoid insecticides and harmful sprays shown to be detrimental to their bodies and the environment, to support sustainable farming and/or to encourage enviromentally repsponsible packaging. But, in the end, taste is what one remembers in the first sip so regardless of your motive...that is key. And in my opinion, the author pulls through...
Choose Your Mood: Feeling Fresh & Zesty? Lush & Fruity? Clean & Classic? Wanna Play in the Garden or Invite Friends Over for Punch in a Pitcher? There is a section for each. You choose and pick a recipe to suit your taste.
Fresh & Zesty was my favorite section. Formerly a lover of mimosas, I enjoyed the author's suggestion to utilize grapefruit juice instead so as not to smother the taste of the champagne--and to utilize the grapefruit juice's acidity and more refined sweetness in combination with tequila and elderflower liquor to create a phenomenal new brunch sensation.
"Coming in Hot" is a favorite new drink, but, as a Texan, its sweet and hot taste is particularly pleasing to my Tex/Mex palette. It combines strawberries, a small zip of jalapeno chilis, agave nectar, lemon juice and tequila to take your mama's margarita into a modern sensation.
The saffron margarita is a new taste sensation as well, combining tequila, contreau, lime juice, mango puree made from mango chunks, agave nectar, and saffron threads for an orange/red sweet and tart margarita.
Of course, organic suggestions of all of the above ingredients are noted.
Lest it be assumed all drinks are as exotic as the above, know that the book also has recipes for still unique, but not quite so exotic: prickly pear mojito, organic agave margarita, lavender lemon drop, Harvey Wallbanger version 2.0, all natural bellini, etc.
Few recipes are "old school" recipes with simply new organic ingredients. Most have a gourmet twist so that even if you decide to use non-organic ingredients to save money on occasion, you won't be scrimping on discovering new tastes within your mixology.
Kentucky Christmas is a great suggestion for cocktails prior to Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner for the adult household...or even a holiday party. You muddle organic cranberries then simply add cranberry juice and bourbon. We have also made this with frozen cranberries and it's crisp and fresh enough for summer parties on the porch and festive enough for winter celebrations--but could not be any easier to prepare.
The recipes aren't hard to do and are unique enough that they are actually fun to try...the taste combos are wonderfully paired in my opinion.
Look: As the other reviewers noted, this is just a gorgeous book with beautifully done full-color photos and color throughout the book, including divider pages and fonts. Even if you left this on a coffee table, it would serve well. Heck, the photos are so well done that you almost wanna tear em out and frame em! (this is coming from an artist. But I think anyone would notice this aspect of the book.) The beauty of the book helps make it a good gift for your organically inclined family member or neighbor, I think it would be safe to say...Well, so long as they drink.
Negatives: It's rare that anyone would have their bar well-stocked enough to simply open this book and begin creating scores of recipes. To truly go organic in every recipe, you will need to do some bar stocking. If you don't want to order anything off the internet then it's best, in order to create many recipes, that you have an all-natural grocery nearby such as Whole Foods or Central Market, in order to create some of the more exotic recipes that may call for organic ingredients such as organic lemon juice. But, with such shopping trips, you'll be able to take old school cocktails like "spiked lemonade" to new-age ones such as "spiked blueberry-thyme lemonade". And the tastes are unique and worth it to us--and living in Austin made the ingredients easy for us to locate. However, there were some recipes that were also seasonal due to the ingredients, so this should be kept in mind as well. Organic drinking is no different than eating...it takes extra effort but only the reader can decide if this is worth it or if they have the stores near them to allow them to access organic ingredients to make the book worth it. If not, however, they are still sure to find some unique new takes on classic faves.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Organic, Shaken and Stirred: Hip Highballs, Modern Martinis, and Other Totally Green Cocktails

Get 22% OFF

Click here for more information about Organic, Shaken and Stirred: Hip Highballs, Modern Martinis, and Other Totally Green Cocktails

Read More...

Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)When my roommate decided to buy a side of grass-fed beef from a co-worker 10 years ago, she came home with a single sheet of paper in her hand.
"What is it?" I asked, holding the sparsely typed page gingerly, noting where we were to indicate our preference for steaks or roasts or ground beef.
"The farmer says it's a cut sheet." she shrugged, "I guess we fill it out." She pulled down the old Joy of Cooking from above the fridge, saying, "This book has some diagrams in it, maybe it will help."
We struggled with the cut sheet for a few hours before coming to any decisions. We also bought a second-hand freezer as well, because we thought it might be a good idea to have some extra room for all of that beef. It was a very good idea. We didn't know what we were doing, but after tasting the quality of the grass-fed meat, we were hooked.
Ten years of buying sides and shares of beef and lamb, CSA shares of pork and whole chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks have passed since then. I'm married now, with a growing family to feed, a second freezer and yet I still struggle with filling out a cut sheet.
Thrilled I am, indeed, to find Deborah Krasner's recent book, "Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat". In this book, what was perennially intimidating has been laid out for me, in one book, clearly and with lots of diagrams - just the way I like it.
Ms. Krasner has organized her book into sections dealing with each animal, how to source them, what cuts come from which primal, how to ask for what you want, and how to cook the cuts you get to the best advantage. Diagrams, color photos and clear instructions lead each chapter, even before the recipes begin.
The recipes I tried were delicious. My husband said of the Sirloin Steak with Red Wine, "This tastes like something you'd get in a restaurant!" What home cook doesn't secretly want to hear that! For lamb, I loved the Merguez Sausages, saving half the recipe for the freezer to put into a cassoulet later. Black Bean Soup with Smoked Hocks and Sherry introduced me to this wonderful cut. As a result, I'll always have some on hand in my freezer.
From the Poultry section, our favorite has become the Roasted Cardamom, Oregano and Garlic Chicken Thighs. So aromatic, I think there is nothing more lovely than the smell of this chicken floating through the house.
For those who do not eat meat, Ms. Krasner has also included a large section on eggs and other side dishes, among which the Vermont Cheddar Souffle and the Clementine, Fennel and Olive Salad are standouts.
Even beyond the increasingly important issues of grass-fed vs. commercial meat: nutritional, environmental, good animal-husbandry, etc., the book reminds those among us who eat meat to look with honesty and clarity at where our meat comes from. She gives us the tools to access this world without too much stress. I know this for sure, thanks to "Good Meat", I'll never be anxious about filling out a cut sheet again.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat

Good Meat is a comprehensive guide to sourcing and enjoying sustainable meat. With the rising popularity of the locavore and organic food movements—and the terms "grass fed" and "free range" commonly seen on menus and in grocery stores—people across the country are turning their attention to where their meat comes from. Whether for environmental reasons, health benefits, or the astounding difference in taste, consumers want to know that their meat was raised well.
With more than 200 recipes for pork, beef, lamb, poultry, and game, stunning photos of delicious dishes, and tips on raising sustainable meat and buying from local farmers, Good Meat is sure to become the classic cooking resource of the sustainable meat movement. Praise for Good Meat:"Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat belongs on the shelf of every carnivore out there. If you eat meat and if you raise animals for meat or if you have ever considered eating meat or eggs, you need a copy of Deborah Krasner's work of art. The thoughtful essays, equipment and seasonings chapters alone are worth the price of admission, but the anatomy lessons, cutting instructions and more than 200 recipes make the book a rare bargain indeed." -Grit.com

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about Good Meat: The Complete Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Meat

Read More...