Preserving Today Cookbook

Additional Details

Description: Americans today, Jeanne Lesem makes clear in this enticing book, are preserving foods in new ways -- and for entirely new reasons. No longer is the average cook interested in canning huge amounts of the summer harvest to stock the pantry shelves for the winter ahead. 

Nowadays, the primary purpose of preserves is to create new, exciting flavors to spice up otherwise bland dishes and to take the place of rich sauces. And Jeanne Lesem shows us exactly how to preserve -- easily, efficiently, and deliciously. 

 

Her secrets include: 

• putting up small quantities 
• making use of the food processor and the blender to make the preparation easier 
• using the microwave for all or part of the cooking 
• freezing fruit and vegetable stock at the peak of flavor so that, when convenient, it can be turned into a quick preserve 

Her 168 delectable recipes (60 of which appeared in slightly different form in her 1975 book, The Pleasures of Preserving and Pickling) range from Paradise Jelly (made of apples, cranberries, and quinces) as a spread for morning toast, and a chutney made with fresh coriander and yogurt as a piquant accent for fish, to Chinese Pickled Garlic to perk up a sandwich, and a peppery Salsa Fresca to enhance leftovers. Her Apple Ginger can substitute as a delightful (and less sweet) topping for an upside-down cake, her Key Lime Marmalade has all the flavor of Key lime pie (without the richness), and what could be healthier as a snack than a peck of Pickled Snap Peas? 

 

Among the many new features here are: 

• recipes using fruits that only recently have been appearing in our markets -- guava, pummelo, mango, carambola, and kiwi -- as well as fruits that are making a comeback, such as gooseberries and quinces 
• preserves made with wild fruits such as rose hips, mulberries, chokecherries, and haws from the hawthorn tree 
• the use of dried fruits and juice concentrates for jams to cut down on the sugar 
• a chapter on using preserved foods in cooking and baking and making sherbet 

Interspersed with entertaining nostalgia about the place of preserves on the American table, Jeanne Lesem's recipes are as varied and as innovative as the different waves of immigrants contributing to the ever- changing American kitchen, which the Knopf Cooks American series is exploring. 

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Condition: Good condition.