cover image The Butcher's Guide to Well-Raised Meat

The Butcher's Guide to Well-Raised Meat

Joshua Applestone, Jessica Applestone, Alexandra Zissu. Clarkson Potter, $27.50 (240p) ISBN 978-0-307-71662-0

Joshua was a vegan and Jessica a vegetarian until they came upon the idea of opening an ethically correct butcher shop. Located in New York's Hudson Valley, Fleisher's Grass-Fed and Organic Meats is their temple to locally raised animals that are hormone-free, and, once properly slaughtered, utilized from nose to tail. When not promoting their business, their first book provides clear, useful instruction on dealing with cuts of beef, lamb, pork, and poultry, interesting meditations on sustainable dining, and a dozen or so recipes thrown in for good measure. The literature of butchery is hard to resist, and the Applestones with Zissu (The Conscious Kitchen) manage to wield both a skillful pen and clever cleaver. Who could not be drawn into an inspection process where they "look for livers the color of oxblood that are rich, smooth and heavy with blood"? Who could not draw back when learning "We also check the eyes of the pigs (whose severed heads come in boxes)"? Handy carving instructions include how to butterfly a leg of lamb and best practices in cutting up a chicken. Short essays reflect upon the benefits of eating a steak proffered from organic cows and the beauty of offal, such as kidneys when they are "glistening' and "firm to the touch." Recipes range from chicken liver p%C3%A2t%C3%A9 for humans to beef liver treats for dogs. (June)