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The California Table

California Cuisine with a Coastal Vibe

February 23, 2016 By Lisa Dearen 2 Comments

Slow Fires: A Review

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Every summer, my goal is to learn how to grill. And every summer, I sip margaritas as I watch my husband grill, yet again. But this summer will be different! This summer, I have Justin Smillie’s thorough guide to grilling, Slow Fires.

Slow Fires is more than a cookbook; it’s a guide to learning the why’s and how’s behind braising, roasting and grilling. Take braising, for example, which Smillie broadly defines as a technique that combines meat with a cooking liquid. Clearly there’s a bit more to it than that, but having a simple summary open to a more broad technique helps the beginning cook get a handle on the situation.

Smillie goes on to break down the basic technique into three steps: building flavor (think brines, browning and patience), combining meat and liquid (and maybe a veg or two), and, finally, resting and finishing (and brightening, for that matter, with herbs or lemon).

This is not a photo-heavy tome, but those photos that are included are gorgeous, if not informative, like this photo-by-photo layout for roasting porchetta (“a great Italian celebration of pork that requires planning”).

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Or take this recipe for grill-smoked cod with mussels, clams and burst tomatoes, which teaches the home cook to turn one’s grill into a smoker (hint: you just close the lid). This recipe reminds me of cioppino but with more oomph.

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Justin Smillie is the chef at Upland in New York (those lucky Manhattanites!) and thanks to this gorgeous cookbook, you, too, can cook low and slow over a variety of heat sources, with an eye to mastering the art of grilling in your own backyard.

xoxolisa
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging with Books for review; all opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Reviews

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Elizabeth Shaw says

    February 24, 2016 at 7:34 AM

    What a gorgeous cookbook! I am right there with you, I always have high hopes of learning to grill (better yet, how to turn on the grill) and I always end up doing something else! I think we go in on this together- we both learn how to grill this year, deal?!

    Reply
    • Lisa Dearen says

      February 24, 2016 at 5:12 PM

      Sounds good! Glad I’m not the only one who needs a few lessons on the grill 🙂

      Reply

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