The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How : Field-to-Table Cooking Skills

Growing vegetables and raising livestock is only the beginning of a successful homestead — that fresh food goes to waste unless you can properly prepare, cook, and preserve it. Andrea Chesman shows you how to bridge the gap between field and table, covering everything from curing meats and making sausage to canning fruits and vegetables, milling flour, working with sourdough, baking no-knead breads, making braises and stews that can be adapted to different cuts of meat, rendering lard and tallow, pickling, making butter and cheese, making yogurt, blanching vegetables for the freezer, making jams and jellies, drying produce, and much more. You'll learn all the techniques you need to get the most from homegrown foods, along with dozens of simple and delicious recipes, most of which can be adapted to use whatever you have available. Also available in this series: The Backyard Homestead, The Backyard Homestead Book of Building Projects, The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, and The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals. Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Table of Contents 7 Preface 10 Introduction 11 PART 1: Getting the Most from Fresh Food 14 CHAPTER 1: Setting Up the Homestead Kitchen 15 CHAPTER 2: FRESH VEGETABLES: Harvesting, Handling, Cooking 28 CHAPTER 3: FRESH FRUIT: Harvesting, Handling, Cooking 52 CHAPTER 4: Grains and Beans 67 CHAPTER 5: HOMEMADE SWEETENERS: Honey, Maple Syrup, and Apple Cider Syrup 86 CHAPTER 6: Eggs, Birds, and Rabbits 97 CHAPTER 7: Fresh Milk 127 CHAPTER 8: MEAT: Goat, Lamb, Pork, and Beef 131 PART 2: Food Preservation 160 CHAPTER 9: Cold Storage 161 CHAPTER 10: Freezing 167 CHAPTER 11: CANNING: Boiling-Water-Bath and Pressure Canning 184 CHAPTER 12: Drying 201 CHAPTER 13: Pickling 216 CHAPTER 14: Making Fruit Preserves 231 CHAPTER 15: Culturing Milk and Making Cheese 243 CHAPTER 16: Curing Meats and Making Sausage 260 PART 3: Homestead Cooking 276 CHAPTER 17: Breakfast and Egg Dishes 277 CHAPTER 18: Vegetable, Cheese, and Bean Dishes 287 CHAPTER 19: Poultry and Meat Dishes 307 CHAPTER 20: Desserts and Baked Goods 330 APPENDIX: Basic Cooking Methods 347 Resources 352 Metric Conversion Charts 353 Index 354 The Backyard Homestead Series 368 Also by Andrea Chesman 369 "Growing vegetables and raising livestock is only the beginning of a successful homestead -- that fresh food goes to waste unless you can properly prepare, cook, and preserve it. Andrea Chesman shows you how to bridge the gap between field and table, covering everything from curing meats and making sausage to canning fruits and vegetables, milling flour, working with sourdough, baking no-knead breads, making braises and stews that can be adapted to different cuts of meat, rendering lard and tallow, pickling, making butter and cheese, making yogurt, blanching vegetables for the freezer, making jams and jellies, drying produce, and much more. You'll learn all the techniques you need to get the most from homegrown foods, along with dozens of simple and delicious recipes, most of which can be adapted to use whatever you have available."--Amazon website "Your backyard homestead is a success! The vegetables and fruit are abundant and the fresh eggs are delicious, but they're more than your family can eat. Your pig is fattening up quickly: will you know how to fill out the cut sheet when it's time to call the butcher? A backyard bounty can be overwhelming. Andrea Chessman's indispensable guide to gathering, processing, preserving, and eating the fruits of your backyard homestead ensures that nothing goes to waste. Her experience and clear instructions equip you with the skills to make the most of everything you harvest!" -- page 4 of cover