Southern From Scratch - Pantry Essentials and Down-Home Recipes

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. From the publisher - A guide to Southern scratch cooking—150 recipes for pantry essentials and modern twists on traditional recipes. Build a from-scratch Southern pantry with 50 essential recipes, then discover the versatility and flexibility of cooking from your larder with 100 more recipes for fresh takes on Southern favorites. Learn how to make the most of local ingredients with recipes for pickles and relishes, jams and spreads, sauces and vinegars, and more that use whole, natural, and in-season produce. With these flavorful bases and embellishments on hand, Ashley English opens up a world of Southern cuisine by sharing ideas and recipes that incorporate these classic staples. Have a batch of Dill Pickles? Make Fried Dill Pickles with Sorghum Mayo. Not sure what to do with that Muscadine Jelly? Make some Pork Meatballs with a Muscadine Glaze. With recipes ranging from Southern Greens with Chow Chow, Pickled Beet Deviled Eggs, and Succotash to Cornmeal Catfish with Spikey Tartar Sauce, Slow Cooker Barbeque Chicken, and Grit Cakes with Country Ham and Applesauce, this is a warm and down-to-earth homage to Southern Appalachian home cooking.

I love this cookbook - the fact that she goes through how to make and preserve the "pantry staple" (everything from pickled eggs s to BBQ sauce to the hot peppers that I am currently waiting to finish drying) and then gives a recipe or two to use the staple in. Most cookbooks do not do that and as a preserving newbie, this book is now like a pantry-bible to me!

(And that tartar sauce? To die for!!)

The photos are wonderful, too, but I think that there may be some serious backlash from the began/vegetarian crowd as her preface to the book is full of how leaving that lifestyle behind made her healthy and vibrant as a result of eating meat, "real fat" milk and cheese, glorious cheese!

I cannot wait for this book to come out so I can buy an actual hard copy of it! Well done!!