A Food Blog About, Uh, Food Blogs...Apparently

OK, food websites are a really big thing, have been for quite some time. Heck, you're basically reading one right now. Sure the Tucson Homeskillet skips about here and there but at its very essence we are a blog dedicated to all things gastro, cooking, eating, drinking and matters that make you go "Yum!"

Luckily we of the southern Arizona fold have it pretty good with food options on the internet, as far as eating and drinking local is concerned. You can always follow Andi Berlin and her food columns at the Arizona Daily Star, read Heather Hoch's reviews on the Tucson Weekly, find out all the sustainability and future of southern Arizona gastronomy with Edible Baja Arizona or subscribe to Tucson Foodie, a website I briefly wrote for before revamping the Homeskillet, which covers all things food and trending here in the Old Pueblo.

Then there's this site: Goofy, capricious, vaguely unfocused, slightly inebriated but hopefully fun with a more conversational approach to food writing. We like to talk about all things food and drink that's going around town, and sometimes it doesn't come from a locally sourced or owned organization, even though I'd say 99% of it is local. Sure we're small and a bit kooky, but those that do follow us and read the Homeskillet on a regular basis (that is when I do post which is like, what?, once a week?) seem to appreciate what we do here.

And, you know what? We appreciate you!

Thing is those sites and writers I mentioned above, including us, is a crazy insanely finite collection of websites dedicated to cooking, eating and drinking. The web is now bloated with blogs and pages focused on just cooking and eating. Heck, I love me some Damn Delicious now and then and get great ideas from Closet Cooking (because that's what the wife and I do in our cozy lil' desert bungalow) but there are some big sites with real budgets that I refer to on a daily basis for ideas and inspiration, such as what they are doing over at Thrillist with food and drink. Sure they may not cover what is happening in Tucson, although sometimes they do, but there is no denying the attention and proficiency some of these writers, chefs, travelers and eaters accomplish on a regular roster. Maybe someday the Tucson Homeskillet can get to these levels but...well, I doubt it. Unless we get some major sponsorship and Anthony Bourdain mentioning us saying: "All I know is that a rotund Metalhead out in Arizona is doing the food writing world a favor, and for that you need to seek out the Tucson Homeskillet and never go back."

That....may not happen anytime soon. Or at any time. Or... Yeah.

So recently I was asked by a co-worker what food sites I follow outside of my own and, for the fun of it, I listed just a few, the ones that get the most Metal Mark foot traffic, reposts and the most abuse from our kitchen. Hopefully you will discover a new favorite food site or at least rediscover one that you might have forgotten about from our article here. Either or, these are the ones we like to click on when we're not working or writing on our own.

You ready?

Here we go:

OOLA!

What we like about Oola! is how fun and clean this site is. Its one of those food pages where they invite you to play along with their concept and design, to sort of hop down this trail or that one, always finding something entertaining about what and how we eat. Ever wonder why Whole Foods charges like $200 for some mushrooms or what the grossest things McDonald's employees find in their Playplace kids area? Oola! lays it down, but in a most decent and pleasant way.

Plus their cooking tips and recipes are always interesting and fairly easy to follow and fabricate. Now it's rare to find a Tucson restaurant to admire and ponder on Oola! but, really, we have so many local publications and websites here that we don't really need a major website to tell the world where to get a Sonoran hot dog (don't get me started!) or which downtown eatery has the best brunch (again, Tucson Foodie can help you with that. Us? Well, we don't do brunch much, cuts into that late sleeping and not standing in line for flapjacks thing...).

Still, Oola! is great and very user friendly. You know what...it's just darn friendly. Dare I say, it's kinda cute. But not so much to make you throw up a bit in your mouth. Just enough to be all "You know what? That looks pretty cool. Let's eat that. In fact, let's cook that instead."

Oola! is just encouraging like that. And for all those reasons, it's bookmarked and well used by us on a fairly routine basis.

Check it out.

Oola! makes being a food fan that much more enjoyable

Yeah, Google Oola and you get the slave chick from Jabba's palace, pretty funny actually

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FOOD

If you can't get to your world traveling chef shows or afford to fly to Indonesia and eat the anus of a komodo dragon on a stick cooked by a twelfth generation komodo dragon anus cooker, then you need to seriously get into the food page on National Geographic.

Outside of the exotic eats from all points on the planet, they also have a very astute and caring approach to how we as humans eat and how we get that food we eat. It's a world tour of all things we crave, be it extremely upscale, such as rare cheeses in Paris, or the completely, shall we say "curious", such as why we should be eating Lionfish or what the diet is of the bush folk of the Sumerian outback consists of.

But I wouldn't go to National Geographic Food for recipes though. There is a cooking section but really the focus here is on the global appeal of eating and drinking as a species and they get really in depth about it making it wholly fascinating as a lover of everything food and drink. OK, consider this site as more educational than entertainment, when, if you really look at it, most food sites are educational. But this is a new level though.

Like, think of the Food Network as the junior high of food sites which only makes National Geographic Food the masters program at an accredited university. In a sense.

Regardless, for all of those out there even remotely inquisitive about the feeding habits of the Appalachian inbred as compared to the dirt people of Ghana, then you need to click on the link and start exploring. It's extremely fascinating.

And sometimes a bit gross. Which is awesome.

Squid toes and cockroach faces? Sure, I saw it on the web!

EATER

Eater is great. Eater makes us feel a bit inferior. But we like Eater.

The hip and the whipsmart that run Eater know exactly what they are doing and they can make you feel a bit dumb if you don't know how to catch up. Sure, it's just a website and, yeah, it's easy to navigate but the overall know-it-all about Eater is both enticing and a little daunting.

There's a lot going on here and that's what we love about it. There are updates and new articles popping up all the time which means you need to try and keep up. Eater sure is neat but with a full time job, wife, cat, garden and the Homeskillet to update here and there, it's a challenge to reap the entire benefit of the website regularly. I mean, these kids are in the current, if not a bit ahead of the food game. Before you even hear about a new chef or food show or trending drink, the folks at Eater are already bored with it and have moved on. In the same vein of the popular kid at school; you want to look away but you just can't.

Oh why are they so good looking? How do they predict what others will be wearing this year? And the band they are listening to now will become the next hit long after they grew tired of them.

But...with food.

Eater is great. Eater is a constant in my pantheon of food and beverage on the internet. But I can never write for Eater. Because I am old. Because I like 80s thrash metal. Because I live in Tucson. Just...because.

Love me Eater. And if you can't love me, just look at me once and smile.

Thanks.

Let's see, I'll take....yes please!

TASTING TABLE

Tasting Table is just an extension of Eater and Epicurious (which is coming up next), sort of sandwiched between the two which is why, yes, I sandwiched it between the two.

First rate recipes, not too challenging, concise guides to restaurants and chefs and brand new with their lovely #TTNow, you can get the latest food news piping hot right off the panini press in an easy to access stream. Very handy for those wanting instant access to the world wide news of culinary happenings. Did you know there is a vending machine in Paris where you can buy fresh raw meat and eggs? Did you know that? Well I sure did. Thanks to Tasting Table and the handy #TTNow I can be jealous of Parisians much quicker and from the safety of my bathroom.

Bright photos, easy to follow directions, lively articles and I just love their guest chef space where renown cooks do what they do in the Tasting Table kitchen and dazzle you with their skill and style. There's really not much more to say. We use Tasting Table a lot and for that reason alone you should give it a whirl.

Still no Tucson on their city guide though. Oh well...

Tasting table makes it look easy...because it is!

EPICURIOUS

Now we're talking.

The wife is an Allrecipes.com gal. Me? I've always leaned toward Epicurious. Why? Well, it may sound a bit pretentious of me, but...the website is slightly, if not a lot more, progressive and ambitious than most. Sure it's nice to cook with canned peas and dried potatoes now and then but I kinda need more than that. Allrecipes, and I'm not calling it a crap site!, is great for simple and easy dishes you can make pronto. But when you want to diversify your cooking and what you got handy in the pantry, Epicurious has never let me down.

Outside of the obvious recipe index, Epicurious has a dandy community forum where you can get to know all of the contributors and even follow them in the manner of Pinterest (we'll get to that soon) and the ominous The Future link where they can deftly predict what will be the trends in the culinary trade in the next few years. This site is a no brainer for real cooks and real food fans. It covers all the basic bases and then some.

Best thing is Epicurious does not have a city guide so Tucson is safe here! Otherwise this is our favorite recipe tome on the web and hopefully it'll become yours as well.

Easy, breezy, beautiful...Epicurious

MUNCHIES

We've been reading Vice Magazine for quite some time now. When I lived in San Francisco, I used to pick it up for free at local record stores. The magazine was always filled with content you would expect from a title like Vice; boundary pushing, deep rooted in the underground, pervasive, salacious and the best part is that it is downright hilarious. So when I heard that they put together a site dedicated to just food and eating, I knew it would be amazing.

And it is.

Munchies is mainly a video streaming site where you can watch all sorts of chefs, musicians, idiots, hipsters and weirdos jaunt around their fair city and explore the culinary underbelly. I mean, it's always fun to watch rap beardo Action Bronson get stoned as all living heck then make guacamole. His series "Fxxk That's Delicious" is a hoot and I had no idea he used to be a professional cook before dropping rhymes and dimebags into the crowd. He's funny and strangely charismatic just like the website and if you get where Vice is going with everything that they produce, you'll immediately get the gist of what Munchies is all about.

But don't go into Munchies expecting a trove of recipes and user friendly cooking advice. This is a dope regime on a new level and they are taking the notion of a food site and flipping it on its back much like a turtle on the side of the road expecting it to learn how to get back on its feet. This is pure entertainment but for the hungry and culinary conversant. With a little luck you'll get offended at times which only means the J is for Genius heads over at Vice have done their job.

Just go to their "Watch" option on the upper left hand corner and click on the various shows and episodes they have to offer. Then lean back and be prepared to seriously get the munchies. And I don't even smoke weed. I mean, I have, but...

Nevermind.

When you this high, I'm sure poke tastes like the sunbeams of heaven

PINTEREST

Seriously, how can you have a blog about food blogs without mentioning the be all end all of websites dedicated to organizing your already hectic hedonistic fooder existence? Pinterest baby...Pinterest.

Look, thousands upon thousands of "Pinners" use the site to coordinate their favorite things, ranging from gardening to fashion to movies to girls with very large butts and everything in-between. I myself do not use Pinterest to show pictures or feature links of girls with very large butts but (uh...) now that you mention it...

Anyway, we love Pinterest because when we find a recipe on Tasting Table, Epicurious or any of the ba-jillion other sites we use and love, all we do it copy and paste it into our page and the recipe will be saved forever. Or until we delete it after trying it and realize that durian fois gras was a bad idea. It's just way too handy dandy for those who come across aspects of inspiration but just don't have the space to keep all of those clippings. Pinterest is the clipping and for that we would like to start clapping in your general direction. 

Most websites that have recipes or gardening hints already have a link to "Pin" your current intention to get to some day or food to try once you buy that other ingredient you pinned last week. It's organization for the unorganized and even the most scattered of manner will be able to find some symmetry here as the site does all the hard work for you. 

Oh...what's that? Is the Tucson Homeskillet on Pinterest? Well, sort of. 

You can follow Metal Mark on Pinterest HERE.

Apologies to the numerous and nameless food and cooking sites that did not make the list. I think you know who you are. Do you? Probably not.

Cheers!

Typing, Research and Eating
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
Early March, 2016

Metal Influence:

BLACK SABBATH

"Technical Ecstasy"

Kneel Before The Altar Of A Meatless God!

Pretty sure it all started with a link.

It was a few years back, I had just left the life of a chef to work in a library and start a food site. Me being a lifelong fan of Metal music and also being a big time eater and lover of food, I'm pretty sure someone sent me a link via social media with the tagline: "Dude, you gotta check this guy out."

The link took me to a YouTube page dedicated to someone calling himself the Vegan Black Metal Chef. Okay. The Black Metal thing I was immediately down with as was the chef part...but "vegan"? It looked cool but I wasn't immediately sold.

So I clicked on a video where he was making Pad Thai. Sure. I mean, I was pretty convinced that this whole thing was a joke. Some guy in corpse paint, maiming food and then sacrificing it all to some slop altar all in the name of instant and brief internet fame.

But then...I kept watching.

After the initial bleating of his name over and over again in the sort of goblin squawk that some Black Metal vocalists strain, the video actually turned a respectable corner. Wearing chain mail and harsh vinyl gauntlets, the man in the makeup began to actually cook food. Brandishing a wicked blade you might see in a Dungeons and Dragons playbook and doing it all in candlelight, the Vegan Black Metal Chef took you from what ingredients you will need, what to do first, how to cook and assemble and all the while using non-animal products to do so. About halfway in I didn't even mind that he was cooking vegan. In fact, I really didn't notice. This guy knew what he was doing and I was an immediate fan.

His book, his tome, his offering unto the world

The best part was, the Vegan Black Metal Chef was funny. Keeping with the whole "Black Metal" motif, he tells you to "crush the s--t out of the peanuts" and "this is so much better than store bought because store bought sauce suuuuuuuucks!"

Not only was I learning, but I was laughing too, all the while getting my Metal fix in as blistering darkened music loomed in the background while his lesson goes subtitled seeing as he is near gargling the recipe to you in demon speak. When that video ended I instantly started another. Then another. Pretty soon I was a subscriber to his site, followed him on social media and began posting his newest videos on my own online pages.

And I'm not even a vegan. Far from it.

But I was hooked.

The man, the makeup, the lover of animals

A few months ago I got a message on social media: The Vegan Black Metal Chef was writing a cookbook and created a Kickstarter campaign to get it going. Oh, I may not have a ton of money, but this guy is going to get some of mine because I want that cookbook out on the shelves for everyone to savor. Vegan or not, the guy in the bat wing shoulder cloak knows what he is doing and I knew that his manual would envelop most run of the mill Food Network inspired cookbooks. Forget the boring old 'brunch ideas' and 'super simple supper' recipes you've bored over again and again, the Vegan Black Metal Chef is here to burn all that tripe down (well, not actual tripe, that would mean cruelty to a cow) and build a tasty fortress of gastro-ingenuity without the use of real cheese or meat.

I've seen it be done on YouTube, now I just need it bound and printed.

There was even an incentive to donate to his cause. If you gave a certain amount, not only would he get closer to publication and you get a copy of the book once it was published but he would mention you and promote your website as well. This, I thought, was too good to be true. Seeing as the Tucson Homeskillet was in the infancy of its rebirth at the time, we could use all the help we can get. Heck, we still can! So I gave what I could and waited...

Ingenious recipes, easy and animal free

Then one day I got an email. It was from the man himself. He received my donation and just needed the link to my website. So I sent him the address and not too long after he responded:

"Your website has an image of a piece of pizza that clearly has animal based product on it. Since I cannot condone the use of animal based ingredients, can you send me something else?"

So I sent the Vegan Black Metal Chef a few articles that could be deemed "vegan"; one was about a local beer house and the other was a local brewery. That's...what I had. Luckily those links seemed to satisfy the dark lord of the kitchen and on November 3rd 2015, myself and the Tucson Homeskillet got a nod from the wicked sorcerer de cuisine sans animale.

A couple of months later, a package arrived. In it was his cookbook.

Immediately I flipped through it and just as quick I knew this thing was amazing.

Breaking it down like the villages of the forlorn doomed to have their huts engulfed in flames

"The Seitanic Spellbook" (for those that might not know, seitan is pure wheat gluten that a lot of vegetarians and vegans use in the place of meat, it has a similar consistency to some lean proteins especially when cooked and seasoned correctly) is what you would expect from the magic realm of the Vegan Black Metal Chef. Right off from opening the blackened folio of heightened consciousness cuisine, there are skulls, fire, pentagrams and most importantly a mission statement.

The master invokes the conclave of what "traditional" plant based cooking is meant to be and smashes that notion like the brains of his enemies. He sticks tried and true to keeping as close to non-animal based components as possible but using his own experience and taste to elevate each dish. But just like his website and videos, the VBMC crushes the usual elitist and sometimes tasteless takes on what it means to eat and live vegan. This guy makes it fun. Like really fun.

And that is something the lifelong devotees and the curious onlookers of the vegan cabal need these days. 

I know I do.

Your unearthly trip across the globe

The book starts off with a breakdown of cuisine from around the world. Not too sure what they are dining on in Hell these days, but I am sure it might involve a lot of garlic and some Sriracha, which the chef here uses a good amount of.

Peppered among the glorious offerings of less than barbarous fare are essays and helpful hints to assist you in your ascent into a food coma oblivion. Such as, and I had no idea about this, there are "vegan" wines compared to other wines. Did you know this? We sure didn't.

Apparently some wines are filtered through bone marrow and fish parts....but why? Anyway, the good thing is that vegan wine is cheaper than those that invoke gelatin to make them sweeter or more palpable to the common tongue and for that we bow our heads before the enlightened deity and continue forth on our quest for real yummy vittles. 

Further uses of the components you already possess in your pantry of doom

You are taken on a journey from Euro-American, through Asia, South America, Indian cuisine, Italian and the Middle East. Each stop, much like the notion of this entire hell spawn of recipes and concepts, breaks down the "traditional" approach to each dish. The best thing is, the change is really quite simple. All you have to do is tweak a bit here and there, perhaps spend more time at Asian markets and co-ops to get you ingredients, but overall the switch really isn't that grotesque.

And this is coming from a Metalhead that eats whatever he wants. Honestly, "The Seitanic Spellbook" really makes me want to challenge myself and go vegan once in a while. I like vegetables. If it wasn't for the potato how would we get french fries and vodka? Think about it.

Perhaps you going vegan wouldn't be so rough if you follow the examples set in this book. I bet you can do it.

Let's see if you can.

Metal Mark's weakness, Indian cuisine, which is nearly vegan to begin with

Each section opens up to one initial recipe, folded between the two pages. On the left, you have the "Spell Reagents" (aka the ingredients), which are always stripped down and easy to obtain and follow. Next comes the play by play on cooking the dish all done with the vernacular that we have all come to love and fear from his online videos. Sure there's no Black Metal playing (um, this is a book yo), so you're going to have to supply that on your own.

Might I suggest some early Emperor, Mayhem, Dark Throne, Carpathian Forest and that Chris Gaines thing that Garth Brooks did trying to do some sort of switcharoo on us and all he did was don a black wig and flavor savor.

Oh, and you need to cook by candlelight. And with a dagger of eternal nightmares. And pepper.

Lots of pepper.

Scoop out the flesh of yon avocado of death

Intertwined in these works of gloom and deliciousness, are the Chef's advice on how to shop. Oh you think you can just waltz into any Piggly Wiggly, buy some non-meat item and then be all "Hey, looka me...I'm all vegan and crap!" No. You need to read the labels, you need to seriously give some thought into what you are putting in your cart and then putting in your mouth. Hidden in so many so called "vegetarian" products contain microbes of animal spleen or cricket dust. It happens and if you want to follow the doctrines of the Vegan Black Metal Chef you are going to have to change the way you shop.

All it takes is perhaps a course to a different food supplier, maybe sourcing from a local farmers market or not supporting the gratuitous big box gluttony that is slowly poisoning you with their labels of "organic" and "healthy". This scripture of evil benediction will guide you into the darkened light of a new consciousness with just the simple task of modifying a thing or two here and there.

Regardless, this book is just chock full of instructions on how to inventory your kitchen to create the best freakin' food you could possible conjure up to appease the wicked gods of the culinary underworld.

Did you know you can recreate the flavor of shrimp by using the Japanese Konjac root and a few spices?

Me either.

Apparently bacon is a state of mind, not just a fatty pork product

My favorite parts have to be the "Oracles of Inspiration" which are extensions of the meal plan and recipe you were just provided with and uses the components to further your excursion into the deep forest of flavor.

You have the vegan cheese and made black bean "cheese" burgers...now what? How about mac 'n cheese? A burrito? Lasagne maybe? He doesn't just proclaim "Go get me some green beans for this one dish!" and then leave you hanging. Using the index in the back, locate 'green beans' and pursue your way into the vortex of heavenly spite and yummy tummy scorn. There is no end to the concepts of eating vegan in this book and flavor is just the beginning.

Or the end. Bwahahahahaa!!!

You all have spiked bowls of infernal grimness I hope

Through it all, the Vegan Black Metal Chef arrives on occasion to inspire and be the torch down the long dungeon of uncertainty and possible fleeing. With that razor sharp wit and confidence, he has pages dedicated to knowing what the book's intentions are, what it means to live a cruelty free life and to be the best darn person you can be. All the while cursing, praising Satan and making you laugh the whole time.

This cookbook may not be for all people just due to the subject matter and the use of Black Metal and skulls to mach your guacamole, but no one can deny the care, thought and time it went into creating such a demonic reach of exquisite food and flavor. If you are looking for fancy vegan cuisine using only the dried berry emulsion from the rarest bloom found on the tallest mountain only cultivated by a secluded indigenous people for one week out of the year...you need to talk to you dietitian/yoga instructor named Chip because this guy uses onion powder and stuff you can purchase down the street. The idea of going vegan shouldn't be terrifying or really that hard. It should be about awareness and caring about how you live in this world and what you do as a part of it. That and eating some good stuff.


The only "terrifying" thing is his collection of battle weapons. I mean, how do you chop a leek with a double bladed axe? Not too sure, but the Vegan Black Metal Chef makes it look so easy.

And fun.

By the fires ov Hell, the food was delightful

"The Seitanic Spellbook" needs to be in the collection of any serious home cook looking for options, vegetarians and vegans needing a well needed push into safer territories and for Metal fans because this man does it right. It's smart, it inventive, it cracked me up and above all it made me super hungry. I look at cookbooks all the time and this one actually had me panting and drooling. Best part is, there isn't one animal ingredient in any dish and I'd like to see Bobby Flay pull that off. Plus I don't think he could pull off the corpse paint either. Or maybe he could. I'd like to see him try.

Blessings and curses to you Vegan Black Metal Chef. This scroll of savory darkness is one to cherish and keep bound forever in a sarcophagus buried deep in the forlorn wastelands of Nefelheim only to be procured by the summoning imps beyond the freezing damnation mist when their hunger becomes malevolent.

Or keep convenient on top of the fridge like I do.

Either way.

We of the Tucson fold know our tacos, and these are good tacos

You can visit the Vegan Black Metal Chef HERE

Watch his videos HERE

Eventually buy the book but for now get it for your Kindle HERE

Camera and Typing
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
In the Permafrost of Late Winter, 2016

Metal Influence:

GORGOROTH

"Carving A Giant"

Tucson Homeskillet's Top 5 Cookbooks of 2015

Well, 2015 is almost coming to a close and for us here at the Tucson Homeskillet it has been a good year. After taking an unexpected hiatus due to many circumstances beyond our or anyone's control, we came back with a new focus, new look, a new energy and, most importantly, an honest to goodness real web address.

Being an avid reader of cookbooks and having my day job working for the library, I was lucky enough to come across a bunch of amazing and not-so-great cookbooks this year. Seeing as there is still a little time to shop for Xmas, I thought I might list my top five cookbooks of 2015 and perhaps inspire some gift giving for that chef or home cook you think has it all.

It took a while to nail down the top cookbooks from this year but after some re-reading and re-cooking some of the dishes we think we have the winners.

You ready?

Here we go...



5) "The Laws of Cooking *and how to break them" by Justin Warner

Justin Warner won season 6 of Food Network Star and now he has a cookbook. Because that's what you do when that happens. Unfortunately, this is our least favorite book on the list but...it still made the list. For a hodge podge of various reasons, we really liked this book even if it kind of annoyed us at times.

The book is colorful and full of fun and frolic and for that we know this will go over well with the younger cooking enthusiasts. Plus his grilled cheese raviolis with tomato soup was amazing as was the ginger bruleed grapefruit and his brisket and oxtail pho. We have yet to try the Dr. Pepper beef braised tongue tacos but that is next on the list. There are lots of helpful charts, easy to follow tips and recipes and strewn throughout the over 300+ page book you are taken on a rollicking culinary journey by a spunky and curious young cook.

One of the many helpful hints you find throughout "The Laws of Cooking"

One of our biggest complaints is that this book can be a bit goofy at times and is kind of all over the place. Normally that isn't a bad thing since that tends to describe Metal Mark on a regular basis, but there is just this under current of pretentious and youthful over confidence that permeates these pages in an almost eye buckling manner. Sure the recipes, the charts, the list of "gear" that you will need to make the dish a success is great but it is quite obvious this kid wants to be Alton Brown.

Picture this, if Rachel Ray and Alton spawned a sub-hipster of a chef, Justin would be that kid. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. But once you glean the pages of this cookbook you'll see what I am going on about.

Again, more fun hints you can rely on

Plus there are a lot of pictures of him. Like, almost as much as the food. If not more so.

And the use of "dippin' sauce", "nuggs" and, of course, "Yolo" seem a little over done.

I'm sure it's tasty but...please

But I digress! We love this book. I just had to point out all of the shortcomings to emphasize that Justin Warner is talented and is on his way to a great culinary career, be it in front of the camera or in the back of the kitchen creating whimsical and not too lofty recipes. Some, though, were a bit of a challenge. One involving cooking with sardine skeletons seemed like a pain to create but overall the dishes here are hands on and very creative. Sometimes a bit too creative, if you know what I mean. Like, there are some ingredients and twists here and there that reek of culinary school valedictorian just waiting to show you what they are made of. Once the ego dust settles down though, you have a tight cookbook with flair and imagination.

"The Laws of Cooking" is a perfect gift for that quirky youth with a penchant for pissing you off because they are a better cook than you, and they don't even try. With this, they will find new ideas and gumptions in which to further your love/anger for them when they hit the griddle.

Justin's god...and yours too apparently

4) "Sea and Smoke: Flavors From The Untamed Pacific Northwest" by Blaine Wetzel

"Sea and Smoke" is a beautifully crafted and meticulous cookbook that is more memoir than recipe tome. The first half is the tale of the chef Blaine Wetzel and how he came to command the innards of the Willows Inn on Lummi Island off of the shore of Washington state. This is a glorious book to have out on display for like minded friends to page through and glamour at all of the impossibly fantastic notions of what food is and what it could be.

But as far as being a practical cookbook? Ehh...

When master chef Achatz gives you a nod, you know you doing good

As a lover of high end food; dishes that are thought about, rehearsed, refined and developed, "Sea and Smoke" had me drooling over food I know I will probably never get to eat (unless this blog takes off and I get an invite from Wetzel himself...) and, really, that's about it.

If you think you can obtain even a fraction of these ingredients that are mentioned here, then, well, you live on Lummi Island and work at the Willows Inn. Super specific sea life, herbs, oils, flowers and the like that are only found in that area of the globe is what goes into the dishes that are presented in this book. So, if you are that ambitious and that skillful then go ahead and have at it. Otherwise, the rest of us will just admire the care that goes into each plate that chef Wetzel creates and sit back and read the rest of it.

Oh, a certain micro green that sprouts for only three days out of the year? Yeah. Have fun with that...

This is an honest to goodness food lovers book, and by that I mean it is a good read. The first half of it is the tale of the rise of a young and ambitious chef (Wetzel) and his rise to power over the Willows Inn and the accolades that soon followed. But it wasn't an easy climb, oh no, this guy had suffered like no other and definitely put his time in to get where he is now.

This is solid work, a real behind the scenes of what it takes to reach the heights that he has. Thing is, it is quite obvious that Blaine Wetzel is just hitting his stride. It's going to be fun to see where this talented chef will be in the years to come. For now, I think he is quite content of owning his own island.

Simple, delicious but...much too tricky

This book is a must have for any haute cuisine fan or even for someone that hails from that region of Washington. It comes off as more of a coffee table book than a utilitarian recipe folder. The images of the landscape is breathtaking, the shots of the food are mind numbing yet divine in their dance play of colors and textures.

But to actually cook this stuff? Yeah right.

Incredible colors and textures but at a cost

"Sea and Smoke" may be a bit pretentious (ok, it's kind of a lot of pretentious) but I just couldn't get over the style, craft and semblance of it all. I've been to Seattle and all but this thing makes me want to explore even further beyond the oaky beer bars and burger stands of that drizzly city and hopefully it'll inspire you to do the same.

But stinging nettles as a primary ingredient? C'mon man.

So tasty I'm sure, but will never know

3) "The Southerners Cookbook" by The Editors of Garden & Gun Magazine

Now we're talking.

Garden & Gun is basically the pulse of the South and now they have a cookbook and all I can say about it is that it is glorious. "The Southerners Cookbook" is a fundamental for any fan of Southern cuisine or for anyone that wants to step up their down home cooking skills.

You just can't fake it when you start with the basics

This cookbook beams with old timey techniques with a modern approach to the Southern kitchen. It lists when you need to properly stock up your pantry, what tools, gadgets and appliances are required and then, blam, it goes right into the recipes.

The ingredients and steps for their dishes are easy to follow and don't discriminate against those who may not be that attuned to the ways of the kitchen. In fact, this book will make any one who loves good honest food to put on an old apron, dig out that forgotten cast iron skillet, toss some lard in and just let things happen. No pretension here, just real food for real folks.

For real.

Yes, they actually have a recipe for aspic

One thing to be aware of: This is a down home Southern cookbook so it's pretty meat-centric. There's also a whole section on just the art of hunting so vegans and squeamish vegetarians beware.

There are a decent amount of vegetable options but....not enough. Plus most of it is cooked in animal fat so...there you go.

Yes please

Again, like all of the cookbooks I mentioned here, there is always a good story to be had, anecdote to learn or essay to read. Sure, the recipes are the main focus here but the tales peppered within are also a twist on the modern cookbook. Like an old Southern grandparent, this book too has some yarns to spin and for that we are most gracious.

Did I mention the pictures for this book? Yeah, awesome. Artfully done but with a cozy honest feel which will make you even hungrier just glancing at the glazed hams, bacon, Hoppin' John and...oh man.

I think I just drooled a little.

"The Southerners Cookbook" is the essential gift for any level home cook and those that believe that Paula Deen was the poofy haired butter demon to what is tried and true about real Southern cooking.

Plus they make good use of okra in several dishes, including a Bloody Mary and I really hate okra. So there you go.

2) "Olympia Provisions: Cured Meats and Tales from an American Charcuterie" by Elias Cairo and Meredith Erickson

We here at the Tucson Homeskillet are HUGE fans of charcuterie, what is also known as a meat and cheese board in some places. Little bites of cured meat, artisan cheese, seasonal fruit, nuts and olives...oh, wait. No, we hate olives. Scratch that, we'll just have more toast points please instead.

Well, the sorcerers over at Olympia Provisions in Portland, Oregon have published a grand book about what they do, how they do it and how you can do it too. With chef Elias Cairo at the helm, this meat bible should be a staple for gastro-carnivores in your immediate circle of holiday gift giving.

(insert drool face here)

Again, this book falls into the trap of having really precise and very challenging recipes with equipment that would take up a large showroom. If you have the gumption to attack these arduous processes of sausage making, smoking, curing and all that then my Metal horns are pointing in your general direction.

Thing is, you don't have to make the items in this book, you can just order them online and throw together your own board to impress the gourmands in your life. Or just sit alone in the dark, eating a charcuterie board while marathoning your favorite show. It's what we do on a regular basis.

Don't hate.

Sopressata is a thing of beauty

This book is definitely not for the vegan in your life. "Olympia Provisions" is really pork heavy and they have little or no time to mess around with frilly plant based dishes. Pork belly is everywhere, as are images of butchered animal. If you are not into that then avoid this one at all costs. For the rest of us, you need this.

The photos are deliciously crisp and are want to inspire you to create such near unattainable greatness. The steps are there, their helping hand is extended, but divinity such as this takes a bit of time and practice.

With this book in your possession you are well on your way to being the next sausage king/queen in your town.

Ha! I see what you did there...

Beyond charcuterie they do offer brunch, lunch and dinner recipes that are a bit more approachable. I mean, they have to. Unless this was a textbook for sausage making and meat butchering, the inclusion of dishes you can actually create without the use of pretentiously specific tools or ingredients is a nice addition.

Plus there is  a great "intermission" in this book, one where the chef and others from the shop take a life changing trek through the Swiss Alps and eventually end up in a small village where they learn the cooking and curing techniques from that region. Eventually they wind up in an almost fairy tale chateau on the sheer cliffs of the Swiss mountainside where they enjoy the fruits and gristle of their efforts and that story alone could be a book unto itself. But it's in this one so...it's got that going for it.

The masters in their domain

Tempting recipes, delectable photos and mouth watering ingredients all go into making this a delightful gift for the serious fooder or just to keep in your collection to spark motivation when the charcuterie yearning comes a calling. And it will call. Oh yes.

I can hear it now. Oh, wait...that's just my stomach grumbling.

Same thing.

Seems easy but...yeah. No.

1) "Mark Bittman's Kitchen Matrix" by...well...Mark Bittman, obviously

We love Mark Bittman. So do you. Of course you do. Who doesn't?

This guy has been breaking it up and laying it down for years and for that we kitchen salute him. His books have transcended most other food books due to his straight to the point approach and the notion that everyone can cook. Be it a rank amateur or a starred chef, Bittman is all like 'we all need to eat, you should know how to cook, let's go!"

Okay, that's not a direct quote but....you see where I am getting at here.

Charts. Ingredients. Pictures. Go!

His newest one for 2015, his "Kitchen Matrix" literally and figuratively blew us away. Each chapter or section or, whatever, features an ingredient, say, eggplant, then jams out a slew of different recipes and ideas on how to treat it and what to do with it then relays those designs into wholly separate devises to bring about a never ending journey with food and flavor. It's really quite brilliant because it is really quite simple.

These recipe generator charts are amazing

Chock full of useful charts, graphs and variations, this cookbook will become the serious home chef's new favorite go to for suggestions on what to do with what you have on hand.

This book goes way beyond any Food Network publication or celebrity chef ego piece. The Kitchen Matrix is useful, really useful, and I highly suggest getting a copy for your hash slinging friends and definitely one for you. Because you will be using this one on a fairly regular basis.

I know we did.

Simple yet exquisite recipes abound

Some food snobs out there may poo poo the straightforward and colorful approach to cooking here but for those that need an extra push in the right culinary direction you just can't go wrong. Mark Bittman covers everything and I do mean...everything. I can almost see this as a near textbook for first year cooking school students. And as a gift for those that just graduated.

Very approachable, extremely reliant and definitely overtly creative when it comes to kitchen mastery. Really good stuff here.

So I've been doing it wrong this whole time...now you tell me!

We hope you enjoy this book as much as we did and have as much fun cooking with it as we have. It not only makes a great gift but it also makes a perfect nook in that already growing cookbook section on your shelves. Heck, this would even be the best first thing to start your cookbook collection.

When you have the food universe at your fingertips, all you can do is get to work and start making worlds of your own.

Have fun!

Donuts make us go, uh...crazy!

I want to thank the Pima County Public Library for providing us with all of these titles and so much more. It was a tough decision making process but with your help our tongues and bellies had a great year and a great food ride because of you.

Cheers!


Camera and Typing
"Metal" Mark Whittaker
Mid-December, 2015

Metal Influence

 Dokken

"Santa Clause is Comin' to Town"