Books - In the Kitchen Online

The Amazing Secrets of Vinegar: 347 Remarkable Household Uses and Folk Remedies
Margaret Wilson 2004 (AUS)
This is a great reference book on the 'unsung hero' of our pantries. Vinegar is an economical, versatile, widely available substitute for expensive cleaning products, skin care products and stain-removal compounds. Also included are recipes for delicious-sounding dishes; directions for vinegar as a weed-killer and insect repellant; dozens of therapeutic/health uses and much more! 180pp

BA117

Bicarbonate of Soda: cleaning, health and beauty, recipes.
L & K Designs 2008 (UK)
Most of us are familiar with the use of bicarbonate of soda in baking, but this versatile compound can also be used for cleaning, deodorising, scouring, as a fabric softener, toothpaste, making bathbombs, extinguishing grease fires and much more. This handy, spiral-bound, wipe-clean book has bicarb's many uses conveniently divided into sections: Kitchen, Bathroom, General Household, Health and Beauty, Bathbombs and Recipes. The fizzy bathbombs are made with bicarb, a few other simple ingredients and essential oils - they would make great home-made gifts. There are indexes for household uses and recipes and a metric/imperial/cup and spoon measure conversion chart. Replace expensive, harsh cleaners with a box of Bicarbonate of Soda. 96pp

BB126

Drying Food
Ricky Gribling 1997 (AUS)
If you have a food drier, this book will help you to get the most out of it, with recipes for main courses, soups, cereals, side dishes, fruit leathers, even potpourri and dried flowers. Dried food takes up less storage space and uses far less energy than a freezer, making it a good choice for the 'green' consumer. 112 pp

BD100

The Home Creamery
Make Your Own Fresh Dairy Products: Easy Recipes for Butter, Yogurt, Sour Cream, Crème Fraiche, Cream Cheese, Ricotta and More!
Kathy Farrell-Kingsley 2008 (USA)
Home-produced soft, unripened cheeses and dairy products have a wholesome good taste that no shop-bought product can imitate. With these simple instructions, using readily available ingredients you will make delicious dairy products in a matter of hours - no ageing or curing required. As well as the dairy products listed in the title, you'll find recipes for Kefir, buttermilk, quark, cottage cheese, goat cheese, goat's milk feta, mozzarella and mascarpone.
Then make the most of your delicious dairy goodies with tempting recipes such as Spinach Salad with Herbed Goat Cheese, Chocolate Sour Cream Cake and Poached Pears and Ricotta. Includes an equipment list, basic techniques and troubleshooting advice. 214pp

BH118

Home Dairy: Keeping a house cow, goat or sheep. How to make cheese, yogurt and other dairy products.
Ann Cliff 2011 (AUS)
This title can be considered 2 books in one: use it to make your own cream, butter, cheese and yoghurt from fresh or purchased milk. If you currently have or are considering keeping a goat, cow or sheep you will learn about handling and care of dairy animals, sustainable dairy husbandry and milking. This is the first Australian do-it-yourself title on these subjects and is oriented to the beginner on a home scale. Full colour. 160pp

BH124

Home Sausage Making
How-to Techniques for Making and Enjoying 100 Sausages at Home
Susan Mahnke Peery & Charles G Reavis 2003 (USA)
In this book, two veteran sausage makers show how you can easily make delicious, healthy, one-of-a-kind sausages. A comprehensive list of equipment is included; essential techniques for making, stuffing, drying, smoking and cooking sausages are simply explained with clear diagrams. There are recipes for breakfast sausages, salamis, bratwurst, chorizo and many more. Vegetarians are catered for with nine recipes using beans, mushrooms, tempeh and tofu. There's a chapter of seafood sausages too.
Interesting sausage facts and anecdotes are sprinkled throughout the book.
Home Sausage Making is your link to a glorious culinary tradition. 284pp

BH119

How to Make Cider, Mead, Perry and Fruit Wines
Craig Hughes 2012 (UK)
Make your own alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks from fruit, veges, honey, blossoms and weeds with this engaging and instructive book. Using some basic equipment, you can turn garden produce, wild harvests and farmer's market purchases into delicious refreshments. Recipes are easy to follow and make quantities that are practical for the home brewer and winemaker.
Although very apple and pear oriented why we list this book is it is small batch focused and has a strong emphasis on "country wines" honey meads and infusions. How about cherry wine, rhubarb wine, traditional lemonade or lavender-infused vodka? Mead recipes include profiles of different honeys, including Tasmanian Leatherwood. There are instructions for making cider - including scrumpy; perry; mead and beer. The author is a chef and apiarist with 30 years' experience; he writes in a witty anecdotal style that makes it all sound like fun and encourages home experimentation! 148pp.

BH126

The Permaculture Book of Ferment and Human Nutrition
Bill Mollison 2011 (AUS)
The new edition of this much sought-after book includes updated content, photographs and illustrations. A treasure trove for the adventurous cook and gardener, it provides step-by-step instructions for traditional methods of food fermentation, preserving and processing. Recipes and methods for making cheese, vinegar, tempeh, soy sauce, bamboo shoots, smoking fish and meat, salting, and pickling are drawn from many different cultures. There's also information on agricultural composts, silages and liquid manures. It is written with characteristic humour and insight with information from the most basic of beginnings - before refrigeration and often from the folklore of the traditional peoples of this world.
Chapters include: Storing, Preserving and Cooking foods; Fungi, Yeast, Mushrooms and Lichens; Grains; Legumes; Roots, Bulbs, Rhizomes; Marine and Freshwater Products, Fish, Molluscs and Algae; Beers, Wines and Beverages and much more. 244pp

BP146

The Perfect Pickle Book
David Mabey and David Collison 2007 (UK)
Armed with this book, you could pickle just about everything in your garden, and then some! Originating as an accompaniment to the British TV show 'The Perfect Pickle Program', this book includes some very useful, delicious-sounding, tried and tested recipes, none of which is too complex.
Recipes are grouped according to country or area of origin - you can dip into 'The British Tradition', 'North and South America', 'The Caribbean', 'Scandinavia and Northern Europe', 'Eastern Europe', 'The Mediterranean' or 'The Middle East' for your pickling inspiration. Whether you're looking to pickle vegetables, fruit, fish, or meat, you'll find an answer here.
Here's a few examples: Pickled Okra, Pickled Nasturtium Seeds, Pickled Elder Shoots, Pickled Water Chestnuts, Tofu Pickled in Miso, Gravlax, Pumpkin Chutney. 204pp

BP135

Preserving Meat
Ann Cliff 2011 (AUS)
With this excellent book you can eliminate the artificial textures, flavours and poor grades of non-organic meat which are typical of store-bought products. Now you can preserve meat, as has been done for many centuries without refrigeration by smoking, brining, potting, drying and other traditional methods. Chapters cover meat, fish and game animals. Full colour 144pp

BP145

Preserving the Italian Way
Pietro Demaio 2008 (AUS)
Reading this Australian book is like stepping into a gorgeous Italian delicatessen! The impressive range of old-style recipes from regional Italy provides easy-to-follow instructions for preserving fruit, vegetables, fish and meat, accompanied by engaging anecdotes of childhood and travel. There are dozens of recipes for pickles, sauces, syrups, wine, cheese, salami, prosciutto, liqueurs, pesto and sauces. Easy minimal tool methods include using salt and weights, preserving in oil and pickling. Recipes for rustic breads are accompanied by instructions for building a bread and pizza oven. While many books focus on what to do with a glut of fruit and vegetables this book addresses and targets those who aim to produce their own meat and dairy. 247pp full colour pictures

BP131

Share - A Permaculture Cookbook
Northey Street City Farm 2009 (AUS)
This book is a must-have for explorers of subtropical and tropical food growing. It answers the question: What do I do with my harvest of arrowroot / yacon / bunya nuts etc? Enjoy recipes using root crops; nuts; fruits including mango, papaya, green banana; rosella; ginger and the more common homegrown bush tucker plants. Discover how to finally use some of the plants you bought from Green Harvest! Spiral bound, colour photos throughout. 97pp

BS139

Wild Sourdough - The Natural Way to Bake
Yoke Mardewi 2009 (AUS)
This is a hands-on and highly practical guide to sourdough bread-making at home.
There’s a comprehensive list of equipment needed and a discussion of flours, grains and other ingredients. The whole process is explained step-by-step, including time taken for each stage. There’s also an alternative method for time-strapped people “how to fit sourdough into your life”. You’ll learn how easy it is to make your own starter.
Enjoy an excellent, diverse range of recipes accompanied by mouth-watering photographs. The recipes are divided into White, Wheat grain, Wheat-free, Savoury, and Sweet sourdough breads as well as sourdough pizza, pastry, flat breads, crackers, cakes and pastry. You could be turning out Black Rice Sourdough Ciabatta; Quinoa Spelt Sourdough; Beetroot and Feta Sourdough Loaf; or Bitter Chocolate, Cranberry and Pistachio Spelt sourdough. Irresistible!
The author runs a successful sourdough bread-making school in Perth and her passion for sourdough bread-making is evident in this beautiful book. 224pp

BW118

Windfalls: Preserves and Other Country Kitchen Secrets
Sue Ruchel 1993 (AUS)
This book is full of recipes for preserving a variety of fruits, herbs and some vegetables. Ruchel aims to provide simple, quick methods for making jams, jellies and pickles and doing so in smaller quantities that allow for shorter and more enjoyable cooking sessions. Whether you’re using produce from your own garden or have access to fruit from your local greengrocer or fruit market, this book will benefit any household that wants to create beautiful homemade produce, free of additives and preservatives. It includes recipes for jams, jellies, marmalades, butters, cheeses and curds, sauces and pickles, chutneys and relishes, drinks and vinegars, drying and crystallising. It provides recipes for all the most common fruits plus some tropical fruits, vegetables and herbs. 144 pp

BW114

A Year in a Bottle: How To Make Your Own Delicious Preserves All Year Round
Sally Wise 2008 (AUS)
Sally Wise has been a passionate preserver of fruits and vegetables for over three decades. In this concise and practical book she explains the methods and basic chemistry of preserving and goes on to share more than 100 recipes for jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles, cordials and spreads. Be tempted by her intriguing recipes such as 'Rhubarb Fizz' or 'Apricot Worcestershire Sauce'.
There is clear advice on techniques, with straightforward explanations of basic preserving methods. Also included: a helpful trouble-shooting chart; a chapter on drying; sugar-free recipes and tables on preparing fruit and vegetables for freezing. These recipes, emphasizing temperate Australia, will help you make the most of your excess of apricots, apples, crab-apples, pears, plums, blackberries, cherries, rhubarb, tomatoes, tamarilloes, lilly pillies, passionfruit, strawberries, raspberries and roses. 255pp

BY101

Visit this delightful website (growharvestcook.com.au) for gardening cooks
From the garden to the table. Celebrate the bounty your home garden provides with our tips on growing, how to harvest and delicious recipes using your own produce!