The Brisket Book: A Love Story with Recipes [Hardcover]

Stephanie Pierson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 4, 2011

Almost every cookbook has a brisket recipe, but brisket doesn’t have a cookbook—until now. With 30 recipes (some from notable chefs), as well as tips, quotes, stories, cartoons, sidebars, and lots of photos and illustrations, The Brisket Book is a witty and entertaining homage to a Sunday-supper staple.

"A fun little book, very entertaining with terrific recipes from friends, family and chefs. It is indeed as intended, 'A Love Story with Recipes.'" --Sara Moulton, Good Morning America

"There's no longer a need for frantically searching for the best brisket recipes. Stephanie Pierson, author, food writer and brisket lover, has written a cookbook filled with only the best brisket recipes, accompanied by illustrations, poems, cartoons and musings. The Brisket Book has a recipe for everyone, and it'll turn you into the star of any potluck." --The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles

"The Brisket Book is subtitled "a love story with recipes." It literally had me laughing out loud with its cartoons, jokes, stories and more. If you are Jewish, Irish, or even a Texan, brisket is your soul food. The book pays homage with recipes, wine pairings, poems, and everything you need to know to make a version that will make you fall in love." --Cooking with Amy

"Packed with history, wit, and expert opinions (including a list of 50 things about brisket that people disagree on), this book presents one of the world's great comfort foods in all its lovable, chameleonlike glory, with recipes for corned beef, smoked brisket, Korean brisket soup, brisket burgers, and myriad Jewish braises, including Nach Waxman's supposedly "most-Googled brisket recipe" of all, smothered in onions and virtually no liquid. It is undoubtedly, as the subtitle claims, "A Love Story with Recipes." --The Philadelphia Inquirer

"This book will put you passionately over the moon for a meat cut that is often taken for granted...full of colorful, lively and sometimes surprising images; the pages are a joy to leaf through for their energetic mix of images, photos and text." --Chicago Tribune

Food writer, cookbook author, and brisket zealot Stephanie Pierson contends, "Some foods will improve your meal, your mood, your day, your buttered noodles. Brisket will improve your life."

Brisket is so easy to warm up to, no wonder everyone loves it. Families pass brisket recipes down like heirlooms. Chat rooms are full of passionate foodies giving passionate opinions about their briskets--and each one claims to have the best brisket recipe ever! When Angel Stadium of Anaheim introduced a BBQ brisket sandwich, it promptly won a national contest for best ballpark cuisine. This lively book offers everything from brisket cooking tips to chef interviews to butcher wisdom. Color photographs, illustrations, and graphics ensure that brisket has never looked better. The recipes include something for everyone: Beef Brisket with Fresh Tangy Peaches, Scandinavian Aquavit Brisket, Sweet-and-Sour Brisket, Barbecued Brisket Sandwiches with Firecracker Sauce, a Seitan Brisket (even people who don't like meat love brisket), and a 100% Foolproof Bride's Brisket.

If brisket does indeed improve your life, then The Brisket Book promises to be the ultimate life-affirming resource for anyone who has savored--or should savor--this succulent comfort food.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephanie Pierson is an author and a journalist who writes about food, design, and lifestyle issues. She is a regular contributor to Atlantic.com's food section. Her work has been published in the New York Times, Saveur, Metropolitan Home, and Eating Well. She is the author of a dozen books, including Vegetables Rock!, and has collaborated with chefs on five cookbooks. She lives in New York, New York, and is thinking of moving to Kansas City because of the barbecue possibilities.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (October 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449406971
• ISBN-13: 978-1449406974
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 8.2 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born and raised in Baltimore, went to college in Connecticut, worked in advertising in New York since the day I graduated from college. I have always written - advertising copy (I am a creative director at a small NY agency) and books. I like to write about lifestyle, food, entertaining, and issues that are relevant to women. I am a contributing editor to Metropolitan Home Magazine. I have written profound books about body image issues of teenage girls and I have ghost-written cookbooks. My new book lets me use my life experience to help other women shortcut their own experiences. I think of myself at the moment as a Life Sherpa. Or as Oprah would probably say, "as a life sherpa in progress." I feel like I have done pretty much everything, at least once. I have had one marriage, one husband, one divorce, two daughters, many Bearded Collies, countless cats, zillions of great friends, endless life experiences, one perfect macaroni and cheese recipe.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brisket! Cheap, slow-cooked, mouth-watering brisket! Delicious food. Delicious book. October 20, 2011

By Jesse Kornbluth TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

I don't know why anyone thought the world needed an entire book about brisket, dripping with anecdotes, theories, recipes and memories.

Brisket is, after all, a very simple matter.

Just use my recipe.

Four pounds of brisket from the supermarket --- the less you spend, the better. On a burner turned up fairly high, brown the beef in a Le Creuset 5 1/2 Quart Round French Oven. Add a bottle of red wine. Two large chopped onions. Three or four diced carrots, celery stalks, tomatoes. A tablespoon or two of tomato paste. One or two crushed garlic cloves. Salt and pepper. Set in a 350-degree oven for 3-4 hours, turning the brisket over once or twice and adding water, as necessary.

Ah. Just like Mama used to make.

Here's the problem: Your mother used another recipe.

And as someone wise has said of brisket, "With most foods, there's a right way and a wrong way. With brisket, there's only my way."

There were so many "my ways" --- including her way --- that Stephanie Pierson wrote "The Brisket Book: A Love Story with Recipes." It turns out to be a really excellent book, or should I say, a very tasty book.(There is only one clinker in these pages: a chapter about wines that are good partners with brisket. Unnecessary. There is only one. It's called Diet Coke.)

Home cooking is the big idea here. ("Rarely has a truffle ever gone into the making of one," Pierson writes.) And slow cooking. ("Time and the brisket are friends.) And love. ("I say: a brisket in every pot, in every Crock-Pot, on every Weber, in every barbeque joint, on every Passover platter, in every deli, at every butcher, in every food truck, on every TV food show, food site, food blog.")

Brisket's the ultimate comfort food. Which means many people want to comment. Butchers. Restaurateurs. Experts ("As you cook, two important things happen. Collagen breaks down and forms gelatin, while muscle fibers tighten up and squeeze out moisture into your cooking liquid, flavoring it.")

The heart of the book, of course, is the recipes. Some are eye-popping. Lipton dry onion soup mix? Oh, dear. And, from the assistant to the rabbis at New York's Temple Emanu-el, a recipe calling for two cans of jellied cranberry sauce. And this woman calls herself a Jew!

Brisket with ginger, orange peel and tomato. With tangy peaches. With Korean chile. A brisket burger. Barbequed. And many more worth trying. Yum. Eat these words.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Holiday Gift! October 29, 2011

By mgd1

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been cooking brisket for years. I grew up in a brisket famiy and we have a cherished family recipe. But now I feel like I have 30 more great recipes thanks to The Brisket Book. There are so many delicious sounding dishes - from French citrus brisket to Joan Nathan's to a brisket coup from Chef Anita Lo to a sweet cranberry glazed brisket. I don't think there are enough holidays in the year to make them all! Besides being full of delicious recipes there is a history and interviews and cooking tips and butcher wisdom. And there is humor in it too! It's a terrific gift!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT BRISKETS AND MORE! November 17, 2011

By Gail Cooke HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Subtitled "A Love Story with Recipes" this collection of recipes and observations is so much more than that - it's an enthusiastic guide to the best in briskets, rich and juicy with recipes, stories, humor and tips. You'll find everything from Temple Emanu-El Brisket (page 91) to Aunt Gladys's Brisket (page 92) to Barbecue Green Chile Brisket (page 124) plus a great many more, and you'll want to try every one.

There's a list of 50 Things About Brisket That People Can Disagree About, and suggestions for what to read when you're eating brisket. There's even a listing of suggested wines (high and low in price) for each brisket. Nothing has been overlooked!

Now that we're speaking of wines, Pierson recommended Frog's Leap Rutherford Merlot - superb pairing! This is a marvelous wine with tempting notes of rich black berry and traces of cocoa powder. There is a rumor of ripened red berries and cherries abetted by a tad of mocha, herbs, and spice. Find it at [....].

It goes without saying that in order to achieve optimum results with any of these recipes you must have the best brisket to be found. Again, we followed Pierson's advice and found Brandt Beef ([...]). Amazing quality! As noted by a Manging Partner of the Master Chef's Institute, "When tested against competitors in their specific category, Brandt Natural Beef's line rated highest in the flavor, texture and tenderness categories." We'll second that! Unlike past briskets, and we've had quite a few, Brandt's brisket is vastly superior, ultra flavorful, juicy and fork tender.

We're always delighted when a cookbook includes sources and recommendations - we especially appreciate the above two that certainly added to our dining pleasure.

Until reading The Brisket Book I never realized how many people thought they had the best brisket recipe in the world - do believe they're all here. One of these days I want to meet the fellow who said, "I gave up meat years ago, and I can honestly say that my mother's brisket is the ONLY thing I miss."

Brisket reigns supreme in this 208 page volume enlivened with dozens of photographs and illustrations. With this book author/journalist Stephanie Pierson has brought us the first and only book entirely devoted to brisket, and she's done it with rare attention to details plus robust good humor. Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke