Men with the Pot Cookbook: Delicious Grilled Meats and Forest Feasts

by Kris Szymanski and Slawek Kalkraut

Bask in the beauty of the forest (or your backyard) with the Men with the Pot as you create memorable, mouthwatering meats, rustic bakes, and more over your campfire or on your grill.

People often ask the Men with the Pot “what’s behind the name?” The answer is simple: when they started out, they were just two men with one pot who wanted to do something big! Their aim was to light a fire and inspire others to follow the same path—cooking whatever brings them joy.
 
Kris and Slawek’s eye-catching videos have done just that, propelling that humble idea into a concept reaching tens of millions of fans every month.
 
Men with the Pot Cookbook brings that same spirit to the page, with their first collection of recipes in print. Chapters and recipes include:
 

• Forest Cooking Around the World: Chicken Alfredo, Gnocchi Two Ways, Polish Rolady, Paella, Forest Takeaway, Tagliatelle Ragu, Campfire Ravioli
• Forest Baking: Sausage Rolls, Skillet Pizza, Forest Pretzels, Baked Camembert in Forest-Made Bread, Focaccia Bread, Campfire Donuts
• Chicken, Turkey, and Duck: Forest-Fried Chicken, Honey Mustard Chicken Quarters, Duck Breasts with Smashed Potatoes, Chicken From Hell
• Meat Madness: Tomahawk Steak, Perfect T-Bone Steak, Tropical Pork Ribs, Pineapple Pork, Lamb Chops with Pomegranate Sauce, Campfire Irish Stew
• From the Sea and Into the Forest: Pastry-Wrapped Salmon, Fish Curry, Cod Fillets Wrapped in Bacon, Drunk Salmon, Prawn Pasta, Fish and Chips, Herb-crusted Cod
• Sandwiches, Tacos, Quesadillas, and More: Chicken Fajitas, Smoked Pork Belly Sandwich, Dirty Cheeseburger, Steak Sandwich, Best Meatball Sandwich, Chicken Quesadillas with Forest-made Tortillas, Cheese Tacos

Throughout the book, you’ll also learn some bushcraft, from lighting a fire to making a campfire spit or cooling rack from found wood. And of course, there are plenty of photos from their forest kitchen, which means even a simple weeknight meal is sure to take you away from the ordinary.

• ISBN13: 9780760374184
• Publish Date: 14 June 2022 (first published 3 May 2022)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Harvard Common Press,U.S.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Men with the Pot Cookbook is a tutorial guide with recipes developed and curated by the MenWithThePot, Kris Szymanski and Slawek Kalkraut. Due out 17th May 2022 from Quarto on their Harvard Common Press imprint, it's 208 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a comprehensive and surprisingly varied field guide to cooking outdoors, both for camping and RV styles of al fresco dining. The book has a casual friendly vibe and the writing is easy to understand, lightly humorous in places, and is solidly competent in terms of food safety and aesthetic appeal. My experiences of cooking while camping have mostly amounted to jabbing hot dogs and marshmallows onto pointy sticks when I was a kid and waving them around in an open fire. This is quite a step up from that.

The introduction includes a how-to guide to using the book and some (very short) basic tutorials on flavorings, spices, and some intriguing bushcraft tips on using found resources to build cooking stands and tools. The following chapters contain the recipes grouped thematically: world cuisine (Italian, Eastern European, Asian, fusion (African/Asian/Western European - really creative mashup)), meats, poultry, baking (!), seafood, hand-held meals (burgers, sandwiches, tacos, quesadillas).

Recipes include an introduction and background, bullet lists of ingredients with measurements in both imperial/American and standard/metric (yay!), followed by concise step-by-step instructions. The photography throughout is very high quality, clear, and in color. Tutorial photos are taken without hands or obstructions in the way and are easy to understand. One slightly odd aspect with the photography. Action shots with the authors are all posed so their faces are turned away or hidden. They say in their introduction that their purpose with the videos (they're *HUGE* on TikTok and other social media) was to concentrate on the food and not themselves and I suppose that carries over into the book aesthetic as well.

The recipes are varied and tasty. What lifted this book out of the ordinary to me were the highlighted text bars scattered throughout with short "Forest Hacks" and also the amazingly creative small tutorials for using natural found materials to make varied utensils and tools such as a pasta noodle drying rack and gnocchi board. Really cool stuff.

According to their own press, they're two Polish guys living in Northern Ireland and spending more time cooking outdoors than they spend indoors, but the food and tips here are anything but ordinary. This would make a great selection for public or school library acquisition, scouting/camping groups, or a super welcome gift for RV/camping friends.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.