The Self-Reliant Kitchen: From-Scratch Sourdough Breads, Homemade Cheese, and Farm-to-Table Meals

by Michelle Mullennix

Traditional skills, heritage recipes, and food preparation techniques from the generations before us.

If you're ready to stop relying on overly processed foods from the grocery store and start nourishing yourself and your family with healthier options, this book is for you. Through easy-to-follow recipes and traditional cooking skills, this cookbook inspires and empowers you to create a more self-reliant kitchen.

Recipes include:

• Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread
• Home-Churned Butter
• Raspberry Preserves
• Homemade Pasta
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Sourdough Fried Chicken
• Pot Roast
• Nourishing Bone Broth
• Homemade Pickles
• Healthy Grape Gummies
• Homemade Maple Vanilla Marshmallows
• And many more!

Learn how to replace manufactured, over-processed store bought food items with delicious from-scratch dishes one recipe at a time!

• ISBN10: 151077811X
• ISBN13: 9781510778115
• Publish Date: 21 November 2024
• Publish Status: Forthcoming
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Skyhorse Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Self-Reliant Kitchen is a well written tutorial collection with recipes for increasing food security and self-reliance by Michelle Mullennix. Due out 1st Oct 2024 from Skyhorse, it's 224 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is a colorful, appealing collection with very well styled appetizing recipes for homestyle simple American dishes. The emphasis is on garden-to-table, fresh ingredients, simplicity, and increasing food security and abundance. These are everyday family meal type recipes. 

They're arranged thematically: sourdough & yeast breads, dairy, breakfast, dinner, sides, snacks, and quick breads & sweets. Recipe ingredients are variable in weight and/or volume measures. Units are imperial (American); there are some general substitutions and conversion included in a chart in the back of the book.

Oddly, many of the recipes use canned and other convenience foods. Ingredients will be widely available from most well stocked grocery stores in North America. There are some small issues with disclaimers. The author recommends raw whole (unpasteurized) dairy products in the recipes. There is one disclaimer (in a footnote) which explains that raw milk can contain harmful bacteria and readers are cautioned to use their discretion. 

The author's tutorial for sourdough starter seems to differ from most of the ones commonly available online (but sourdough is generally *not* screw-uppable as everyone discovered to their delight during the pandemic). 

The DIY snacks are varied and fun, including homemade gummy candy, hummus, fruit leathers, soft pretzels, applesauce, and a few more.

Four stars. Great ideas, moderately good execution. It would be a good choice for public library acquisition, home use, or potentially gift giving. Most self-sufficiency folks, smallholders, and farmers will have more detailed cookbooks/preserving tutorials available. 

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

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