The Nourished Kitchen

January 6, 2014
In her first cookbook, blogger McGruther (nourishedkitchen.com) tackles the challenge of creating dishes based on the “Traditional Foods philosophy of eating,” which incorporates the concepts of employing “whole grains, dairy, red meat, organ meats, and fermented food” in an effort to help create a model where eaters use sustainable agriculture and fresh food. McGruther uses a back to basics approach so the ingredients are fresh and take center stage on their own accord without the need for too much doctoring. Simple in design, the food takes on a powerful punch. For example, the pan-seared “Halibut with Cherry Tomatoes and Tarragon” makes use of few items that, prepared just right, blend to create a mouthwatering dish. Similarly, the “root cellar soup” employs seemingly boring root vegetables to create a hot soup full of flavor. Along the way, McGruther instructs how to create items at home that one usually thinks to buy in the store: see how to cure your own “bacon with fenugreek, mustard seed, and maple sugar” or how to make your own “sweet cultured butter and true buttermilk.” With helpful sections on raw materials, such as grains and their uses, and pertinent information for their storage, gluten content, and flavor, and a similar chart on beans and lentils, this book proves that one does not have to go far to find a delicious meal.

March 15, 2014
Following the precepts of dentist-nutritionist Weston Price, McGruther has developed a system for healthy eating based on lots of vegetables and grains as cooked and preserved on early twentieth-century American farms. What differentiates McGruther's approach from other regimens is her unabashed advocacy of animal fats. She is especially fond of cooking foods in lard, noting its fat-content profile's similarity to that of olive oil. When sweetness is an object, McGruther suggests replacing refined sugar with honey, molasses, sorghum, or maple syrup. Bread recipes specify ancient grains such as einkorn, and leavening comes from sourdough. She favors making one's own butter when possible, and she recommends drinking that by-product of churning: buttermilk. Her meat dishes will satisfy carnivores, whether with a rich rabbit pie studded with bacon and chanterelles or with a rare-roasted elk steak. McGruther advocates sustainable agriculture, and she enthusiastically preserves summer's bounty through fermentation for pickles, sauerkraut, and relishes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)