Beyond Bacon: Paleo Recipes that Respect the Whole Hog

I loved this book, and found it extremely inspiring and exciting, even though I eat mostly on the autoimmune protocol.First off, Beyond Bacon is the most visually stunning Paleo cookbook I have seen, with an absolutely beautiful design. I have really high standards in this department, and I have to say I am seriously impressed with the photographer Aimee Buxton's skills and the way the book was put together. Every recipe has a photo, and represents the food accurately and beautifully. My first test of a cookbook is always how much it makes me want to cook after flipping through it, and in this case I ran straight to the farmer's market to see what pastured pork was available so I could start cooking ASAP.Another thing that I love about this book, is that it is so much more than a recipe book. In the first section, Matt and Stacy have gone into the details about why it is important to get pastured pork, where to find it, how to buy a whole animal, butchering options, the history of raising pork, the science behind the healthfulness of eating pork, and how to safely prepare it. This section is sprinkled with beautiful photos of happy pigs roaming in green pastures. I think it is extremely important to consider not only what we are eating, but how that food has been produced, and Matt and Stacy really do that justice. They have written this from the perspective that most people's experience with pork has been bacon, ham and pork chops, without considering that there are the other parts of the animal to be considered. They make a great argument for using the whole animal, and tell readers what they need to know about buying one.Even if the book is beautiful and inspiring, it doesn't mean much if the recipes aren't good. In this book Matt and Stacy present us with a wide variety of fare, from staples to exotic foods, easy to difficult, all including pork in some way. They include how to make staples like bone broth, lard, cured meat and sausages, as well as a section on how to grill and smoke meat. In the week that I have been cooking out of the book, I rendered lard and built a smoker using their instructions, made the citrus-infused pork burgers, smoked pork shoulder, crispy lardons, bacon chicken, maple sage butternut squash, and the best brownies. I found every recipe unique and delicious, with easy to follow instructions.As far as how well the book follows the autoimmune protocol, it is definitely not a strictly AIP book. I counted over 40 recipes that were already AIP or could be easily made AIP with simple modifications (like omitting things like paprika, pepper or cayenne). Of all of the excluded AIP foods, nightshades are pretty well represented, although in the recipes I made I found that they were easily be substituted with other ingredients, like garlic or ginger. Although I believe someone who was strictly AIP would still enjoy the book, it would be better for those who have been successful in some reintroductions, like nuts, seeds or eggs. I am to the point where I can tolerate some of these things in moderation, so I will be making some of the recipes that include these ingredients on occasion.All in all, Matt and Stacy have really raised the bar for Paleo cookbooks. This book should be in everyone's collection!

There seem to be two types of paleo cookbooks. One spends half the book telling you about the benefits of the diet, with some recipes to illustrate how it's Not All Bad. The other type of cookbook -- obviously the kind I prefer -- has an introductory chapter or two to define the diet (and oh yeah, the reasons why), and then dives into a bunch of yummy recipes that just-so-happen to be paleo. Beyond Bacon is very much in the second category, and it's an easy one to recommend. Because it is, more than anything else, a "nose to tail eating" cookbook for those of us who like pork. In other words, it's not about what we _aren't_ eating (grain, in my case, maybe legumes in yours) but appreciating what we _are_.The first section of the cookbook is level-setting, explaining "Why we wrote this love letter to pork," and it goes into more than why and how to find pastured pork, but also practical advice on how to order a whole pig (including what a cut sheet looks like: what thickness do you want the chops? what do you want to do with the loin?).But then it dives into the meat (heh) of the book, which is where Beyond Bacon shines. Chapters are divided into the basics (lard, stock, sausages and cured meats); grilled and smoked recipes; soups and stews; braised and roasted pork; conventional preparations (e.g. pork chops, meat loaf); fried lard goodness; veggies and sides; sauces and dressings; sweet things. Just about every recipe has pork in it (at least lard) so don't pretend you'll find anything here to feed your vegetarian friend at Thanksgiving.In the 6 weeks I've owned the book, I've made several things. Apple ginger tenderloin was really excellent, and didn't require much more preparation than "Throw it into a pan in the oven." (I could have used 3 apples instead of 4, though.) One salad was an absolute winner, made with prosciutto and figs (well, okay, dates; I couldn't find figs at the store). The biscuits -- made with blanched almond flour, tapioca flour, and coconut flour -- were very good, and the closest I've come to scratching my "I was biscuits!" itch. Spaghetti squash alla carbonara was... just okay. (I think I keep TRYING to like spaghetti squash more than I actually do; at any rate it's the best thing I've found to do with one of them.)Best of all, Beyond Bacon encouraged us to make lard, which turned out great. (We used a slow cooker, turned to high, which kept us from having to worry about burning anything.)One criticism: Whoever did the book's index should be sent to bed without dinner. The index is terrible. We knew there were biscuit recipes somewhere in here... but no listing for biscuits? Oh, it's under _homestyle biscuits_ in the Hs. Italian sausages are listed between Insanely awesome meatloaf and Italian tomato pork chop. Not in the Ss.Despite that quibble, this is an excellent cookbook. It probably would not be the first paleo cookbook I bought -- Dana Carpender's  500 Paleo Recipes  still holds that honor -- but it is very, very good indeed.

I'm only starting the Paleo lifestyle so I've needed some inspiration because of my deep passion for cooking. I found a review of that book on some Paleo website and thought it might be interesting. That is definitely one of the best cook book that I have. Introduction to the whole piggy is very interesting. Recipes are versitale and covering whole years meals. From simple lunch to Christmas roast. Brilliant!

Whether you're starting out or have more knowledge of paleo it's a really great book, one of the best I've got, even the recipes can either be easy or slightly challenging but clearly written so easy to follow so keep trying to develop your culinary skills.

I love pork - and I love bacon, so here I sit, waiting to get out there and buy more pig for slow roasting, making my own bacon, steaming - whatever.Brilliant

I've been eating paleo for almost three years now and am always taking it to the next level. Thanks to this book I'm even making my own lard, stock and bacon now. Recipes are well illustrated and easy to follow. The salted bacon caramel sauce was a huge hit this past Christmas.

Easy to follow