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Urban Pantry

Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable & Seasonal Kitchen
ksoles
Dec 23, 2011ksoles rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Part how-to guide to creating a well-stocked, seasonal pantry and part cookbook, "Urban Pantry" appeals to foodie apartment dwellers. Amy Pennington offers sound advice on using a variety of ingredients and provides intriguing recipes that make use of some lesser known products (farro, coconut oil, nigella seeds). She also includes chapters on small-batch preserving and the pantry garden and enhances her prose with a photo section, albeit small and inadequate. When I picked up this book, I expected more information on running a sustainable, economic kitchen and fewer (if any) recipes. Apart from the initial chapter, "stocking the pantry," the book can't quite decide which genre to fall into. Despite tips on buying and cooking everything from grains to nuts to yogurt, I found "Urban Pantry" ultimately unsatisfying.