Paleo folks and other omnivores, your attention please. (Vegetarians and vegans, you may want to look away for a moment — try here or here!) This book is an homage to all things meaty and good. It does not hold any punches. You want your braised lamb neck? We got your braised lamb neck! Or at least, Chef Michael Symon does.

Quick Facts

• Who wrote it: Michael Symon

• Who published it: Clarkson Potter

• Number of recipes: 120 recipes, arranged into sections by Beef, Pork, Lamb & Goat, Poultry, Game, and Sides

• Recipes for right now: Pan-Roasted Sirloin with Chanterelles and Soy, Killer Hot Dogs, Stewed Tripe with Tomatoes and Olives, House Bacon, Chorizo, Leg of Lamb Souvlaki, Goat Ragu with Pappardelle, Spicy Sriracha Chicken Wings, Coriander and Orange Roasted Chicken

• Other highlights: You know what? I'm going to ahead and say it: I was a skeptic of this book. This was mostly owing to the fact that I have completely neutral feelings toward popular TV chef Michael Symon and fairly fatigued feelings about uber-macho nose-to-tail meat-worshipping books.

But doggone if he didn't win me over. I think Michael Symon hits just the right note in this book. The recipes are serious and were obviously developed with great care, while the pages surrounding them are filled with detailed information on things like smoking meat, how to pick out a good chicken, and guides to the various cuts. But the overall tone is light, engaging, and a touch silly. A truly useful book that doesn't take itself too seriously — for me, that's a winning combo.

This is not a cookbook that you'll probably cook straight through. But when you crave really good pulled pork or don't know what to do with the odd bits from your meat CSA, you can't do much better.

• Who would enjoy this book? Folks looking for more creative meat preparations, people interested in projects like smoking their own meat and making sausage.

Find the book at your local library, independent bookstore, or Amazon: Michael Symon's Carnivore: 120 Recipes for Meat Lovers by Michael Symon with Douglas Trattner

Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us the product for testing and review purposes.

(Images: Emma Christensen)