Beef: Light, Lean Beef Recipes for Contemporary Lifestyles

M. Bernice Standen was a freelance writer in Peterborough, Ontario.

This must be the definitive work on how to prepare the new (35% leaner) Canadian beef. Karen Chase and her daughter, Tracy Bell, have collectively been involved in raising beef cattle, advising provincial and federal boards, travelling, developing recipes, and teaching cooking. All this has contributed to a first-rate treatise on beef and how to complement it.

The book is a good size, spiral bound, and indexed alphabetically (posing some problems because it is a single-subject cook book, but made easier to use by a table of contents which lists recipes according to cut).

The first section, “Beef Basics, “covers all you could ever ask about various cuts, microwave and conventional cooking, marinating and barbecuing, plus appropriate wine suggestions. There is an excellent overview of nutritional value with a comparative calorie and cholesterol content chart for those uneasy about eating too much red meat. The new lean Canadian beef proves to be much improved and the recipes offer a great choice of preparation.

The book is nicely illustrated with sketches by Karen Chase and some mouth-watering photography by Ross Hutchinson.

This is a good addition to any cook’s library — a real resource on beef cookery with some sublime desserts for good measure.