Joe Beef

No one knows if, in fact, the end of the world is coming. But David McMillan, Frederic Morin, and Meredith Erickson believe readers must embrace the great food that is available to us before it happens--if it should happen--and know how to scavenge, salvage, and survive it as a culinarian in the possible aftermath. And so they've given us nearly 150 brand-new recipes (nearly all illustrated with photographs), including one for soap. (Yes, soap.) But let's get back to the food, which is, as always, spectacular. Here are recipes for Smoked Meat Croquettes and Muffuletta a la Maite (a gloriously stuffed loaf pate of ham, Gruyere, foie gras, and onion jam), for fancy pre-apocalypse Sunday dinners. A chapter is devoted to preserved foods for the cellar (or the bunker), from Hardtack (aka Prison Bread) and Pickled Eggs to Dulse Potatoes in a Bag and Beef Jerky. They show us how to survive gluten-free with a Brazilian jujitsu twist and homemade Power Bars. From the exquisite Mousse au Chocolat with Chantilly a la Praline Rose to the survalist Moose Stew and Chips, the Joe Beef team pushes the limits of cuisine with inventive food for the kitchen--and that fallout shelter.