Let me start off by saying that I’m not a person who bakes sweet stuff or bread, in fact I rarely cook at all. I have some basic skills in the kitchen and have 4 or 5 dishes that I can prepare well, most of them simple and breakfast oriented. While I’m quite good on a wood fired barbeque, I admit to being essentially a novice when it comes to sauces, cakes, cookies, breads and the like. But I do enjoy eating delicious food!
Having said all that I’ll have to keep this book review short and sweet, as I am headed out the door as soon as I’m done with this to get some ingredients in order to cook a recipe I found in this book. Not only did this make me hungry viewing the pictures and reading the ingredients, but the book inspired me to take my medical cannabis consumption where it needs to be; consistently dosed, healthy and delicious.
This book is divided into seven concise sections:
- Butters, Oils and Extracts
- Breakfast and Brunch
- Lunch
- Appetizers
- Drinks
- Dinner
- Desserts
The author also includes a dosing chart in the introduction that is quite easy to follow and will keep the new user from ingesting too much active ingredient the first time. My first experience with edible cannabis was not quite as pleasant as it should have been, as like so many I ate too much and got far more impaired than I intended. Had I known about the dosing chart in this book I could have avoided that, as well as the new problem I have which is that edibles need to be very strong now to overcome my tolerance.
So let’s get right into it. Jessica Catalano is a trained chef, foodie and a cannabis connoisseur and her recipes all reflect a very simple concept: Quality ingredients combined with the proper strain to create dishes that taste every bit as good as the non-medicated versions without the “weed” taste that is so common.
She has a list of strains at the beginning of the book and links each strain to certain recipe’s based on the terpene profile of each strain. Ms. Catalano claims that by using the right strain, the inherent flavors are not just masked by the recipe, but the flavors in the cannabis complement and enhance the overall eating/drinking/smelling pleasure of each recipe.
These tips alone will result in better tasting edible creations. In this book we learn that some strains work well with savory dishes, some better with sweet, and Ganja Kitchen Revolution sorts each out and gives alternate choices if the preferred strain isn’t available. Lets be done with grassy, funky brownies and no more green, bitter butter please!
Her recipe for basic butter and oil is fantastic and simple, taking just over an hour with a saucepan. She explains the decarboxylization process and why some recipes call for uncooked cannabis, while others call for already activated butter or oil. In the course of reading, I discovered several errors in my own methods for cooking edibles which I can correct immediately for better results.
Ganja Kitchen Revolution does not recommend using trim or shake as an ingredient. All recipes are based on fully cured buds and/or kief, because using shake or trim results in chlorophyl flavors and other unwanted “extra’s” in the finished product. The recipes in this book stress quality, consistency and flavor. Use your best cannabis and get the best results! It’s as simple as that.
And this brings me to my first try of her recipes:
Warm Honey Headband Kief Walnuts in Greek Yogurt.
Since I didn’t have any Headband in stock, I consulted the strain substitution guide and discovered that an OG style product would work very well, of which I have plenty.
- 4 cups plain Greek Yogurt
- 4 servings of decarboxylated Headband kief. ( I used OG Kush)
- 1 cup raw, whole, shelled walnuts
- 1/2 cup clover honey
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
The decarboxylation process for the kief was very simple, as was the preparation of the other ingredients.
The result was amazing. There wasn’t really any “weed” taste or tell tale “flavor” to deal with. It was just as sweet and nutty tasting as a non-medicated recipe which was not only refreshing, but opened up a whole realm of new, easily obtained possibilities all due to this wonderful book.
Most recipes are quite simple, with easily sourced ingredients. Each recipe recommends a certain strain, along with a substitution guide.
There are also some very valuable warnings about food safety, shelf-life and things to look for if your butter might be going bad.
The pictures are extremely well done and the layout of the book is fantastic for a cookbook. It stays open on the counter and most recipes take up one page.
There are recipes for vegans, ovo-lacto vegetarians, omnivores and everyone else in between. Different nationalities of cuisine are also well represented in the panoply of recipes, so there is something for everyone in this book, but what really makes the book stand out is the fact that if a person uses the recommended strains there is no need to mask or hide the flavor of cannabis. On the contrary, the cannabis terpenes actually enhance and complement the ingredients.
Bravo Jessica Catalano! You have created the largest, most comprehensive marijuana cookbook ever published! You have included simple, highly effective methods for activating and preparing cannabis as a cooking ingredient and have each recipe designed around a specific strain to get the best tasting, most effective medical dose possible!
Well, like I said, I’m out the door right now to get ingredients for Strawberry Haze French Toast. This book makes me want to take up cooking as my new hobby.
Author: Jessica Catalano
Book Review by: Doc Bud, 420 Magazine Product Reviewer
Publisher: GreenCandyPress.com (book isn’t up on their website yet)
Purchase Ganja Kitchen Revolution Here: The Ganja Kitchen Revolution
Full Review: Ganja Kitchen Revolution Review By Doc Bud
