Even non-beer drinkers will be flocking to the grocery store to purchase a case or two as soon as they pick up Harlem Brew Soul: A Beer-Infused Soul Food Cookbook , a cookbook by Celeste Beatty, who founded the Harlem Brewing Company. Beatty has used her special beers in dozens of mouthwatering recipes that may convince cooks that cooking with beer is the best way to prepare good dishes. The book includes an introduction with a quick primer on beer for those who aren’t familiar.

The recipes are written in the traditional style with the ingredients listed first, followed by step-by-step instructions. There are also comments on the top of each recipe that are interesting and helpful. The author has taken well-loved soul food dishes and transformed them into delicious dishes with nuances of her specialty beers.

The cookbook includes cute and colorful illustrations of every dish; they almost look like the real thing. It is unfortunate that real photographs aren’t included, and that is the only drawback to the book. Illustrations are great, but they are not a big enough enticement to make all of the dishes. However, there are enough good things in the book, that even without photos, cooks will be tempted to make most.
All told, this is an excellent cookbook with unique soul food dishes. My queue gets longer every time I pick up the book and I find that I’ll be cooking soul food non-stop from this cookbook.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.