Sheri Castle
Research, Recipe Development and Testing

Home
 Home 

Book
  Book  

Words
 Words 

Classes
Classes

Events
 Events 

Services
Services

Contact
 Contact

Here are some of my recipe testing and development projects.

Grilled Cheese, Please!
50 Scrumptiously Cheesy Recipes

Laura Werlin
Andrews McMeel, 2011

I tested all of the recipes in this book. In the foreword, Laura says, "I shudder to think where I would have been without my amazing recipe tester, Sheri Castle, who brought these recipes from good to great thanks to her dedication and extreme competence."

Laura Werlin's Cheese Essentials

The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook

Edited by Sara Roahen and John T. Edge
University of Georgia Press, 2010

As a coauthor of the book, I tested and edited all of the recipes. The book has gotten some great reviews, including this article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The SFA Web site has more information about the book. It's available at your favorite bookseller.

The SFA Community Cookbook won a Gourmand award as one of the world's best cookbooks for 2010. See the Gourmand International Web site for the complete list of winners. The book was also a finalist for the IACP 2011 Cookbook Awards.

Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook

The Blackberry Farm Cookbook:
Four Seasons of Great Food and the Good Life

Sam Beall
Clarkson Potter, 2009

I helped with the recipe testing and development for this cookbook.

Blackberry Farm Cookbook

Laura Werlin's Cheese Essentials:
An Insider's Guide to Buying and Serving Cheese

Laura Werlin
Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2007
Nominated for a 2008 James Beard Award

In the foreword, Laura said, "I shudder to think what the recipes in this book would have been without phenomenal cook and de facto Southern humorist Sheri Castle, who enthusiastically tested each recipe and weighed in with experience, grace, the aforementioned humor, and essential tips. Thank you, Sheri."

Laura Werlin's Cheese Essentials

Seasoned in the South:
Recipes from Crook's Corner and from Home

Bill Smith, Jr.
Algonquin Books, a division of Workman, 2005, reissued with new chapters in 2006

Bill says, "I don't know how many times, when reading a cook book, I've thought to myself, 'This isn't going to work.' A lot of the time I'm right. I'm happy to report that all the recipes in Seasoned in the South do work. Countless people have gone out of their way to tell me since its publication last fall. Sheri did great work. She is clear and quick. And clever--ask her about my grandmother's candy recipes."

In an interview with Food and Wine in June, 2006, Bill said:

I found this woman who tests the recipes for me. I don't know what I would have done without her. And she told me, "You chefs don't know anything about writing recipes. I do this all the time and you think you know how much you use, but you never pay attention," and all this other stuff. I'd get these hilarious e-mails and phone calls from her saying, "This [recipe] you said made six made sixty. Do you want me to fix this?" Or she'd say, "Did you want this to be really runny?" And I'd say, "No, I don't want it to be runny." And she'd say, "Well, it is. I think I know why. Do you want me to fix it?" "Yes, thank you."

Seasoned in the South

Other Cookbooks

Fresh Every Day:
More Great Recipes from Foster's Market

Sara Foster with Carolynn Carreno
Clarkson Potter, 2005

The Foster's Market Cookbook

Sara Foster with Sarah Belk King
Random House, 2002

Sara says in her acknowledgements, "Thanks to Sheri Castle for testing recipes in a relentless pursuit of perfection and deliciousness."

See the New Southern Garden Cookbook Facebook page Follow me on Twitter