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Flaming Good: Grilling cookbooks cover basics, trends in outdoor cooking
Harperstudio Photo
Emeril Lagasse's new grilling cookbook includes both sublime and simple dishes that touch on multiple cultural traditions.
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Published: June 24, 2009
It's grilling season again -- and the season always brings a spate of new cookbooks.
The best of this year's batch include plenty of recipes, techniques, tips and color photos of the yummy stuff, from seafood and steaks to sides and desserts.
Here are four to consider.
□ Best Grilling Recipes: More Than 100 Regional Favorites Tested and Perfected for the Outdoor Cook, by the editors at America's Test Kitchen. America's Test Kitchen, $29.95.
The America's Test Kitchen chefs always come up with surefire recipes for classic dishes. Their homey Cook's Country magazine, a spinoff of Cook's Illustrated, is dedicated to finding the best methods for everyday American favorites. In this case, it's barbecue and burger basics, along with the likes of blackened red snapper and spicy beef tenderloin. The introduction section, "Grilling 101," offers a concise, information-packed reference source for grilling success.
□ Emeril at the Grill: A Cookbook for All Seasons, by Emeril Lagasse. Harper-Studio, $24.99.
As you might expect, Lagasse calls for a dash of his own Essence spice blends in many of the recipes. And the introductions often come with a note of "bam" hyperbole. But beyond that, there are lots of sublime and simple dishes that touch on multiple cultural traditions. Among them: beer can turkey breast with barbecue gravy, Thai-style beef salad, and grilled peaches with marscarpone cheese and honey.
□ Grillin' With Gas: 150 Mouthwatering Recipes for Great Grilled Food, by Fred Thompson. Taunton Press, $19.95.
Nowadays, about 70 percent of Americans use gas grills. Thompson, a Raleigh food writer, takes on the trend with tips on cooking with gas, and recipes that pack in flavor with rubs, sauces and even ways to add wood smoke. Recipes range from Thompson's finest baby-back ribs to sauerbraten-marinated venison loin and Buffalo-style grilled chicken wings.
□ Weber's Way to Grill: The Step-by-Step Guide to Expert Grilling, by Jamie Purviance. Sunset Books, $24.95.
Purviance brings a chef's confident style to grilling. And this detailed guide is sort of the outdoor equivalent of Julia Child's The Way to Cook, with step-by-step instructions and photos that take home cooks through every aspect of the master recipes. The book includes the way to grill fruit, vegetables, chicken and pizza, and a perfectly simple method for making a Cajun-style clambake.
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