With the warm weather every spring comes a slew of new grilling cookbooks, even though many people grill nearly year-round. This year's crop generally steers clear of grilling primers for neophytes and comprehensive tomes intended to be the last word on the subject. They lean toward books that appeal to certain segments of the grilling population.
Mario Batali, a celebrity chef, weighs in with his Italian take on grilling. Elizabeth Karmel and Bob Blumer co-wrote a book only about grilled pizzas. Sally Sampson offers up a burger for every week of the year. And a livestock farmer in New York sets out to show grillers how grass-fed cattle and other pastured animals demand special treatment.
Of course, some general new grilling books are out there. Notable among these are BBQ Bash from "BBQ Queens," Karen Adler and Judith Fertig, and Grill It! from the master grilling team of Chris Schlesinger and John "Doc" Willoughby.
BBQ Bash (Harvard Common Press, $16.95).
Authors: Karen Adler and Judith Fertig.
Recipes: 103, including grilled figs of rosemary skewers, wood-grilled shrimp cocktail, smoked rib roast with horseradish creme fraiche, guava-glazed spatchcocked (butterflied) chicken, double-smoked ham with whiskey-cider sauce, cilantro slaw, grilled cornmeal-crusted green tomatoes with remoulade, grilled chocolate crostini, blueberry crumble. A handful of color photos.
Summary: This ninth grilling book from the team of Adler and Fertig focuses on entertaining, as indicated in the subtitle, The Be-All End-All Party Guide, from Barefoot to Black Tie. So in addition to information on all manner of outdoor cooking, the book has such party-planning tips as how to set up a bar and light the patio. Twelve theme-party menus corral recipes into groups for an Italian Antipasto Party, Martini Party with a French Accent, Black-Tie Barbecue and more. The book has a tight focus, with just four recipe chapters: appetizers, entrees, sides and desserts. Some of the sides and desserts don't involve the grill, but these are appealing recipes and the authors bring a wealth of grilling experience to the table.
Target Audience: Beginner to advanced cooks who like to entertain and try new things, especially those interested in experimenting with smoking and grilling different woods.
The Best Barbecue on Earth (Ten Speed Press, $22.95).
Author: Rick Browne, the host of the public-television show Barbecue America.
Recipes: 174 recipes, including stuffed sweet potatoes, vanilla-coconut prawns, bulgogi (marinated Korean beef), Marrakesh fish steaks, salmon with scotch-whiskey sauce, grilled lamb with apricots, grilled pork pinchos (skewers), mealiepap (crusty corn bread), and Cacaxtla chocolate souffle.
Summary: Browne is known for crisscrossing the United States to find good grilled food. This time, he traveled to 25 countries on six continents for a world tour of outdoor cooking that is a companion book to his TV series. The book's chapters are divided by country, each with a handful of representative recipes. Browne's scope moves beyond the grill to any outdoor cooking, so he also includes such dishes as street vendor Thai noodles. Some of the recipe writing is a bit sloppy; one calls for heating the grill before beginning a four-hour marinade. But the exotic appeal of the collection can't be denied. This book is at its best when Browne talks about the "barbecue" or food culture of a country.
Target Audience: Anyone interested in world cultures, unusual recipes (to Americans) and the universality of outdoor cooking.
The Farmer and the Grill (Left to Write Press, $21.95).
Author: Shannon Hayes, the author of The Grassfed Gourmet, the host of www.grassfedcooking.com and a livestock farmer in New York.
Recipes: 62, including mushroom and olive burgers, asado (Argentinean grilled short ribs), sesame-grilled lamb chops, chile-chocolate pork ribs, parsley-roasted beer-can chicken. No photos.
Summary: Hayes is a newcomer to grilling, but this book, subtitled A Guide to Grilling, Barbecuing and Spit-Roasted Grassfed Meat, plays on her expertise in pasture-raised meats. Her big contribution is her instructions in the way this meat should be cooked differently than commercially raised, grain-fed meat. For example, grass-fed beef is typically leaner and needs to be cooked at a lower temperature. She also advocates subtler seasonings that let the taste of natural meat come through. The book contains only recipes for beef, lamb, pork and poultry. The dishes and flavor combinations are seen over and over again in other books, except for a few surprises, in particular those recipes that resulted from her trip to visit Argentina's beef producers.
Target Audience: People interested in sustainable agriculture and natural, pasture-raised meats, especially those who are new to buying and cooking with them.
Grill Every Day (Chronicle, $24.95).
Author: Diane Morgan, a cooking teacher and the author or co-author of 11 cookbooks, including Dressed to Grill, co-written with Reed Darmon and Karen Brooks.
Recipes: 123, including Italian sausage hoagies with onions and peppers, Southeast Asian pork satay, cowboy-grilled rib-eye steak, quick-grilled ratatouille, salmon grilled on a bed of herbs, bulgur salad with smoky grilled tomatoes and green onions, grilled-banana-split sundaes.
Summary: The book has some basic information on equipment, technique and handy pantry items, but the focus is on quick and easy recipes that allow people to grill on weeknights when time is short. The book is heavy on international tastes and bold flavors, though it sometimes goes overboard, in such dishes as halibut with chipotle sauce, in which accompanying flavors seem to overwhelm the main dish. The book is well-rounded with a handful of desserts, plenty of side dishes and lots of vegetables, even some suitable for main courses. The dishes aren't all fast and simple; some require marinating and others require use of the oven or stovetop in addition to the grill.
Target Audience: The contemporary cook who likes a wide variety of primarily ethnic-flavored dishes that are relatively straightforward to prepare.
Grill It! (DK Publishing, $25).
Authors: Chris Schlesinger, the chef-owner of East Coast Grill in Cambridge, Mass., and John "Doc" Willoughby, the executive editor of Gourmet magazine. The two have co-written nine cookbooks, including 1990's award-winning The Thrill of the Grill.
Recipes: 177, including incendiary pork tenderloins with green chile-corn salsa, grilled scallop cocktail with lime and avocado, grilled duck breast with orange-cardamom glaze, jerk wings from hell; Texas-style slow beef brisket, swordfish shish kebabs with mango-ginger relish, spinach and grilled peach salad with blue cheese and bacon, grilled flatbread with flavored oils and grilled tropical pineapple and bananas Foster. Loads of color photos.
Summary: Back before grilling books were a dime a dozen, Schlesinger and Willoughby wrote Thrill of the Grill. These grilling veterans continue to hone their craft and expand their repertoire in this new book. A good introduction lays out information on equipment and technique in a straightforward manner that can simplify grilling decisions. The many recipes show how to make the most of the grilling experience -- when and how to use high and low heat, fast and slow cooking, and even when to nestle foil-wrapped foods in the coals. Recipes incorporate many ethnic influences from Texas to Thailand, but spicy Latin flavors prevail.
Target Audience: People who like to learn from the masters, and anyone who likes boldly flavored, especially chile-fired, food.
Italian Grill (Ecco, $29.95).
Author: Mario Batali, a former Food Network host, cookbook author and restaurateur.
Recipes: 88, including portobello mushrooms with arugula and Parmesan, fennel with sambuca (anise-flavored liqueur) and grapefruit, grilled lobster with lemon oil, chicken cooked under a brick, spit-roasted turkey breast, pork chops with peppers and capers, potato skewers in Chianti vinegar. Lots of gorgeous photos.
Summary: Leave it to super Mario, a colorful celebrity chef if there ever was one, to light a fire under Americans who love Italian food. In this case, the fire is the literal fire of the grill, an Italian tradition, even if Americans mostly associate Italian food with stovetop and oven methods. The book skips the sweets, but offers lots of appealing appetizers, entrees, vegetables, and pizzas. It also has wine advice, grilling basics and a great glossary of select Italian ingredients. The recipes reveal Batali's mastery of the notion of beauty in simplicity, using his deft hand and just enough ingredients to create some great grilled food.
Target Audience: Batali fans, or anyone who loves luscious dishes with gourmet flair that make the most of a few well-chosen ingredients.
Napoleon's Everyday Gourmet Grilling (Key Porter Books, $35).
Author: Ted Reader, a Canadian chef and cookbook author.
Recipes: 168, including Memphis rib rub; mango barbecue sauce; hot and spicy grilled sweet potatoes; grilled vegetable salad with goat cheese and chipotle dressing; bacon-wrapped pork burgers with red-cabbage slaw; cowboy steak with mushrooms, onions and gorgonzola; grilled whiskey salmon fillets; and ice wine pears in foil. Photos for nearly every recipe.
Summary: The Napoleon in the title refers to a Canadian manufacturer of grills that sponsored this book. The grilling advice is cursory and confusing. Reader says that "barbecuing involves high heat" but the recipes don't bear that out. Once the recipes start rolling, Reader provides little extra information in the way of tips. But he does show a sure hand in clearly written recipes. The book also is designed well, making it easy to read. Overall, it's a well-rounded, all-purpose book of recipes, a good mix of favorites and surprises.
Target Audience: The typical grill cook who occasionally likes to branch out.
Pizza on the Grill (Taunton Press, $16).
Authors: Elizabeth Karmel, the creator of GirlsattheGrill.com and former North Carolinian, and Bob Blumer, the former host of the Food Network's The Surreal Gourmet.
Recipes: 105, including four pizza doughs, a handful of sauces and such pizzas as sausage and sweet pepper, clams casino, prosciutto and Parmesan, Bollywood chutney chicken, green eggs and ham, and orange chocolate truffle. Plenty of color photos.
Summary: The authors make the argument that grilled pizza, with its ultracrispy crust, actually resembles the first Italian pizzas that Americans fell in love with after World War II. Though a whole book on grilled pizza may seem excessive, Karmel and Blumer show just how versatile this food is. Sauces include basil pesto, bean puree, walnut spread, barbecue sauce and more. But toppings are the focus here, in chapters that cover pork, chicken, seafood, beef, vegetables, and even pizzas for dessert or breakfast. Drawings and photos provide step-by-step instructions.
Target audience: Anyone wanting to combine their two loves of pizza and grilling.
Recipe of the Week: Burgers (Wiley, $16.95).
Author: Sally Sampson, a former Cook's Illustrated writer and author of many cookbooks, including three in the Recipe of the Week series. About 25 color photos.
Recipes: 52, including espresso-rubbed burgers, spinach and feta cheese burgers, salmon burgers with mint, lamb burgers with hoisin and scallions, pizza burgers and Cuban-style pork burger.
Summary: Do grillers need a book just for burgers? Probably not. And a burger book isn't necessarily a grilling book. This one, though, calls for grilling burgers in most cases. And, though far from essential, it does offer lots of ways to keep folks out of a burger rut.
Target Audience: Bored burger lovers in need of fresh ideas.
Sizzle: Sensational Barbecue Food (Julie Biuso Publications, $19.95).
Author: Julie Biuso, an award-winning food writer from New Zealand.
Recipes: 105, including avocado, bacon and corn baps (buns); pork satay with fresh pineapple chutney; baked potatoes, peppers and chorizo; deviled chicken wings; mushroom burger; grilled crab cakes with Cambodian dressing; mussels in lemongrass broth; Thai coconut chicken cakes; and caramelized fruit kabobs. Lots of color photos.
Summary: Biuso may cook on the other side of the world, but Americans will find plenty of familiar foods in this book, even as Biuso draws inspiration from nearby Asia, India and Indonesia, as well as the Mediterranean. Biuso also offers plenty of tips, such as starting sausages over low heat to avoid hardening the exterior. Quite a few dishes, particularly the salads, do not use the grill. Quite a few more call for cooking on a "barbecue hot plate," or cast-iron griddle that can be placed on a grill. The latter allows Biuso to expand the grilling repertoire. That, combined with the fresh and refreshing flavors, makes this book stand out.
Target Audience: Fans of ethnic flavors looking for new ideas.
Cumin-Crusted Grilled Skirt Steak Tacos
Recipe adapted from Grill It! (DK Publishing). Lime-marinated avocado and orange-glazed steak takes tacos to a new level. If skirt steak is unavailable, use flank steak or even sirloin.
Glaze:
1 cup fresh orange juice
½ cup distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 tablespoon pureed chipotle chiles, or 1 tablespoon chile powder
Meat:
2½ pounds trimmed skirt steak, cut into 4 pieces
1 large red onion, peeled and cut into ½-inch thick rounds (rings kept together)
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup cumin seeds
1 tablespoon paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Avocados:
2 ripe but firm avocados
Juice of 6 limes (about ¾ cup)
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Wraps:
12 (soft) corn tortillas, 6 to 8 inches across
1. For the glaze, combine orange juice, vinegar, tomato puree and chipotle chiles or chile powder in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture reduces by two-thirds and becomes slightly syrupy, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the heat and let cool.
2. Meanwhile, halve, pit and peel the avocados. Cut each half into thin slices. Place avocados, lime juice, cilantro and salt and pepper in a bowl. Toss gently until liquid coats the avocado. Transfer to serving dish and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, prepare or heat grill to high heat.
4. Rub steaks and onion slices with oil and sprinkle evenly with cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Put steaks and onion on grill rack directly over hot coals. Cook steaks 4 to 5 minutes on each side for medium-rare, or until cooked as desired. Cook onions until slightly soft and well marked by the grill, about 5 minutes. Brush steaks with the glaze during the last 45 seconds of cooking on each side.
5. Transfer steaks and onion to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Meanwhile, put tortillas around the edge of the grill and cook briefly, flipping every 10 seconds, until they are warm and marked by the grill, but soft and pliable, about 1 minute total. Wrap tortillas in foil or paper napkin.
6. Slice steaks thinly across the grain. Drizzle with remaining glaze. Serve steaks, onions, avocados and tortillas so people can make their own tacos.
Makes 4 servings.
Grilled Mini Tuna Burgers With Remoulade
Recipe adapted from BBQ Bash (Harvard Common Press). Despite the burger name, these are actually tuna-steak sandwiches. If concerned about the possibility of salmonella, use a pasteurized egg in the remoulade. Be sure to buy small rolls -- the size for cocktail-party sandwiches -- for this, or else too much bread will overwhelm the fish.
Remoulade:
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 teaspoon grated onion
2 large hard-cooked egg yolks
1 teaspoon anchovy paste (or minced anchovies)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large egg
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon capers, rinsed, drained and patted dry
Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
Tuna burgers:
8 3-ounce yellowfin tuna steaks, cut 1-inch thick
¼ cup olive oil, plus more for brushing rolls
2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
1 bay leaf, crumbled
8 small rolls, sliced in half
1. For the remoulade, put parsley, onion, hard-cooked egg yolks, anchovy paste, garlic and whole egg in food processor or blender and process into a paste. With the machine running, gradually add oil through the feed tube in a thin stream until the mixture forms a mayonnaise. Fold in the capers and lemon juice. Cover and chill until ready to serve. (This can be made a day ahead if desired.)
2. Prepare a hot fire on the grill.
3. Place tuna on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. In a bowl, mix oil, vinegar and bay leaf. Pour mixture over tuna. Brush cut side of rolls with extra oil.
4. Grill tuna 2 to 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare or 3 to 4 minutes each side for medium. During the last couple of minutes, place rolls cut side down on edge of grill and grill until bread is golden and has grill marks.
5. Place tuna steaks on bottoms of rolls, add a dollop of remoulade to each, then add the tops of the rolls.
Makes 8 appetizer, or 4 main-dish servings.
Corn as Italians Would Eat It
Recipe adapted from Italian Grill (Ecco Press) by Mario Batali, who implies that Italians don't actually eat corn this way, but they might if they thought about it. If you're waiting for fresh local corn to come in, clip this recipe and save it -- it'll be worth it.
6 ears corn, shucked
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 to 1½ cups freshly grated Parmiagno-Reggiano
About 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
Hot red pepper flakes
1. Heat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.
2. Place corn on hottest part of the grill and cook for 3 minutes, or until grill marks appear on bottom side. Roll over a quarter turn and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat two more times until all sides have grill marks.
3. Meanwhile, mix oil and vinegar on a flat plate. Spread Parmesan on another flat plate.
4. When corn is cooked, roll each ear in the oil and vinegar mixture. Shake off excess liquid, then roll in the cheese to coat lightly. Place on a platter and sprinkle with mint and red-pepper flakes, serve immediately.
Makes 6 ears.
Kung Pao Cashew Chicken Pizza
Recipe adapted from Pizza on the Grill (Taunton Press). This creative pizza takes its cue from a popular Chinese stir-fry. Shrimp can be substituted for the chicken.
¼ cup uncooked grits or polenta for rolling the dough
1 ball prepared pizza dough, at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 cup cubed cooked chicken
3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
¼ red bell pepper, seeded and cut into very thin strips
½ cup grated mozzarella cheese
¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
½ cup unsalted dry-roasted cashews
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon toasted (dark) sesame oil
1. Set up a grill for indirect cooking. For a gas grill, heat one burner only to medium. For a charcoal grill, pile briquettes to one side, leaving the other side empty.
2. Sprinkle the grits or polenta on a work surface and roll out the dough, shaping it so that it will fit on the indirect (unheated) area of the grill.
3. Place dough in the indirect area of the grill, close the lid and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the bottom is golden, rotating the crust if necessary for even browning. Using tongs and a rimless cookie sheet, flip the crust.
4. Spread the crust with hoisin sauce and sprinkle with red-pepper flakes. Top with the chicken, scallions and pepper strips. Sprinkle with the cheese.
5. Place pizza back over unlit area of grill, close the lid and grill until the bottom is golden and the cheese is bubbly, 7 to 10 minutes.
6. Remove pizza from the grill, sprinkle with cilantro and cashews, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the sesame oil, slice and serve immediately.
Makes 2 to 4 servings.
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