In North Carolina, many people grill practically year-round. But grilling cookbooks have a season — and this is it. This spring's crop offers a couple of all-purpose volumes, one smokin' collection, two down-to-earth books and two books with ethnic flavors.
"Sam the Cooking Guy: Just Grill This!" (Wiley, $19.95)
Author: Sam Zien
Number of recipes: About 120
Summary: Sam Zien, host of "Sam the Cooking Guy," is all about simple. He's the unpretentious neighbor whose food always tastes great. This is Zien's third book. As Zien says in the introduction, grilling "is the most fundamental of all cooking methods," and he definitely is reacting against over-the-top grilling that's unnecessarily complicated. He starts the book with concise lists of recommended pantry items and grilling do's and don'ts. He also includes a few rubs — all with six ingredients or fewer — and a handful of sauces — which mostly involve stirring one or two ingredients into ketchup or mayo. The recipe chapters run from appetizers to desserts. It includes one called "things not normally grilled" that has such recipes as grilled croutons, hearts of romaine and pizza — which makes Zien seem behind the times as other grillers have been doing these things for years. Zien is an old-fashioned, meat-and-potatoes guy, and that's his appeal.
Recipes: Grilled shrimp cocktail, chicken with chipotle ranch, sesame grilled meatballs, grilled Mexican corn, sticky sweet ribs, grilled tuna salad, "crazy good" Asian rib-eye, pastrami Reuben dog, fried egg turkey burger, mango dessert tacos.
Target audience: Men and women who don't care about fancy or trendy. They just want something simple and tasty to put on the table.
"The Deen Bros. Get Fired Up" (Ballantine, $25)
Author: Jamie and Bobby Deen with Melissa Clark
Number of recipes: About 125
Summary: It can't be easy carving out a name for yourself when you have a larger-than-life mother in the biz. But Jamie and Bobby Deen, sons of Paula Deen, have managed to prosper with their own Food Network show, magazine and cookbooks. Their fourth book has them making simple, down-home food that is a tad more modern than their mother's. The book is about grilling, tailgating and picnicking. Though the book has some contemporary touches (perhaps attributable to Melissa Clark of The New York Times), cutting-edge cooks might get bored. Contemporary balsamic cherry pork chops and grilled brown sugar Brussels sprouts tend to get outnumbered by such standard recipes as deviled eggs, pepperoni pizza and slaw. Many recipes have a Southern touch, and most all of them combine simple preparations and familiar flavors.
Recipes: Herb-rubbed pork tenderloin, Dijon New York strip steak, NOLA-style dirty rice salad, Mexican fiesta burgers, TGIF chicken salad wraps with pimento, grilled stuffed corn bread with ham and cheese, grilled Low Country boil, pomegranate punch.
Target audience: This is for people who like their food fun and not fussy. If the idea of a whole chapter on burgers and hot dogs gets you excited, this book is for you.
"Weber's Time to Grill" (Sunset, $24.95)
Author: Jamie Purviance
Number of recipes: About 220
Summary: Weber-Stephen Products clearly has a good reason to put out grilling cookbooks: It sells grills. Still, the eight Weber cookbooks, including this one, have been consistently well-done — full of comprehensive, clearly written information and loads of enticing recipes. Purviance has written all eight books. "Weber's Way to Grill," was nominated for a James Beard Foundation cookbook award. In the new book, the emphasis is on time. The book not only states separate times for prep, marinating and cooking with every recipe, but also has put similar recipes on facing pages, with the quicker and easier ones on the left — prep times of 15 minutes or less — and adventurous or more time-consuming recipes on the right. Every recipe has a color photo, as well as notes in large type about special equipment. The book also includes other useful information on equipment, ingredients and techniques.
Recipes: Calamari with orange dipping sauce, green chili lamb burgers, pork chops with grilled pineapple, salmon with creamy citrus sauce, chicken thighs with olive-fennel salad, cinnamon French toast, eggplant and tomato salad, skillet peach tart.
Target audience: Modern cooks who like recipes with contemporary, ethnic touches, but who don't always want to spend a lot of time on dinner.
"Smokin' with Myron Mixon" (Ballantine, $22)
Author: Myron Mixon with Kelly Alexander
Number of recipes: About 70
Summary: Myron Mixon has worked the barbecue-competition circuit since 1996, racking up more than 180 grand championships, 30 state championships and 11 national championships. But it was the TLC show "BBQ Pitmasters" that really put him in the spotlight. This is Mixon's first book, and he's sharing many of his award-winning recipes. Mixon likes to cook pork, but recipes also cover chicken, beef, fish, sides, desserts, sauces, rubs and marinades. The cooking concentrates on low-and-slow barbecue, and not regular grilling. Most recipes require a smoker. Mixon also shares plenty of tips, and he isn't shy about giving his opinion. Many people will find his no-nonsense straight talk refreshing. People might expect more than 70 recipes for $22, but this book is about getting the scoop directly from the champ.
Recipes: Smoked whole turkey, bacon-wrapped Coca-Cola chicken breasts, smoked pork shoulder, pork burgers, "whistler" burgers (with cheddar and Canadian bacon), "perfect" brisket, zesty potato salad, barbecue deviled eggs, barbecue nachos, banana pudding.
Target audience: This book is not for casual cooks. It's for people who are serious about their barbecue.
"Latin Grilling" (Ten Speed Press, $22)
Author: Lourdes Castro
Number of recipes: About 90
Summary: Lourdes Castro, a native of Miami's Cuban community, is a cooking instructor and the author of "Simply Mexican" and "Eat, Drink, Think in Spanish." Here she sets out to show the breadth of Latin grilled food.
The book is organized as 10 fiestas or menus, each tied to a particular cuisine. Those 10 are northern Mexican, Yucatean, Cuban, Nicaraguan, Northern Andean (Colombian and Venezuelan), Peruvian, Argentinean, Chilean, Patagonian (southern Argentinean and Chilean) and Brazilian. The menus typically each include one drink and dessert, plus two or more appetizers, main dishes and sides. Castro includes abundant notes on techniques, equipment and ingredients. Castro notes that Latin countries have strong traditions of cooking over fire, and she wants people to learn that Latin food is many distinct cuisines.
Recipes: Rum and guava cooler, chili-marinated pork tacos, fish ceviche with ginger and chili, chorizo sliders, beef empanadas, brown-sugar-crusted grilled chicken, savory corn pudding, wood-plank-grilled halibut, Peruvian caramel meringue, coconut cupcakes.
Target audience: This would be a great book for fans of Mexican food who are looking to branch out. Recipes are generally easy to prepare from common ingredients.
"The Japanese Grill" (Ten Speed Press, $25)
Authors: Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat
Number of recipes: About 95
Summary: Many people might not think of Japan as having a grilling tradition, but it does. Tadashi Ono, the chef at Matsuri in New York, and Harris Salat, a food writer and blogger, have put together a collection that shares not only traditional Japanese recipes but also contemporary, American-style recipes that use Japanese flavors. The book starts with details on Japanese ingredients and includes three great, multipurpose marinades. One section covers traditional yakitori, bite-sized food cooked on skewers. Shioyaki, or salt-grilling, is featured in the seafood chapter. The majority of the book, though, veers from tradition, applying such Japanese flavors as wasabi to such American tastes as ribs and steaks.
Though recipes use a fair number of specialized ingredients, the execution tends to be quick and easy. Many dishes call only for applying three or four seasonings before throwing a piece of food on the grill. Bonus: The back of the book has a list of key ingredients in English and Japanese to help people navigate an Asian market.
Recipes: Yakitori chicken skin, miso-glazed quail, salt-grilled head-on shrimp, foil-baked whole trout with lemon-soy sauce butter, bone-in rib-eye with wasabi sour cream, Japanese-style baby back ribs, lamb shoulder steak with Japanese curry oil.
Target audience: This is clearly made for grillers who love Asian food.
"Better Homes and Gardens Grill It!" (Wiley, $24.95)
Author: Editors of Better Homes and Garden magazine
Number of recipes: More than 250
Summary: Like "Weber's Time to Grill," this book seeks to offer something for everyone, and Better Homes and Gardens might have slightly outdone Weber this time in comprehensive information on grilling basics and the large selection of sauces, rubs, marinades, salsas and brines. It also one-ups Weber's book by including nutritional information for every recipe. The recipes are predictably mainstream to appeal to a lot of people — the burger and brats chapter is particularly strong. But this book really excels in explaining recipe techniques and steps to educate less-experienced cooks. Along the bottom of every recipe are step-by-step instructions accompanied by handy photos — the book has about 950 photos, including a shot of every finished dish. Also convenient is the Mix It Up! Notes on select recipes that offer substitutions of seasonings and toppings. A separate chapter is devoted to the increasingly popular smokers.
Recipes: Apple-mustard marinade, Cajun beer sauce, Greek honey-lemon pork chops, Memphis dry ribs, jerk burgers with mango salsa, Thai chicken thighs, salmon Caesar salad, vegetable pizzas, green beans hobo pack, dessert polenta with balsamic plums.
Target audience: Mainstream and less-experienced cooks looking for recipes with familiar flavors that are reliable, thorough and clearly written.
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