The Thrill of the Grill
The Thrill of the Grill
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Product Description
In his jacket photo, ace grill chef Chris Schlesinger has the look of Howdy Doody with a stomach full of barbecue. It's a speechless kind of look. Schlesinger, however, is not a speechless kind of guy. Starting with the motto, "Brown food tastes better," Schlesinger and his writing partner, John Willoughby, show the reader exactly why that is. The ride lasts nearly 400 pages.
It's hard to imagine a pre-Thrill of the Grill time in American culinary life, so mighty has the impact been. It's a book with a built-in virus of insidious and infecting qualities that will have even the least interested among us out at the grill, getting the fire glass-melting hot, trying a few ideas like Grilled Shrimp with Pineapple-Ancho Chile Salsa, or Grilled Chicken Rubbed with Ethiopian Berbere (hot, hot, hot), or Grilled Swordfish Steaks with Yucatan Orange-Herb Paste, or maybe Beef Heart Grilled and Marinated in the Peruvian Way (or maybe not).
Actually, that right there--beef heart--is rather telling. Who else in their right minds would include grilled beef heart in their cookbook? These guys, Schlesinger in the lead, breaking trail, will go anywhere, do anything, and bring it all home to grill and eat.
The sheer love of food pours off these pages--the way it tastes and feels, the way super spices fire up your nervous system, the way the juices run down your forearm and off your elbow--and that's the way it should be. Relaxed. Determined. Thrilled. And with Thrill of the Grill tucked under one arm, you are sure to have the time of your life every time you fire up your grill and start cooking.
Plan on buying a couple of copies. This is one of those cookbooks that will get so grease- and sauce-splattered it will become unreadable. --Schuyler Ingle
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My copy of Thrill of the Grill is dog-eared and stained from years of use, indoors and outdoors. I have given this book as a gift many times and everyone is always extremely delighted with the results from Chris Schlesinger’s recipes.
I can think of no other cookbook author where I have thought – “boy, someday when I am in Boston I am going to this guy’s restaurant!”
The book is well written and very informative on grilling techniques and preparation.
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Lots of great recipes for beginners like me. The Grilled Pineapple is SO easy and SO good…not to mention the grilled chicken thigh quesadilla.
Throw away every other cookbook…
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This is a terrific cookbook. Of my 100+ cookbooks, this rates in my top five, along with Paul Prudhomme, Julia Child, and Marcella Hazan. These recipes are innovative, easy to follow, and truly tasty. The dishes are fairly simple, they offer some fabulous menu planning, and there are great pictures. The night I got the book, I tried the blue cheese lamb kabobs on wilted greens, along with the grilled scallops on mango relish on some friends, and I killed. I have since killed again, and will kill often with Thrill of the Grill.
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`The Thrill of the Grill’ is the first book by the team of chef/restaurateur Chris Schlesinger and culinary journalist (`Gourmet magazine executive editor) John (`Doc’) Willoughby. Even before I have read and reviewed this book, it was the one I always recommended when someone wanted a good book on grilling, based solely on the reputation of the authors and my observations on their non-grilling books.
As with several books, I picked this book out to review because I wanted to read a model for good grilling books to which I can compare other grilling and barbecue books. On reading this volume, I’m glad I have given the two Bobby Flay books I have reviewed only four stars, as they are very nice, inexpensive collections of good grilling recipes, but Schlesinger and Willoughby offer so much more. I am also just a bit chastised for having given Steve Raichlen’s `BBQ USA’ five stars. It is a very big book with lots of `color’ sidebars on grilling and barbecue around the country, but it simply does not address the twin topics of grilling and barbecue in as well defined a manner as we get in this excellent book. Schlesinger and Willoughby are not only crystal clear on the differences between grilling and barbecue in exactly the right way, they explain all the regional differences between eastern North Carolina, western North Carolina, Texas, Memphis, and Kansas City in a way that puts all the Food Network shows rolled up together to shame.
One of the first things you discover about the authors’ grilling technique is that (in this book) they don’t even consider gas grilling, almost as if a gas grill was not true grilling. Just to be sure, I checked the index for the words `propane’, `gas’, `bottled gas’, and `natural gas’ and none of these expressions appear. The next thing I noticed was that their take on the various types of fuel and fire lighting techniques was very non-denominational. They expressed no strong preferences for briquettes, hardwood charcoal, or raw hardwood. They were also kind to the technique of starting fire with lighter fluid or even an electrical fire-starting coil. The only product / technique they dismissed was self-starting briquettes.
Like the very best grilling reference it is, the book covers virtually all aspects of outdoor cooking, including appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, breads, desserts, and beverages. Needless to say, not every dish is grilled, but every dish has a well-established role in the grilling milieu.
The recipes themselves are a very nice contrast to Flay and Raichlen. While Bobby does southwest and Steve does `redneck’ traditional, Schlesinger and Willoughby are heavy on Caribbean and Oriental flavors. I suspect most of this is due to Schlesinger’s preferences and experiences as a professional chef. Willoughby’s half of the job is probably editing the English and getting all the details right.
The heart of the book is the five chapters on grilled dishes. These subjects are:
Appetizers, including soups with grilled ingredients, gazpacho, sauces, raw bar dishes, and the like.
Fish, including rubs, marinades, and vinaigrettes. This is the first book where I saw good specialized instructions on grilling fish, including the notion that not all fish take to the grill.
Meat, including Poultry, with lots of recipes for pork and Caribbean jerk seasonings.
`Grilling at the Ritz’, or things to do with expensive or unusual ingredients such as figs, mushrooms, frogs legs, tuna, quail, rabbit, venison, sweetbreads, and duck breast.
The next chapter gives a taste of the authors strong interest in pickling (See their book `Quick Pickles’), as it has 35 recipes for chutneys, relishes, blatjangs (highly spiced South African preserves), jams, sauces, and glazes.
The next chapter gives an excellent introduction to the technique of barbecue, which they very accurately point out has much less to do with any sauce than it does with a method of slow cooking over an open fire plus smoke. They are also careful to differentiate it from curing with smoke (as done to bacon and some sausages). There are not many recipes in this section, but each one is a major exemplar for an important classic barbecue meat. The recipes include whole chicken, duck, baby back ribs, Missouri style ribs, North Carolina pulled pork, Texas beef brisket, and bologna. There is but one recipe for a barbecue sauce, with five major variations. For a serious survey of different barbecue sauces, rubs, and mops, see Paul Kirk’s `Championship Barbecue’.
The next chapter covers the essential outdoor eating side dishes. This includes slaws, salads, biscuits, grits, dips, beans, greens, and fruity glazes. I strongly recommend the recipe for Cheddar Biscuits ( page 309).
The Breads and desserts chapter includes everything you would expect in an outdoor cooking and eating book, which is heavy on the corn bread, flat breads, and classic American desserts such as cobblers, pies, and crisps. Baking instructions are not given for baking on a closed grill. Most are done in the modern kitchen oven.
Note that while the recipes are very well written and annotated, the book enhances these dishes with sidebars of very well illustrated instructions on basic techniques such as making compound butters and cutting meat to serve or to prepare to grill.
Every good prescription for the grilling setup specifies that you have a flavorful beverage at hand before starting. Just to be sure this requirement is covered, the authors give us a few recipes for classic tea-totaller and alcoholic libations. The authors outdo fussy Alton Brown in the depth to which they set you up for a grilling session.
Virtually the only point where where I doubted the author’s statement was when they said grilling is cooking by heat convection. I strongly suspect that cooking directly over the hot coals delivers heat by all three methods, convection, conduction, and radiation.
My reading confirms this book as THE best reference for grilling and true barbecue, at least until I review their next book, `License to Grill’.
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I have at least a dozen grilling/barbecue cookbooks and if I could only keep one this would be it. It’s a classic IMHO. It covers grilling and barbeque and does justice to both. The pork rub (for shoulder/ribs) is great. I would recommend “License to Grill” as well.
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‘Creative’, ‘Original’ and ‘New’ are often recipes for disaster, but ‘Thrill’ is sauced-up here! S&W explore a cuisine as old as Neanderthal, with ingredients as simple and fresh as your grocer’s morning delivery. Give your culinary tap-root a deep watering with “The Thrill of the Grill”. Submitted by Michael Dean Olsen (Calliste@juno.com
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If you’re tired of plain old BBQ or standard grilling techniques, give this book a try. This is a book for adventuresome people who love spices & sparkling flavors.
It’s full of great recipes, most of them low fat, which combine common ingredients into some wonderfull flavor combinations. Many of the recipes are easy to prepare and the ingredients can be found in standard supermarkets.
Hope you enjoy it – have fun cooking.
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After seeing some negative reviews, I had to respond. I have __never__ used a cookbook with as many recipes in it that opened my eyes and titillated my palate as this one. If you want straight-out BBQ there may be better books but if you want to enjoy great food, intriguing spice combinations, and simply have fun doing it — BUY THIS.
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This is definitely one of my favorite cookbooks, one that I constantly go back to. It’s a very good introduction to real barbeque, has some excellent drink recipes (if you’re so inclined), and it’s well written. You can actually sit down and read this book. The commentary on the recipes is amusing and insightful. Yes, the barbeque section could have been more extensive and some of the recipes call for ingredients that are not likely to be in the cupboard – but those are minor criticisms. If you like outdoor cooking, this one is a must-have.
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A very funny book(watch the comments which belong to the recipes)on grilling. The book contains recipes for every style of grilling. West Indianrecipes, american BBQ and gourmet grillrecipes are included. I’ve tried a few recipes and I can assure you that they’re absolutely fabulous! The weakhearted shouldn’t try the pasta from hell though! As a collector of cookery-book and having been a chef myself i can recommend this delightful book to everyone interested in grilling or BBQ-ing!!