Barbecue Nation: 350 Hot-off-the-Grill, Tried-and-True Recipes from America's Backyard by Fred Thompson

From the Publisher

Barbecue Nation is a culinary mosaic of what 14 million Americans like to do most when it comes to cooking--make dinner at the grill. Author Fred Thompson has searched across the U.S. for America's best backyard cooks and their favorite recipes--not chefs' fancy interpretations of barbecue classics or pitmasters' ways with barbecue that the reader can't reproduce at home, but 350 recipes that are easy to recreate in anybody's backyard. The book will reflect America's ever-changing populations, with recipes with the flavors of Cuba from South Florida, or Brooklyn-born Jamaican jerk, or the taste of Vietnam from the coast of Texas, as well as the country's regional bounties, including grilled salmon recipes from the Pacific Northwest, brats from the Midwest, and Delta Grilled Catfish.

Publishers Weekly

Any pit master will happily point out the Mason-Dixon line of outdoor cooking: barbecue is a long, slow process in which large pieces of meat cook over low heat, while grilling is a short process in which smaller items cook over high heat. Thompson (The Big Book of Fish and Shellfish) takes an egalitarian approach in this mouthwatering collection of 350 recipes, employing both techniques with winning results. Thompson traveled the country, acquiring recipes (and 20 pounds) from backyard barbecue aficionados, professional cooks and everyone in between. The result includes all the old favorites-Beer Can Chicken, brisket and a bevy of rib variations, but spins off in a number of enticing directions, including complex, adventurous recipes (like the exotic Grilled Octopus Salad) and simplicity-itself crowd-pleasers (like Simple Seasoned Pork Chops, with just three ingredients). Anyone with a soft spot for smoky flavor will have a hard time saying no to new classics like Double-Stuffed Barbecue Potatoes, Grilled Oysters Rockefeller and Grilled Figs with Country Ham (stuffed with blue cheese and mascarpone, quickly grilled, then glazed with a balsamic reduction). The barbecue and grilling shelf of most bookstores is already overburdened with choices, but Thompson's rich and varied collection-virtually all of which falls within the capabilities of most cooks-belongs on the short list of anyone serious about outdoor cooking. (Apr.)

Judith Sutton - Library Journal

Author of The Big Book of Fish and Shellfish, Thompson travels around the country to teach cooking classes, so he decided that his grilling book should be a "national community cookbook," with recipes from the great home cooks he has met along the way. There are also recipes from chefs and barbecue champions, as well as Thompson's own, but the majority come from nonprofessionals, and their stories accompany the recipes—from Becky's Hot Crawfish Dip to Carolina's Pollo de Limca. A new crop of grilling books appears each season, but most libraries will want to add Thompson's latest.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents