Karen Adler

Similar to the Best Little Marinades book that was also a part of this collection, this book features some quick and delicious sounding recipes for barbecue sauces. Of course, being from Eastern North Carolina, there's only one true sauce, and that's vinegar-based. While I really didn't expect more than a passing mention of Eastern NC style, a few more vinegar-based sauces would have been welcome. There are only two present.

Still some interesting mixtures in here that I'll probably try at some point or another.… (altro)

I'll be the first to admit I'm not much of a cook, and when it comes to bar-b-queing my wife always complains that I only know how to cook one way: well-done. But cooking on a piece of wood? Sounds interesting and can't hurt to try, right?

First off, the book itself is very nice. It's spiral bound but the spiral is *inside* the cover - so you can see it on the shelf and it still has the advantage of lying flat on the counter. The photos are absolutely mouth-watering, and I found myself wanting to try all kinds of things I'd generally pass on. The recipes all seem fairly flexible as well, and can be prepared as printed or modified somewhat (frequently the recipe will suggest substitutions and other ideas, too). In fact, each recipe is listed as a "technique" to present different approaches to planking food - and each gives instructions for cooking on the grill or in the oven.

I also found the discussion in the beginning on direct vs. indirect cooking very helpful (maybe now I can cook something medium-rare for my wife). And the basics of different kinds of wood and the flavors they impart, how to treat the planks, using wood chips, etc. was very informative and helpful. Personally, I would have appreciated some discussion of how to make your own planks and I found it surprisingly difficult to find grilling planks in my local stores (Target was the only one to carry them, and only red cedar).

But, now to the meat of the matter: how were the recipes? I've only had a chance to try a few and with mixed results. My family liked the herb mustard slather on salmon more than I did, and I wasn't sure how much flavor was coming from the wood and how much was the slather. It worked a little better when I did salmon with a store-bought glaze, but again, fish didn't seem to come out as flavorful as I hoped. The recipe that I thought gained the most flavor was the root vegetables (which I probably liked more than the rest of the family), but maybe that was the garlic. Overall, I thought they took much longer to cook than the book said, but that could be due to my grill (or perhaps my grilling "skills"?). Still, I'm going to keep trying more of these recipes, maybe even when we're having people over. After all, cooking on a plank looks pretty impressive!… (altro)