cover image License to Grill: Achieve Greatness at the Grill with 200 Sizzling Recipes

License to Grill: Achieve Greatness at the Grill with 200 Sizzling Recipes

Chris Schlesinger. William Morrow Cookbooks, $32.5 (416pp) ISBN 978-0-688-13943-8

Revisiting the hot coals that sparked The Thrill of the Grill, their first book, Schlesinger and Willoughby lay out 200 more recipes for the charcoal-fed, backyard cooker. Emphasizing the fun of it all, the duo offers some easily mastered dishes (Lime Soup with Grilled Cumin Chicken; Grilled Veal Chops with Expensive Mushrooms). But there are also recipes that even they admit are complicated and time-consuming. The Quixotic Mixed Grill with Vegetable Skewers and Four Sauces is a monstrous Brazilian churrasco made with sweetbreads, chicken hearts, lamb chops and more. Indeed, the food here is notable for richly stratified tastes. Fruit co-stars often: Basil-Garlic Chicken with Grilled Balsamic Peaches; Grilled Sirloin and Apricot Skewers with Pomegranate Vinaigrette. Chutneys, relishes, sauces and salads repeatedly contribute verve to the main ingredient. Among nine recipes for seriously hot food, Grilled Jerk Shark with Pineapple Salsa calls for 10(!) Scotch bonnet peppers. Also featured here is Hobo Pack Cookery, in which food is wrapped in foil and buried in coals, where it cooks and (sometimes) burns. Even two of 16 dessert recipes face the fire: Grilled Bananas and Pineapple with Rum-Molasses Glaze and Grilled Pineapple with Sweet Lime-Black Pepper Sauce. This is sure to motivate anyone yearning to do more this summer than just char another steak. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (May)