Praise the Lard: Recipes and Revelations from a Legendary Life in Barbecue

Barbecue is in the blood of this father and daughter duo, who share a definite fondness for hog fat, beef tallow, and the barbecue “holy trinity” of seasoning, smoke, and sauce. Champion pitmaster Mike is a partner at New York’s Blue Smoke and overseer of the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, Ill. Amy runs OnCue, a barbecue consultancy. Here they provide 100 family recipes, some more down-home than others. Brisket dumplings, for example, employ a Korean marinade and a dipping sauce with rice vinegar and pear juice, and their pork belly porchetta is stuffed with Italian sausage. But in an excellent chapter of pit-smoked meats, poetry and Americana run deep in dishes such as bourbon-buttered reverse-sear double-cut pork chops, and “Meat Me in St. Louis” ribs flavored with apple juice and a raspberry-chipotle sauce. Mason jars become parfait cups for a grits and collard parfait, as well as for a barbecue parfait that begins with layers of Fritos and baked beans and then is topped with whatever leftovers are at hand. The authors take porcine liberties in a chapter of libations that include a Salty Pig (ironically rimmed with kosher salt) and a Pork and Stormy, with bacon-washed bourbon and ginger beer. (May)