cover image George Foreman's Big Book of Grilling Barbecue and Rotisserie: More Than 75 Recipes for Family and Friends

George Foreman's Big Book of Grilling Barbecue and Rotisserie: More Than 75 Recipes for Family and Friends

George Foreman. Simon & Schuster, $23 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-7432-0092-9

Foreman could have designed this cookbook as a blatant tool to bolster sales of the electric grill that bears his name. It is a relief then to find that, once again, Foreman, writing with Witt (Pan-Asian Express), has taken the high road. What he presents is a happy-go-lucky collection of more than 75 recipes inspired by his salad days of boxing all over the world. Most entries can be cooked indoors or out, using electricity, gas or good old American charcoal. Foreman leads with a Kingwood Skirt Steak, taking the underappreciated cut of meat and treating it to a dry rub of chili powder, oregano and cinnamon. The thin cuts cook up fast and are served alongside grilled bananas. When Foreman turns chicken he does so with a rotisserie-roasted Moroccan Cornish Hen in a marinade of yogurt with cumin, turmeric and paprika. The seafood section features a Danish Mary Bluefish with a marinade containing Aquavit, the Dutch liquor, and also spicy skewered Tangerine Scallops made with hot Asian chili sauce. These exotic concoctions are superior to the more domestic efforts, the most worrisome of which is an American version of Indonesian chicken satay with a peanut sauce made of peanut butter, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, honey and vinegar. Rounding out the book are a dozen salad and vegetable offerings including a winning Watercress and Cucumber with Fresh Tuna. The only gap is a section on drinks--and given the author's unique credentials, who better to devise an unforgettable punch? (Oct.)