Baker - Bobby Flays boy meets grill: with more than 125 bold new recipes

Bobby Flay is a critically acclaimed chef/restaurateur, award-winning cookbook author, and television personality. He is the owner of the restaurants Mesa Grill, Bar Americain, Bobby Flay Steak, and Bobbys Burger Palace. In addition to his restaurants, Flay has shared his knowledge and enthusiasm for food through his cookbooks and his many national cooking shows on Food Network, the Cooking Channel, and NBC. His books include Grill It!, Throwdown!, Grilling for Life, Bold American Food, and From My Kitchen to Your Table.

www.bobbyflay.com

Joan Schwartz is a veteran cookbook author whose projects include Bobby Flays Bold American Food, Bobby Flays From My Kitchen to Your Table, and Cooking Provence.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to:

Clarkson N. Potter/Publishers for permission to reprint the recipe Shrimp Stock, which appeared in Bobby Flays From My Kitchen to Your Table by Bobby Flay and Joan Schwartz (copyright 1998 Boy Meets Grill, Inc.); Jack McDavid, for permission to use the recipe Jacks Turkey Porterhouse Steaks, adapted from Jack McDavid; Allen Susser, for permission to use the recipe title Mango Ketchup.

Copyright 1999 Bobby Flay

Photographs 1999 Tom Eckerle

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information address Hyperion, 1500 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.

The Library of Congress has catalogued the original print edition of this book as follows:

Flay, Bobby.

[Boy Meets Grill]

Bobby Flays boy meets grill : with more than 125 bold new recips / Bobby Flay and Joan Schwartz. - 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-7868-6490-7

1. Barbecue cookery. I. Schwartz, Joan. II. Title. III. Title: Boy meets grill.

TX840.B3F54 1999

641.5784-dc21

98-45808

CIP

Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-0-7868-6490-4

eBook Edition ISBN: 978-1-4013-0583-3

Original hardcover book design by Joel Avirom and Jason Snyder

Design Assistant: Meghan Day Healey

First eBook Edition

Original hardcover edition printed in the United States of America.

www.HyperionBooks.com

For my daughter, Sophie:

Every thought I have,

every move I make,

has you in mind.

Love, Daddy

B.F.

For Allen:

From here,

thirty-four years.

J.S.

Thanks to:

My mom, Dorothy Flay, for my first Easy Bake oven.

My father, Bill Flay, for pointing me toward the restaurant business.

Laurence Kretchmer, great friend and business partner, who puts up with my every whim.

Jerry Kretchmer and Jeff Bliss, who let me explore whatever I want, whether its right or wrong.

Stephanie Banyas, who dedicated what seemed like her every moment to making sure this book was completed. Without your expertise and integrity, Boy Meets Grill would merely be an idea!

Joan Schwartz, my coauthor, whose tireless dedication to this book went well beyond what anyone could ever ask for. Youre the greatest!

Chris Hewitt, former sous chef at Mesa Grill, for his help with the project.

Lisa Dean, whose fun, hip ideas became part of this book.

Maureen OBrien, editor. It doesnt get to be more fun than this!

Tom Eckerle and Cece Gallini, for more beautiful photos and uncompromising style.

Jane Dystel, the best deal maker in publishing.

Patrick OBrien, for his Super Bowl grilling.

My dedicated staffs at Mesa Grill and Bolo, especially: In the kitchens:Wayne Brachman, Larry Manheim, Erika Lutzner, and Bob Mundell.

In the dining rooms:Craig Petroff, Rick Pitcher, J. P. Francois, Denise Feltham, and Jody Gray.

Behind the scenes:Manny Gatdula and Stacy Dempsey.

Special thanks to Randy Rummel and Dynamic Cooking Systems, for the grill that made these recipes possible, to Global Knives for the knives used in the photos, and to Moss and Swid-Powell for all tabletop props.

M y first memories of grilling go back to when I was four or five years old and my mom and dad would rent a house from Memorial Day to Labor Day in Sea Girt, a beautiful small town on the New Jersey shore. Most of my summer diet consisted of boardwalk foodhot dogs, hamburgers, and lots of candy. But my favorite meals were when we would break out the grill in the backyard: big lobsters, sweet corn, and, of course, more burgers. The only difficult task was trying to keep the raccoons away after we went to sleep. Lobster shells and corn cobs were their favorite banquet.

I can still remember what those meals tasted like. They were not perfect, but I remember them as delicious and, most important, lots of fun.

For the most part, grilling has always been the focal point of the restaurants that I have worked in or owned. I remember one particular Saturday night at a restaurant named Buds when we had about 250 reservations and I was working the grill station. We used only mesquite wood, and the grill had to be tended for six hours during dinner service. (You can imagine how much wood we would go through in an evening.) The most crucial part of the night was getting the grill started, not an easy task. It generally took about an hour to get a good hot fire going so that everythingchicken, meats, game, fish, and vegetablescould be cooked to perfection. It was important to know the hot spots and cold spots, and to have a certain command of the grill so that you worked it, as opposed to its working you.

With all this in mind, I waited for my first orders to come spilling in, and as they did, I suddenly realized that my greatest nightmare had come true. I had forgotten to light the grill! What happened over the next few hours is indescribable, but I think that night has something to do with my preference for gas grills. Press a few buttons, turn a few knobs, and you have a hot, even grill, ready to go.

Today, grilling continues to be much more than a way to cookits a whole culture all its own. Theres no better way to spend an afternoon for lunch, or a warm evening for a casual dinner. It seems that at every barbecue, at least one person has the best recipe for this, or the best way to cook that. Grilling techniques, dry rubs, and marinades have been passed down through generations, and, of course, the best way to fire up a grill always makes for an amusing conversation.