Bittman Mark - How to grill everything: simple recipes for great flame-cooked food

Copyright 2018 by Double B Publishing, Inc.

Photography 2018 by Christina Holmes

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to trade.permissions@hmhco.com or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

hmhco.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-0-544-79030-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-544-79082-7 (ebook)

Book design by Toni Tajima

v2.0518

Everything you need to start grilling like a prowith gas or charcoal.

Savory and smoky bites for part of a meal, or a meal thats a party.

Seafood is easy to handle on the grill when you know how.

Here are a hundred reasons why Americas favorite meat is also popular for grilling.

Beef, pork, lamb, steak, chops, burgers, and a few oddballsits all here.

The underrated heroes of outdoor cooking.

All your favorite barbecue companions, spun for the grill.

Grilled food is even better with these for dipping, spooning, and drizzling.

Even more reasons to cook the whole meal outside.

Appetizers and Snacks

Fish and Shellfish

Poultry

Meat

Vegetarian Mains

Vegetables and Side Dishes

Sauces and Condiments

Breads and Desserts

Everyone knows grilling is fun, but codifying the worlds most primitive cooking method, especially one thats grown to cult status, was not easy. Pam Hoenig, with whom Ive been working since the original edition of How to Cook Everything was conceived (1994!), did the brunt of the work on this tome. Kerri Conan, as usual, contributed mightily, and nothing in the world of me and books happens without Angela Miller.

Others on the team included recipe testers Karin Huggens and Cara Wood-Ginder, who got their grilling groove on. The spectacular photography is down to Christina Holmes, who did the shooting with assistants Spencer Wells and True ONeill, and food stylist Chris Lanierwho, with Dana McClure, hosted at Ravenwood, their beautiful Catskills barnplus assistants Frda Kristinsdttir and Erika Joyce. The prop styling was done by Kaitlyn DuRoss. Netherton Foundry and Hawkins New York supplied some of the cast-ironware for the shoot.

You cant write a grilling book without meat, and a few Putnam County people really helped us get our hands on not only the best meat, but some of the hardest-to-come-by cuts. Chris Pascarella of Marbled Meat Shop in Cold Spring always did us right, and the meat team of Donald Arrant and Stephanie Pittman at Glynwood (an awesome institution led by my awesome partner, Kathleen Frith) kept me well-supplied with perfectly raised meat for my testing chores.

A shout-out, too, to Erin Harrison of Broil King, who supplied us with what are really the best gas grills I have ever used (and I was an early adopter of gas). I wouldnt say it if it werent true.

I have editors, publishers, marketers, publicists, and so on, and theyve all been great: My esteemed higher-ups Bruce Nichols, Deb Brody, and Ellen Archer; editor Stephanie Fletcher, copy editor Suzanne Fass, and managing editor Marina Padakis Lowry. Plus art director Melissa Lotfy, designer Toni Tajima, and production coordinator Kevin Watt, and the marketing and publicity team of Lori Glazer and Adriana Rizzo.

To my friends and family, thank you, as always. To Kate and Emma, youre more impressive and faboo than ever. To my mom: Keep it UP! And to Kathleen, and a future of grilling and eating together.

Mark Bittman

Cold Spring, New York, 2017

Cooking is the same whether you do it on a range or a grill. That is, the same skills apply: You control heat, tune into your senses, and learn to recognize doneness. Only with grilling the flame is always visible. And often neither pot nor pan comes between the food and the fire.

That directness makes grilling outdoors exhilarating, intimate, elemental, fun. The lure of food sizzling on a grate over burning embers is powerful. And with the wide selection of modern equipment and fuels now available, its no more difficult than turning on the stove.

Anything you can do in an oven or on a stove you can do on the grill. As with all the How to Cook Everything books, here youll find variations for changing components, techniques, and flavors, and inspiration for trying your own ideas. But while these recipes open the door to many new possibilitiesespecially with vegetables and dessertsthey also show you when and how not to fuss. There are lots of options for hot and fast cooking that will have dinner on the table on harried weeknights, as well as slow-and-low project recipes like pulled pork and brisket, perfect for leisurely weekend cooking for friends and family.

Then theres the whole being outdoors with friends and family thing. Standing at the grill youve usually got some help or at least a friend to keep you company. And a cool drink is probably in arms reach. Cooking doesnt get any better.

Grilling gurus searching mainly for new recipes might want to skim this chapter. Everyone elseespecially if you dont already have a grill or are in the market for a new onelisten up. This is the part where I tell you that what you cook on (or over) hardly matters. With a little technique and honest ingredients, you can enjoy excellent grilled meals with virtually any rig.

In the great debate played out in backyards across America, Im either preaching to or insulting the choir, since I believe both types of grills have value. The decision is deeply personal and depends on everything from your climate and how often you entertain to how committed you are to learning new skills. My job is to provide successful recipes for both types of grills, covering several different variables. Maybe after reading this section youll want to own gas and charcoal grills. (Theyre affordable enough that might be a real possibility.)

Gas makes grilling convenient. You open a propane tank or natural gas line, press an ignition button, and in 15 minutesless time than it takes to prep most dinnersyouve got adjustable flames and a blazing hot cooking surface. Now you can decide to cook something lean and mean (and fast) over direct heat or move it to the cool side of the grill for a slow roast. And the precision and predictability of gas are appealing, especially if you regularly cook for a crowd.

Getting a charcoal grill ready doesnt take a whole lot longer, but it sure can seem like it when youre messing with lighting, spreading, and building the coals.

When cooking direct (meaning the food is positioned over the flames), Ive gotten awesome results with both gas and charcoal grills, including absolutely delicious char-broiled steaks and burgers, boneless chicken, shrimp, vegetables, you name it. Hardcore charcoal grillers argue that the gas grill cant get hot enough (read 800 to 900F) for the perfect sear, but I have been plenty happy with the outcomes I have gotten with my gas grill.