Bobby Flay - Bobby Flays Grill It!

I have always loved eating almost anything hot off the grill. When I was a kid, I remember there would be smoke billowing out of the backyard as my dad took orders like a polished short-order cook in the busiest diner. Do you want yours plain or with cheese? he would ask. There were no other optionsyou were getting a hamburger or a cheeseburger and it was going to be well done. Period.

Firing up the grill makes every-night dinners with family or simple get-togethers with friends feel like a party or some sort of celebration. Everyone wants to take part in the action, and why not? Its probably going to involve lots of good tasting, healthy food and a frosty cocktail of some sort, which can only lead to lots of smiles. And as the clean-up is a lot easier than a dinner that involves breaking out every pot and pan in the closet, those happy faces remain long after the eating is done.

Grilling has come a long way since the overcooked burgers of my youth. Its widely regarded as a healthier alternative to frying in lots of butter or oil and the sweet smoky kiss of hardwood lump charcoal beats the taste of briquettes doused in lighter fluid any day. Today most grill cooks have widened their repertoires from hamburgers and hot dogs to a spectrum of simple but spectacular dishes. Next to the chopped meat there is now a place for fish and shellfish, pork and chicken, and, more popular than ever, a garden full of vegetables.

Not only have our grilling options expanded in terms of what we grill, but how we grill has changed, too. First there were only charcoal grills, then gas, and now, you can easily find one of the great grill pans out there so that you can bring the party inside and onto the stovetop. What was once only for summer you can now accomplish regardless of the season. (And, in fact, all of the recipes in this book can be cooked on a grill pan instead of outside.)

When I was thinking about Grill It!, I thought a lot about how my friends and I go about putting a meal together on the grill. It all starts with the shopping; often enough the planning of the menu doesnt start until I arrive at the farmers market or grocery store. I want to be inspired by the ingredients before committing to a recipe. I want to walk up to the beautiful tomatoes or sweet corn, the pork chops or rib-eye steaks, and I want to see what looks best, what grabs my eye, what Im craving.

This is the book to turn to when you know what you want but you dont know how you want it. Lets say youve passed a roadside stand with fresh corn and you couldnt resist picking up half a dozen ears. Maybe there was a special on salmon at your fish marketperfect, youve got dinner. Except what are you going to do with that corn and salmon now that youre home? Thats where Grill It! comes in.

Turn to the corn chapter, see whats in your pantry, and take it from there. With nine recipes for cornfrom steamed in the husk to grilled with flavored butters or taken off the cob and paired with other veggies to make a succotashyoure bound to find just the right way to take advantage of your roadside find. The same goes for that salmonbe it glazed, spice rubbed, or topped with a flavorful relish. Grill It! gives you all the options you need to turn your supermarket bounty into an awesome meal from the grill, chapter by simple chapter.

Because no one thinks, I want to grill a main course and a side dish tonightwe all think, I want to do chicken breasts and maybe some summer squashthe books chapters are divided by ingredient. There is a chapter on asparagus, on scallops, one on just pork. If burgers are what you are craving, then open up the chapter entitled simply Burgers. Youll find not just beef burgers in there, but turkey and buffalo versions, too.

This is the book for the way we grill today with 150 simple recipes to turn to night after night. So go aheadexpand your repertoire beyond hamburgers and cheeseburgers. Now that youve got it, grill it! Just dont forget to light the grill first.

Bobby Flay