Linda Ly - The Ultimate Outdoor Cookbook: All-Day Meals and Drinks for Backyard Entertaining and Elevated Camping Fare

THE ULTIMATE

ALL-DAY MEALS AND DRINKS FOR BACKYARD ENTERTAINING AND ELEVATED CAMPING FARE

Linda Ly | Photography by Will Taylor

W hen I close my eyes and think of my happy place, I picture this: a canopy of conifers with a breeze whipping through, a bubbling creek, or perhaps a glassy lake, with a sublime string of peaks in the distance. Tents and coolers. Logs and embers. A hot, hearty meal shared around the fire with family and friends as the last light fades.

Its no secret I love a good campfire, but, above all, I love a great meal cooked over one. I love the leap and snap of a lively fire as it collapses into red-hot coals. I love the alchemy of sun and smoke that makes those long summer days seem even slower. I love the fact that every time you grill and gather around a fire, its a community event. You pull up your chairs, clink some cold libations, and sink into conversations that get longer and deeper as the night goes on.

It doesnt matter how simple or elaborate the meal is, or whether I charred it just a tad too much. Food just tastes better outside, and even more so when youre cooking over the one fuel that infuses its own sultry flavor: firewood.

But, as much as I love camping, I cant always get away. I can, however, get outside, even if its just a few steps from the house. So when I started thinking about how I would follow up the success of The New Camp Cookbook, it made sense to bring that kind of cooking closer to home and right into our own backyardsor front yards, or courtyards, or wherever we can carve out space for a fire.

When it comes to grilling, Im all about live fire. Theres a visceral appeal to cooking over woodthink hissing steaks on a bed of smoldering, glowing red coalsthat a gas stove and even a gas grill cant match. Its a rugged thrill thats been embedded in our culinary DNA since our human forebears discovered how to put food to flame. If youve ever had the primal exhilarationnot to mention the gustatory pleasureof roasting a marshmallow or hot dog over an open flame, then you know.

With a live fire, youre not just turning a knob to medium-high and waiting patiently for your food to brown. Youre not merely cookingyoure conducting: feeding the flames, moving the coals, or fine-tuning the vents, guiding the grill to a perfect harmony of char and smoke.

The dynamic element of grilling forces you to embrace the experience. Its food that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. You have to slow down, engage your senses, and sometimes improvise the way you cook. At the same time, you expecteven welcomethe imperfections because its those extra bits of burnt-on crust and deeply caramelized flavors that add complexity and depth. The volatile nature of cooking over fire means your food will never come out exactly like the last time, and that makes it all the more intriguing.

What you can be sure of, however, is the way grilling elevates ordinary meals into feasts that feel far more special. Grilling intensifies the natural sweetness of fruits and vegetables and turns meat into a magical blend of molten fat and juicy protein. It seasons food with the flavor of the outdoors, even if you happen to be grilling in the middle of the city.

In this book, youre not going to find low and slow barbecue or overnight brines, or whole animals tied to iron crosses or spinning on a spit. These are recipes you can make on those low-key nights when you just want to sit in the backyard with a drink in hand, enjoying the colors of a softening sky and the smells of good food sizzling on the grill.

Outside of a campsite, that is my happy placeand I hope its yours as well.

Todays camping menus are no longer confined to the standard fare of franks and beans or just add water meals in a bag. Theyre fresher and healthier, if not a more simplified version of how and what you eat at home.

In this book youll learn how easy it is for pancakes to come from your own pantry ingredients instead of from boxes. Youll see classic dishes like ratatouille take an interesting turn on the grill as colorful kebabs. Vietnamese bnh m marries a classic taco in a savory culinary mashup. Shrimp and scallops simmer in a foil pouch of spices, sausages, potatoes, and corn to bring your favorite seafood boil into the woods without the big potor the big mess.

While some might be nostalgic, these are not the same recipes you remember from your Scout days, or from family road trips you took every summer as a child. Theyre inspired by real food and global flavors, and reflect advances in camp cuisine as well as a modern, healthful approach to cooking and eating outdoors. At the same time, theyre still fun and unfussy. If your last memory of campfire cooking was a burnt hot dog on a cold bun, they may even rekindle your love of the live fire.

Away from home and under the open sky, cooking is stripped down to the bare essentials, so food becomes its own adventurebut dont mistake adventure to mean nerve-wracking or hard. Cooking in camp can be as easy or extravagant as you want it to be, but the experience in itself triggers all the senses, making you feel alive and free. Theres a definite pleasure in escaping from our reliance on our kitchens, with their sleek appliances and specialized gadgets, and delving deep into our instinctstaming the flames and guiding the elements of nature to a delicious end.