Weber's Art of the Grill

We start with the essentials, the differences between direct and indirect cooking, and move right into those basic sauces that give grilled foods the piquancy we so adore: "Honey-Ginger Peach Sauce", "Dijon Wine Sauce", "Hot Pepper Vinegar Sauce", "Weber's Tangy Barbecue Sauce". Then there's a menu planner. The Wine Country Lunch, for example, includes "Grilled Tuna Nicoise", "Butterflied Chicken under Bricks", and "Grilled Peaches with Fresh Cherry Sauce". Business Casual includes "Caponata Bruschetta", "Smoky Lobster Tails" and "Corn on the Cob", and "S'Mores All Grown Up".

The chapters break out as Starters, Meats, Chicken and Poultry, Fish and Seafood, Vegetable Main Dishes, Sides and Salads, and Desserts--all of it based on grilled foods of one kind (the grilled bread of Bruschetta) or another (the grilled butternut squash of "Grilled Butternut Squash and Ginger Soup with Spiced Peanuts"). This is not a snooty, party-food book loaded with recipes you'll never want to try. Not with the likes of "Prime Rib with Texas Dry Rub" or "Moroccan Butterflied Leg of Lamb" tucked between the book's covers. Author Purviance's central theme through all the recipes is to make it easy to get that terrific grilled flavour on the table. He knows that given just a little exposure to working with a grill--and admittedly, there is a little bit of a learning curve to get to the comfort zone--any cook who likes to eat great tasting food will keep coming back.

With Weber's Art of the Grill in hand, you may find yourself outside in the middle of winter firing up the grill to bring those mid-summer flavours on home. And who could blame you? --Schuyler Ingle