Page 39 - JULY 2021 Digital Issue

barbecue books New Must Haves
From Scott and Lang
Doug Mosley
Resident Book Guru
doug_mosley@hotmail.com
Every day is a good day. That’s an excellent philosophy to live by and likely one that would lead to great things, right? Impending barbecue hall of famer Rodney Scott so believes in that mantra that he had it lettered on the walls of his restaurants in Charleston, S.C., and Birmingham, Ala., as well as the front cover of his new book, “Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ: Recipes and Per- spectives from the Legendary Pitmaster”, co-authored with Lolis Eric Elie ($29.99, Clarkson Potter, 224 pp.).
Every day is a good day, especially for Scott who in the past few months has added to his hall of fame nod with a feature turn on Netflix’s Chef’s Table and plans to open another Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog Barbecue restaurant location in Atlanta. Somehow as he had all that going on
he found the time to
write a really great
book along with co-au-
thor Lolis Eric Elie. I
should add at this point
that getting Elie to be
your co-author is like
getting Michael Jordan
to be your teammate on
a basketball team. Elie
turned out one of my
absolute favorite books
on barbecue – Smoke-
stack Lightning – and
through his role with
the Southern Foodways
Alliance had a part in
the series of Cornbread
National books. I cer-
tainly saw his author credit on the cover but I swear I would’ve known he had a hand in this book just by reading the stories within. Elie is an outstanding writer but it takes more than just an outstanding writer to fully convey a story like the one of a barbe- cue family like Scott’s. I think Elie has smoke in his blood because he seems to capture the feel and taste of barbecue tradition through the words that flow onto the pages. There’re many books with recipes but when they also tell the story in such a fitting way...well, that’s what makes them extraordinary like this one.
Make no mistake about it – this is a must-have book. There’s not one single recipe or some great technique within it that will set you apart from the rest; rather, it’s all about the story-telling
JULY 2021
complimented by the outstanding photography of Jerrelle Guy and Scott’s barbecue. Even the recipes tell stories and in the end that’s why this book will make you a better pitmaster.
How often do you get asked by newbies “time and temp?” for vari- ous barbecue and grilled dishes? Yeah, it’s pretty often, isn’t it? If you’re like me you just shake your head at the notion that barbe- cue and grilling is as programmable as a microwave dinner. It’s al- ways more of look and feel sort of the thing but try telling that to someone who just plunked down beaucoop bucks at the big box store for a shiny chrome something-or-other and now they want to pick your brain for your ‘que knowledge.
Well, here’s a pretty cool book with a unique take to provide them an answer. “One- Beer Grilling: Fast, Easy & Fresh Recipes for Great Grilled Meals You Can Make Before You Finish Your First Cold One” by Mike Lang ($21.99, Castle Point Books, 144 pp.) will not only provide you with plenty of in- stant recommenda- tions for the above-referenced, but it is also chock full of interesting ideas for your own use. It’s remi-
niscent of a concept that was the theme of a Weber Grills cook- book a few years that focused on quick-to-complete recipes. Lang, who has had a role representing Weber, took this book in a differ- ent direction and came up with a great collection of 75 recipes that you can complete in the time it takes to sip one beer. The ideas include Planked Shrimp Cocktail, Grilled Stuff Avocados, Cheesy Beer Pit-Beef Sandwiches, Chicken Cheesesteak Sand- wiches, Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloins and Grilled Scallops with Gremolata, just to name a few.
Kudos to Lang for a fresh take and an interesting one at that. It’s probably perfectly timed as well, seeing as how we’ll all be soon returning to that not-enough-hours-in-the-day lifestyle, right?
BarbecueNews.com - 39