Page 32 - August 2021 Barbecue News Magazine

Doug Mosley
Resident Book Guru
doug_mosley@hotmail.com
Steven Raichlen helped me with my zucchini problem and for that reason alone I am a big fan of his new book.
I realize that statement raises questions and I promise I’ll provide answers but first let’s recognize that prolific barbe- cue author Steven Raichlen has a new book – “How to Grill Vegetables: The New Bible for Barbecuing Vegetables Over Live Fire” ($24.95, Workman Publishing, 326 pp.). This is his 31st book, ranging in topics from “How to Grill”, “Ribs, Ribs, Outrageous Ribs”, “The Brisket Chronicles” and wider-encompassing “BBQ USA”
and “Planet Barbecue”. I recall see- ing recipes for vegetables in sev- eral of those books but this is the first time he’s written exclusively about vegetables. He’s obviously not the first to do it but in typical Raichlen fashion his is one of the best.
Just about anything you can pull
out of the garden (or pick up at
your local supermarket or produce
stand) is covered in this book.
Broccoli, radishes, asparagus, win-
ter squash, summer squash, egg-
plant (aubergine for those of you
across the pond), beets, corn, all
the leafy stuff and, of course, zuc-
chini. This book arrived at the right
time for me, just as I was out of
ideas for what to do with all the
zucchini I had on hand. You see,
every week there is a drive-thru produce stand down the street from me where you pay a flat price and they load up your car with all sort of perfectly ripe, in-season fruits and vegetables. It’s quite the bounty of great eating and it has become a fun exercise each week to find new ways to pre- pare what is available in the boxes. But while there are dozens of ways to fix tomatoes, corn, etc., there is a lack of available ways to fix zucchini, especially on the grill. So the
BarbecueNews.com - 32
AUGUST 2021
How to Grill
Vegetables &
Smokin Southern
BBQ
pile of zucchini in my kitchen grew and grew; that is, until “How to Grill Vegetables” arrived. I dove into his recipes with great zeal and loved the flexibility he offers in many that may have featured something else in the starring role but could be adjusted for others. My zucchini backlog dis- appeared surprisingly quickly.
Raichlen assembled this book in a fairly traditional man- ner: Starters & Pass-Arounds; Dips & Chips; Salads, Slaws & Singular Soup; Breads, Pizzas, Quesadillas & Sand-
wiches; Vegetables Small Plates; Vegetable Not-So-Small Plates; Vegetable Sides; Grill Eggs & Cheese; and Desserts. But before all that he opens with a very help- ful chapter titled How to Grill Veg- etables Like a Pro in 9 Easy Steps. And as he has in most of his other books, he tacks on information- packed appendices at the end.
Steven Raichlen is certainly multi- media but he’s never missed on re- ally delivering with each new book. He practically has his own wing in my personal library of barbecue books but I certainly don’t mind creating more space when he keeps authoring outstanding books like this one.
Make no mistake about it, I am AL-
WAYS a fan of books from authors who’ve competed on the barbecue circuit. There may be a
wide range of publishing quality, from those who self-pub- lish to others who are fortunate enough to have commit- ments from some of the major publishing houses, but the perspectives from someone who has put their reputation on the line against others separates them from the rest.
However...I also tend to be a skeptical sort so when I see a