The Backyard Fire Cookbook.

The Backyard Fire Cookbook.

As the companion title to the bestselling The New Camp Cookbook, The Backyard Fire Cookbook brings the thrill of cooking outside over an open flame closer to home: right in the comfort of your backyard, side yard, patio, or wherever you can carve out a little space for a fire.

First, this is what the book is not: It is not a book about low-and-slow barbecue, and you won’t find overnight marinades or complicated recipes, either. It’s not the type of BBQ book that’s full of hunks of meat on spits, gobs of sauce, endless rubs, or “secret recipes.”

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About the book.

What the book is, is a modern-day cookbook that encourages easy, accessible grilling that you look forward to doing on a weeknight because, well, food just tastes better outside. It’s how the rest of us grill, and it’s for people who enjoy sharing hot meals with great company around a warm fire.

You’ll learn—and master—basic to advanced grilling techniques including ember roasting, charcoal grilling, plank grilling, cooking in foil packets, and cooking with cast iron. You’ll get inspired to assemble your own outdoor kitchen without spending a ton of money, and find new ways of sparking a flame anytime anyone asks, “What’s for dinner?”

For adventurous cooks who love the drama that fire adds to a meal, let The Backyard Fire Cookbook be your guide to the pleasures of eating and cooking outside under the open sky.

More about The Backyard Fire Cookbook:

This is the nicest book I’ve bought in years!

It’s superbly organized, so easy to grab up and get answers. The photos make your mouth water, and the recipes are really good, and there are lots of them (3/4 of the book)!

It explains how to cook with ultimate control over an easy-build fire pit or using your metal covered grill with hardwood charcoal. It explains the stages of fire building, controlling the burn at each stage, how to use cast iron, skewers, foil, or cedar planks, also arranging coals to create zones to cook with different temps and materials simultaneously. It explains how to safely use your hands to estimate the temp of your coals. It has a chart for meat temps according to Rare or Well Done. It explains the different types of cooking oils and how they react to heat and flavor the food, especially when charring or blistering veggies. There’s a chart of commonly used woods for different meats based upon Mild to Intense flavoring. There’s a section on knowing your cooking woods and using herbs and spices to transfer aromatics to your food. There’s a great couple of pages on knowing when the food is done.

And this is all done in 30 pages with great photos. The rest of the book is beautifully explained, photo’d, and organized recipes that have NORMAL INGREDIENTS that taste like backyard-feast food! Y’all get this book and go for it!

 —Pod

What’s inside.

Every one of my books is packed with helpful resources (such as recommended tools, brands, and kitchen techniques), useful tips and ingredient substitutions, and beautiful photos of what your dish will actually look like when you make it. Here’s what else you can find inside.

  • 70+ recipes
  • Full-color photos, including step-by-step pictorials for fire-building and special cooking techniques
  • Hardcover, 208 pages
  • Published by Harvard Common Press
  • ISBN: 0760363439
  • Release date: May 14, 2019
  • Getting Started
  • Back to Basics: The Fire Pit
  • It’s a Wrap: Foil Packets
  • Iron Chef: Pots, Pans, and Planchas
  • Under Cover: The Grill
  • Up in Smoke: Plank Grilling
  • Resources
  • Easy-to-compare chart of various wood types and flavors
  • “Grill Hacks” and “Hot Tips” throughout the book
  • How to stock an outdoor grill kitchen
  • How to build the ultimate cooking fire
  • How to start grilling without a grill
  • Easy and inexpensive DIY fire pit tutorial with photos
  • Firestarting shortcuts and fire safety tips
  • Step-by-step guide to grilling more efficiently
  • And more!

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Recipe Index

  • Peppercorn-Crusted Caveman Steak with Horseradish Cream
  • Ember-Roasted Beet Salad with Orange, Fennel, and Feta
  • Smoky Ember-Roasted Eggplant Dip
  • Coal-Blistered Shishito Peppers
  • Grilled Brie with Sweet Cherry Sauce
  • Ember-Roasted Acorn Squash with Charred Poblanos, Cotija, and Crema
  • Charred Beefsteak Tomato with Basil and Burrata
  • Grilled Cucumber Dill Pickles
  • Grilled Panzanella
  • Spicy Grilled Shrimp on Avocado Toast
  • Cumin-Crusted Chicken Tacos with Smoky Salsa Verde
  • Grilled Skirt Steak Tacos with Pickled Red Onions
  • Pickled Red Onions
  • Grilled Fingerling Fries
  • Beef and Chorizo Bunless Burger Stacks
  • Italian Burgers with Basil Mustard and Giardiniera
  • Homemade Giardiniera
  • Whole Grilled Trout with Blood Orange and Fennel
  • Seared Rib-Eye Steaks with Herbed Board Sauce
  • Grill-Roasted Elephant Garlic
  • Sweet Potatoes with Sriracha-Maple Glaze
  • Wild Mushrooms with Soy-Scallion Butter
  • Potato and Prosciutto Packets
  • Foil Pack French Dip
  • Garlicky Salmon
  • Shrimp in Spicy Coconut Sauce
  • Spicy Smoked Sausage, Snap Beans, and Potatoes
  • Cajun Creole Spice Blend
  • Garlic Butter Gnocchi and Mushrooms
  • Glazed Cinnamon-Sugar Peaches
  • Berry Brioche Bread Pudding
  • Cast-Iron Clambake
  • Dutch Oven-Baked Buttermilk Pancake with Raspberries and Almonds
  • Dutch Oven Creamy Corn Chowder
  • Dutch Oven Jambalaya
  • Fireside Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo
  • Bacon and Chorizo Hash with Sweet Corn, Peppers, and Potatoes
  • Juicy Jumbo Creole Shrimp
  • One-Pan Seafood and Smoked Gouda Fettucine
  • Spatchcocked Chicken Under a Skillet
  • Griddled French Toast Rolls with Blueberries and Cream
  • Charred Edamame with Chile-Garlic Sauce
  • Seared Scallops with Ginger-Lime Butter
  • Deconstructed BLT Salad
  • Hot Hoagies
  • Lemon-Dill Salmon a la Plancha
  • Grilled Pork Medallions with Cherry-Bourbon Sauce
  • Brunch Pizza with Pancetta, Pesto, and Eggs
  • Homemade Basil-Walnut Pesto
  • Homemade Pizza Dough
  • Thai Chicken Pizza with Sweet Chili Sauce
  • Three-Cheese Flatbread Pizza with Capicola and Arugula
  • Grilled Halloumi, Sweet Corn, and Tomato Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
  • Loaded Nachos on the Grill
  • Pickled Jalapeños
  • Grilled Corn with Sweet Chili-Soy Glaze
  • Grilled Oysters with Kimchi Butter
  • Easy Homemade Kimchi
  • Grilled Lobster Tails with Lemony Herb Butter
  • Grilled Clams in Teriyaki Butter
  • Empty Beer Can Chicken
  • Korean Grilled Chicken
  • Artichoke, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Feta-Stuffed Flank Steak
  • Bourbon and Pecan Grill-Baked Apples
  • Planked Figs with Prosciutto and Goat Cheese
  • Planked Pears with Gorgonzola and Honey
  • Plank-Roasted Summer Vegetable Skewers with Spicy Cilantro Sauce
  • Plank-Roasted Hasselback Potatoes with Avocado Aioli
  • Cedar-Planked Tomatoes Stuffed with Mushrooms and Gruyère
  • Planked Meatballs with Marinara Sauce
  • Cedar-Planked Hot Ham and Brie Melts
  • Hot Pepper Jelly
  • Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf on a Plank
  • Planked Halibut with Orange-Miso Glaze
  • Planked Shrimp with Spanish Green Sauce
  • Cedar-Planked Salmon with Soy-Ginger Glaze
  • Peach and Prosciutto Planked Pizza

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