Grilling season is practically here (not that it ever really goes away if you’re intrepid enough), but as you start to take the cover off your grill, the next thing you’ll need to do is figure out what to grill. You could keep it simple with burgers and dogs, or go big with a brisket, or — and follow us on this one — you could try something new. That’s where these books come in.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an expert pitmaster already or you’re looking to break into the grilling game, the books below are a great place to start.
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Hardcore Carnivore by Jess Pryles
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Jess Pryles is a bona fide meat expert, and her cookbook Hardcore Carnivore: Cook Meat Like You Mean It is one of the best cookbooks of 2018 about preparing animal flesh. Australian-born Pryles fell in love with Texas and now resides in Austin, so there’s no shortage of barbecued, grilled, and slow-roasted meats in this tome. But even those who prefer to stay in the kitchen will love Hardcore Carnivore because there are plenty of meaty recipes that call for baking, frying, roasting, and simmering. Red meat eaters will dig recipes like smoked lamb shoulder, beef hand pies, and a steakhouse burger, which is topped with onion jam and blue cheese. And there’s plenty of white meat on deck, too, like pickle-brined chicken nuggets, peanut butter and jelly wings, and sage and macadamia sausage rolls. Pryles even has some amazing game recipes for things like venison and kangaroo if you’re looking for something more adventurous. Sides like duck fat hummus with grilled flatbreads and cedar-planked brie with fig almond paste give you something to go with your meaty main.
Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill in Seven Sauces by Bill Kim
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If you can’t get enough of tabletop Korean barbecue and wish you could make it at home, you’re in luck. Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill in Seven Sauces was also released last year, and it has revamped our at-home grilling game with tangy, saucy, meaty dishes that are packed with Korean-American flavor. Chef Bill Kim breaks down his recipes so they’re accessible to everyone, even if you’re unfamiliar with Korean cooking techniques or flavors. He even offers handy ingredient substitutions for harder-to-find products that may not be available everywhere. The book starts with seven master sauces and three spice rubs that serve as the backbone for many of the recipes. Honey soy flank steak is a favorite, and Kim’s Korean al pastor is a beautiful mix of Korean and Mexican cuisine. Jerk pork tenderloin kabobs, BBQ spiced chicken thighs, and wings that star on the cover are simple to make and packed with flavor. Snacks like garlic herb peanuts and kimchi salsa complement the carnivorous dishes perfectly.
Cook’s Illustrated Meat Book
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We asked our bona fide carnivore friends about their favorite meat manuals, and this was the book that came up in conversation time and again. Although it’s only five years old, we already consider it a classic. The Cook’s Illustrated Meat Book is packed with 425 recipes for meat and poultry that will turn you into an expert on the subject. It starts with a 27-page master class that covers shopping, storage, and seasoning (think marinating, salting, and brining) that will arm you with the necessary knowledge to ace every recipe in the book. Once inside, you’ll learn techniques, offered with step-by-step illustrations, for such skills as slicing a chicken breast into cutlets, breaking down a whole bird, and carving a prime rib. Of course, there are plenty of recipes that will turn any cut of meat into a restaurant-worthy masterpiece. Some of our favorites include Extra-Crunchy Fried Chicken, Pepper-Crusted Beef Tenderloin Roast, Sichuan Stir-Fried Pork in Garlic Sauce, and a Roast Leg of Lamb that will become your preferred centerpiece for every fancy dinner party. Each recipe even has modification tips so you can make a proper substitution if you’re not seeing the recommended cut at your butcher counter. With more than 500 pages of recipes for beef, pork, lamb, veal, chicken, and turkey, this book is a must-have for every meat lover.
The Complete Meat Cookbook by Bruce Aidells and Dennis Kelly
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The past decade has ushered in a meat renaissance in the United States. Gone are the days when shrink-wrapped grocery store meat was the only thing available. Now when you browse the aisles or peruse the butcher counter, words like “grass-fed,” “pastured,” and “organic” are the norm. But all of these labels can be overwhelming, which is exactly what Bruce Aidells tackles in The Complete Meat Cookbook. You might know Aidells’ name from his line of delicious sausages, so you can guess that this manual contains everything you need to master meaty cooking in your home kitchen. He covers the basics on how to choose the best steaks, chops, roasts, and ribs, and then provides detailed instructions on how to season and cook your bounty. Full-color photos accompany a guide to the most popular cuts, as well as the under-appreciated parts of the animal that are affordable to buy and delicious to eat. Inside you’ll find recipes that range from the classics like Steak House Grilled Ribeye and Grilled Lamb Chops, to dishes packed with global flavors like Thai Pork Salad and Braised Beef Shanks with Coconut Milk, Ginger, and Cumin. There are even recipes for homemade charcuterie like sausages, pâtés, confits, and hams.
Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman
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We can never get enough of charcuterie, whether it’s piled high on a sandwich or we’re sneaking a few bites from the fridge late at night. For true lovers of the preserved meat, Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing is the ultimate manual. Authors Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn are experts on the art of turning pork products into things like salami, sausages, and prosciutto, and this highly informative cookbook will school you on proper charcuterie techniques and digestible recipes to help anyone become a curing master. Science is the star of this book, and the authors explain the whys of salt preservation and dedicate an entire chapter to safety, where they clarify the difference between good white mold and the dangerous types. Inside, you’ll learn how to stuff a sausage, brine a corned beef, prepare duck confit, and cure maple bacon. There’s a chapter dedicated to pâtés and terrines with recipes like English Pork Pie and Venison Terrine with Dried Cherries. You’ll even find recipes for non-meat preservations like pickles, sauerkraut, and spicy smoked almonds.
This is why you add water to whiskey (plus, our best tips)
Why adding water to whiskey works
We aren’t in the business of telling you how to enjoy your whiskey. Whether you like it mixed into a classic cocktail, neat, on the rocks, imbibed out of a ram’s horn, or even an old shoe you found by the railyard (although we’d probably advise against that if possible), we don’t care. That’s your prerogative. But, depending on the whiskey, there are a few ways to heighten the experience.
One of the best ways to heighten your whiskey-tasting experience is to add water. And no, we aren’t talking about a cup of water; we’re talking about a few splashes. Why should you do this? Keep reading, and you’ll never look at whiskey and water the same way again.
The whiskey-tasting experience
Don’t make this super common mistake when chilling wine in an ice bucket
Chill your wine easily without the need for any expensive equipment.
When it comes to chilling wine, there are countless ways to get the job done. The market is saturated with products made specifically for cooling wine down to the perfect drinking temperature, from luxurious wine refrigerators to elegant marble wine chillers. We can almost guarantee that the passionate wine lover in your life probably has a pantry full of these fancy contraptions, each one more exciting (and expensive) than the last. After all, wine is an art and enjoying it at the correct temperature is an absolute must. At the end of the day, though, even with all the bells and whistles, it's hard to beat a good old-fashioned ice bath - especially when trying to cool down that wine in a hurry. But, as simple as this wine-chilling technique may be, it is possible to get it wrong. That's why we've collected a few tips and tricks for getting that wine chilled exactly right every time.
Order matters when chilling wine
While the more aesthetically pleasing option may be to fill your favorite wine chilling bucket with ice and simply nestle in your favorite bottle or two, this method is actually pretty ineffective when it comes to chilling wine in a pinch. By dumping ice into a container and plopping the wine on top, only the bottom half of the bottle will actually chill. It's important to fully cover your wine (or other beverage) bottles with ice so that the entire bottle has a chance to actually get cold. Do this by putting your bottle(s) in the bucket first, and then topping with ice - not the other way around. The more the bottle is covered with ice, the better. While this might not get you the sexiest photo shoot of your wine luxuriously resting in an ice bath, it's the better way to get the contents cold.
Use water and...salt?
These are the 10 most popular cocktails in the U.S.
The ten most popular cocktails might surprise you
You might not realize it, but there was a time when Americans weren’t so into cocktails. You couldn’t visit seemingly any city or town and find a few cocktail bars to visit. Your best option was a swanky hotel bar or a local bartender who happened to know how to make a whiskey sour. This all changed during the cocktail renaissance of the early aughts. More bartenders and drinkers got excited about rediscovering long-forgotten drinks while breathing new life into some that they took for granted.
Fast-forward to today, when bartenders are the new celebrity chefs of the world, and cocktail bars continue to pop up everywhere from Bakersfield to Baton Rouge. Wouldn’t you like to know what cocktails drinkers enjoy more than others in this now mixed-drink-saturated country? Thanks to NielsenIQ, you can.
