FIRE IT UP
More Than 400 Recipes for Grilling Everything
by Andrew Schloss and David Joachim
Chronicle Books
May 2011
$24.95/paperbaack
Photographs by Alison Miksch
ISBN- 13: 978-0811865050

Contact: David Hawk
David_Hawk@chroniclebooks.com
415-537-4276

Maximizing all that grillers can truly do on their grills, FIRE IT UP is the first grilling primer focused entirely on ingredients. From the authors of Mastering the Grill (over 70,000 copies sold!) comes this compendium of more than 400 recipes that empower home grillers to cook anything and everything over fire: fish, fowl, meats, vegetables, fruits, and breads. Home cooks will learn to recognize and handle a multitude of different meat cuts and grill sustainable fish like the pros. Handy charts in every chapter break out methods, cuts, and temperatures for easy reference. With tips and tricks for firing up every imaginable ingredient, the question “What’s for dinner?” is destined to be replaced with “What’s on the grill tonight?”

About the Authors

Andrew Schloss wants you to cook and grill more, and he has dedicated his career to easing the way.  Schloss is a well-known teacher, writer, and food industry consultant, and past president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.  Author of sixteen cookbooks and countless food articles, Schloss’s other titles include Art of the Slow Cooker for Chronicle Books. He has collaborated on several titles with David Joachim, including Mastering the Grill for Chronicle Books and the award-winning The Science of Good Food.

David Joachim is a pyromaniac from birth and has devoted his career to wielding fire and knives.  He has authored, edited, or collaborated on more than thirty cookbooks, including Mastering the Grill for Chronicle Books; the award-winning Food Substitutions Bible; and the A Man, A Can series, which has sold more than one million copies.  His articles and tips have appeared in numerous magazines, including Cooking Light, Cook’s Illustrated, Prevention, and Men’s Health.

Sample Recipes

Grilled Glazed Doughnuts with Chocolate Espresso Dunk

Ben Cassorla, a member of the eponymous jazz group Cassorla, lives in a small apartment in L.A., where he is a devoted balcony-grill guy. Working with charcoal briquettes and a small (10-inch square) hibachi (no cover, no adjustable grill grates, no vents), he manages to turn out dinner most nights. He told us that his favorite thing to grill is doughnuts—nothing fancy, a box of DD works just fine. He’s tried all flavors. Chocolate gets bitter, cream-filled are disastrous, and powdered sugar is pretty good, though not as good as glazed (he’s partial to cinnamon glazed). We agree. The notion is brilliant and the technique couldn’t be easier. The glaze caramelizes almost on contact with the grill, so keep your fire pretty low. The whole cooking process takes only 1 to 2 minutes. The results are mind-blowing—crispy, subtly charred sugar skin, warm interior, and doughnuts that taste like they just came out of a fryer (by way of a charcoal grill). We have gilded Ben’s creation with an awesome dunk made from freshly pulled espresso morphed into hot fudge sauce.

Makes 6 servings

1-1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 cups brown sugar, light or dark
Pinch of salt
2 cups freshly made espresso or strong coffee
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 glazed doughnuts, preferably cinnamon-glazed
Cooking spray
1-1/2 cups half-and-half, warmed (optional)

Light a grill to direct medium-low heat, about 325°F.

Mix together the cocoa powder, brown sugar, and salt in a large heavy saucepan. Whisk in the espresso and continue whisking until the mixture is smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula, until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 2 minutes, until slightly thickened and very smooth. Remove from heat and add the butter, stirring until melted. Cover and keep warm.

Coat the doughnuts on both sides with cooking spray.

Brush the grill grate and coat with oil. Grill the doughnuts until the glaze melts and the doughnuts are browned on both sides, 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. Do not allow to burn.

Pour 1/2 cup warm chocolate dunk into each of 6 small coffee cups and serve one to each guest with a doughnut for dunking. Serve warm half-and-half on the side for adding to the chocolate dunk, if desired.

Pepper and Salt Block Scallops with Grapefruit Mojo

Mojo (MO-ho) is ubiquitous is Cuba. The garlickly citrus sauce shows up on all kinds of foods. It’s traditionally made with sour orange juice, which is hard to come by. We use grapefruit juice and lime juice for a slightly different flavor, and we sear the scallops on a block of salt right on the grill. Salt blocks are the coolest thing to happen to grills since cedar planks. And they work in a similar way. Heat up the salt block directly over the grill then sear your food right on the hot block. It cooks and seasons in one step! Our favorite is a Himalayan pink salt block, which we like to get from The Meadow, owned by selmelier Mark Bitterman.

Makes 4 servings

1 large salt block, at least 1 1/2 inches thick
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 cup fresh red or pink grapefruit juice
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1-1/4 pounds large wild-caught sea scallops (about 16)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Light a grill for bilevel high/low heat, about 500+/275°F. Brush the grill grate and coat with oil. Heat the salt block directly on the grill grate over low heat for 15 minutes. Raise the heat to medium on a gas grill. On a charcoal or wood grill move the block halfway between the high- and low-heat areas and heat for another 15 minutes. Raise the heat to high on a gas grill or move the salt block over to the high-heat area on a charcoal or wood grill and heat for 15 to 20 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cumin and cook until the garlic begins to color, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the grapefruit juice, lime juice, oregano, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Stir in the cilantro. Pull the white gristly tendons from the scallops if not already removed. Rinse the scallops and pat dry. Coat the scallops with the olive oil and let stand at room temperature until the salt block is hot.

When the salt block is very hot (you should only be able to hold your hand above it for a few seconds), place the scallops on the hot block and sear until browned and springy to the touch but still a little soft in the center, about 3 minutes per side. Work in batches if your salt block cannot comfortably fit all the scallops at once.

Remove to a platter or plates and serve with the mojo.

Tip: Salt blocks will last for about a dozen grillings if heated carefully and cleaned well after each use. Heat the blocks gradually to prevent cracking. Start over low heat and, over a 30-minute period, move the block in two steps to high heat. After each use wipe the block clean of any debris with a plastic scrubbing pad, using warm water and gentle pressure. Blot the stone on a flat-weave towel to dry the surface. Each time the salt block is used and cleaned a thin film of salt will be washed away. As long as the block is at least 1 1/2 inches thick, it can still be used for grilling.

These recipes may be reproduced with the following credit:
Recipes from Fire It Up: More Than 400 Recipes for Grilling Everything by Andrew Schloss and David Joachim (Chronicle Books, April 2011, $24.95/Paperback)