The Gas Grill Gourmet: Great Grilled Food for Everyday Meals and Fantastic Feasts

As a food professional who has had to research the whole area of gas barbecuing (for cooking classes), I have recently acquired or referred to a wide number of sources for outdoor grilling recipes and techniques. My conclusion is that regardless of experience or proficiency, if you own a gas grill you should own this book; and if you are a gas grill beginner, you absolutely need this book!Why? Most importantly, nowhere in the genre have I found a better collection of excellent, accessible, unpretentious recipes. Cort Sinnes is extremely comprehensive, drawing on many culinary traditions, but he has wisely avoided the "kitchen sink" approach of offering too many recipes. This is a carefully honed, tightly edited collection with little-to-no gratuitious filler. He has taken obvious care in covering all bases with a minimum of repetition and overlap.Yes, he embraces the indirect cooking method that forms the basis of modern outdoor gas barbecuing--but you can get this elsewhere, including the techniques and recipes that Weber packages in every owner's manual. What sets this book apart--and becomes increasingly obvious as I work my way through it--is that at its core is an extraordinary culinary sensibility. The author obviously loves food and cooking--but also has real culinary talent, a relatively rare commodity among food writers. I also get the sense that this work is an exhaustive redux, a distillation produced by an intense process of research and testing. Implicit in his approach--and indeed the whole book concept--is the understanding that gas grilling can be a bit of a compromise flavor-wise compared to using charcoal, and that this reality justifies an emphasis on recipes and techniques that overcome or minimize the inherent deficit. We use gas grills not because they yield superior results but because the results are arguably only minimally inferior while speed and ease of use offer significant and often decisive advantages. Recognizing this, the author has wisely matched his approach to his broadest potential readership. The theme: excellence within simplicity. He has in the main limited his palette of ingredients to what can easily be found in most modern North American supermarkets. And no confusing, fancy-schmancy tricks and techniques. No complicated, time-consuming recipes. Even the physical book format reflects this approach. This is not a coffee table hybrid--no full color photos on glossy paper. In fact, no photos at all. Just a well-written, well-organized, carefully-edited cookbook with a deceptively casual, fifties kind of look to it.There are other good grilling references out there. Many of them, like the brilliant books by Schlesinger and Willoughby, assume that no serious griller uses gas; they focus primarily on wood and charcoal as fuel. The recipes can be difficult to adapt and the results disappointingly unpredictable. Others, like Weber's slick and glossy and sometimes brilliant "Art of the Grill," reach higher and ac

I'm the family cook. I'm a pretty good cook. However, I sucked at cooking on a grill. Food came out underdone, usually overdone, and generally dry. My wife was not pleased. That is, until I bought this book. I've tried several of the recipes in it and each one has come out PERFECT. I'm even starting to improvise, using the techniques this book has taught me. If you are anything less than great on the gas grill, you need this book. My wife now looks forward to me firing up the BBQ.

This is by far the most frequently used cookbook that I have purchased in the past year...and I buy lots of cookbooks! We bought a Weber Genesis gas grill this year, after being hardcore charcoal grillers for years. I was looking for a versatile, informative, and all-inclusive book of gas grill recipes, and I found it in this one. It starts with good info about gas grill methods, the difference between direct-heat and indirect-heat grilling, cooking times and accessories, written in a reader-friendly manner. And the recipes....wow! This book has everything from appetizers (try the Cheese Quesadillas...my guests inhaled these so fast I didn't see how they'd have room for the main course) through desserts, with tons of great side dish recipes. And as for the meat section, which is why most of us buy grill cookbooks, think of any meat, poultry or fish you could possibly want to grill, and this book will give you a great recipe for it. The chicken section alone, which is what I find we use most, covers whole roasted chickens several ways, various marinated chicken recipes, wings...and try the Pesto Chicken Breasts, they are out of this world! There is also a section of "Off the Grill" side dishes, with lots of great, summery recipes for salads and vegetables (the Creamed Spinach was fantastic).I also purchased other grill books, but found that the recipes were, for the most part, difficult and too "high-brow" for casual home cooking and weekend entertaining. This book does cover the more elegant dishes (Quail? Who grills quail?), and there are plenty of recipes with ethnic flavor that will inspire you, but it's main focus is on simpler recipes that won't send you scurrying to the gourmet section of the supermarket for ingredients. If you don't agree this is the most useful grill cookbook on the market....your next steak is on me.

I've had friends begging for the secret to the whole chicken with lemon & garlic. That was the first recipe I tried, and all the others have been excellent as well. A great collection of grilled delights!

The Gas Grill Gourmet has changed the way I use my gas grill.The author's technique for grilling over the unlit burner eliminates the fear of flare-ups and charred food. His marinades and rubs never fail to produce tasty meals. The recipe for boneless marinated chuck roast--yes, chuck roast--makes the book worth the price.