‘The Outdoor Cook’ cookbook: How to cook anything outside!

The team at America’s Test Kitchen has produced the ultimate outdoor cooking resource with their newest title “The Outdoor Cook“. I have reviewed hundreds of cookbooks in my life but was blown away by the quality and thoroughness of this one.

No matter how you want to cook outdoors, this book has you covered:

• Charcoal grill
• Gas grill
• Griddle
• Open fire and fire pits
• Smokers

In the first part of the book, you’ll find a crash course in each of these outdoor cooking methods, including photo tutorials and best practices for each.

If it can be cooked outside, The Outdoor Cook shows you how to do it.

This outdoor cooking versatility extends to the recipes as well. Instructions for as many outdoor cooking methods as will produce good results are given with each of the formulas, so the cooks can adapt to whatever methods they have at their disposal at the time.

And speaking of recipes, America’s Test Kitchen extensively tests each one so that you can follow along with confidence that you will always get great results.

Recipe chapters include:

• Snacks and small plates
• Both hands needed
• Weeknight dinners
• Weekend gatherings
• Over an open fire
• Grilled breads
• Don’t forget desserts

What I especially like about The Outdoor Cook

• Outstanding, well-illustrated tutorials on all aspects of outdoor cooking.
• More than 150 mouth-watering recipes that include standard fare along with gourmet items. Grilled cocktail mixers anyone?
• Options! Each recipe includes instructions for every outdoor cooking method that could be successfully used to create it.
• Full-color photos of each recipe and of each technique.
• Clear, concise, easy-to-follow instructions.
• Fire up the Meal menus so that you can take full advantage of the heat any time you get a fire going.

What can be improved upon?

Honestly, nothing. This, in my opinion, is one of those rare perfect cookbooks. I can’t find a single thing to criticize or think of anything they could have done better.

Kudos to the editors and their team. They cover every outdoor cooking scenario well, and the recipes could not possibly be more varied or appealing. There is something for everyone.

Order The Outdoor Cook from Amazon.

Sample Recipes from The Outdoor Cook

Grilled French Toast

Serves 4
Total Time 30 minutes

Why this recipe works:
Breakfast outdoors spells adventure, no matter where you’re cooking and eating it. This hearty French toast (yes, cook it right on the grill!) will please everybody, and it’s actually a cinch to prepare al fresco. Cut thick slices of rich challah, soak them in a simple egg batter enlivened with almond and cinnamon, and then grill them directly on the bars of the grill grate, which gives them irresistibly crispy stripes of caramelization.

Serve the French toast with butter, maple syrup, and fresh berries and it’s a sure bet that everybody will be talking about this breakfast for the rest of the day. Creating nonstick conditions for the grill grate is key here (see page 9).

2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon almond extract or 2 ­teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 (3/4-inch-thick) slices challah
4 teaspoons sugar

1. Lightly beat eggs in shallow dish. Whisk in milk, melted butter, almond extract, cinnamon, and salt (butter will clump slightly).

2A. For a charcoal grill 
Open bottom vent completely. Light large ­chimney starter half-filled with charcoal briquettes (3 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.

2B. For a gas grill
Turn all burners to high; cover; and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium.

3. Clean and oil cooking grate. Place bread on grill and toast until light golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Working with 1 bread slice at a time, soak in egg mixture until saturated but not falling apart, 10 seconds per side. Using firm slotted spatula, pick up bread slice, allowing excess egg mixture to drip off, and transfer to rimmed baking sheet.

4. Using spatula, transfer soaked bread to grill and cook (covered if using gas) until bread is deep golden brown on first side and releases ­easily from cooking grate, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle top of each toast with 1/2 teaspoon sugar, then flip and cook until deep golden brown on ­second side and sugar begins to caramelize, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve.

Flat-Top Grill:
Turn all burners to medium-high and heat griddle until hot, about 10 minutes. Turn all burners to medium. Clean griddle and proceed with step 3.

Open Fire:
Prepare medium-hot single-­level fire in open-fire grill. Set cooking grate at least 6 inches from coals and flames and heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes. Proceed with step 3.

Grilled Vegetable Platter

Serves 4 to 6
Total Time 1 hour

Why this recipe works:
A bounteous assortment of grilled ­vegetables served with a citrus-kissed vinaigrette makes for a casual and fabulously charry spread. The vegetables are even better at room temperature than they are hot, so you can easily make this ahead, if you like. It makes an excellent starter to keep everybody happy at the ­outdoor table while you continue to grill up more goodies, or you can easily customize the platter with add-ons to make this the centerpiece of your meal.

The ­burrata is a great start; its creamy insides will mingle with the ­vegetables on guests’ plates. Also consider additions such as crusty bread slices toasted on the grill, marinated olives, marinated white beans, high-quality tuna packed in oil, and/or grilled lemon halves to squeeze over whatever you please. If burrata is unavailable, sliced fresh mozzarella makes a ­suitable substitute.

Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, plus basil leaves for garnish

Grilled Vegetable Platter
2 red bell peppers
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
4 plum tomatoes, cored and halved lengthwise
2 zucchini, ends trimmed, sliced lengthwise into 3/4-­inch-thick planks
1 eggplant, ends trimmed, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces burrata cheese, room temperature

For the lemon-basil vinaigrette:
1. Whisk lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper together in bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in oil. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. (Vinaigrette can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature and whisk to recombine before serving.)

For the grilled vegetable platter:
2.  Slice 1/4 inch off tops and bottoms of bell peppers and remove cores. Make slit down 1 side of each bell pepper, then press flat into 1 long strip, removing ribs and remaining seeds with knife as needed. Cut strips in half crosswise (you should have 4 bell pepper pieces).

3. Push toothpick horizontally through each onion round to keep rings intact while grilling. Brush onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini all over with oil, then brush eggplant with remaining oil (it will absorb more oil than other vegetables). Sprinkle vegetables with salt and pepper.

4-A. For a charcoal grill
Open bottom vent completely. Light large ­chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.

4-B. For a gas grill
Turn all burners to high; cover; and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium-high.

5. Clean and oil cooking grate. Grill vegetables until skins of bell peppers and tomatoes are well browned and onions, eggplant, and zucchini are tender, 10 to 16 minutes, flipping and moving vegetables as necessary to ensure even cooking and transferring vegetables to ­baking sheet as they finish cooking. Place bell peppers in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let steam to loosen skins, about 5 minutes.

6. Remove toothpicks from onion and separate rings. When cool enough to handle, peel bell peppers, discarding skins; slice into 1-inch-thick strips. Arrange vegetables and burrata attractively on serving platter with lemon-basil vinaigrette. Garnish platter with basil leaves. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Grilled Cumin-Rubbed Flank Steak with Elote

Serves 4
Total Time 45 minutes

Why this recipe works:
Steak and corn is a quintessential ­summertime meal, and this take on it bursts with creamy, spicy, zesty ­flavors. Rubbing the steak with cumin and chili powder reinforces the smoky quality that the meat picks up on the grill.

You’ll brush the cheesy elote sauce (which uses Pecorino rather than the traditional cotija cheese) on the corn both before grilling to promote browning and after the corn comes off the grill.

Slicing the flank steak against the grain before serving (that is, perpendicular to the orientation of the muscle fibers) makes this relatively tough cut much more tender.

1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon chili powder, divided
1 (1 1/2- to 2-pound) flank steak, 1-inch thick, trimmed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
1 garlic clove, minced
4 ears corn, husks and silk removed

1. Combine cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon chili powder in bowl. Pat steak dry with paper towels and sprinkle with spice mixture. Combine mayonnaise, Pecorino, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon chili powder in ­separate bowl. Set aside.

2A. For a charcoal grill
Open bottom vent completely. Light large ­chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.

2B. For a gas grill 
Turn all burners to high; cover; and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.

3. Clean and oil cooking grate. Grill steak until charred and meat registers 120 to 125 degrees (for medium-rare), 8 to 12 minutes, flipping as needed. Transfer to cutting board and tent with aluminum foil.

4. Brush corn with half of mayonnaise mixture. Grill corn, turning often, until well browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer to serving ­platter and brush with remaining mayonnaise mixture. Cut corn in half and slice steak on bias against grain. Serve with lime wedges.

Open Fire:
Prepare hot ­single-level fire in open-fire grill. Set cooking grate at least 6 inches from coals and flames and heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes. Proceed with step 3.

Order The Outdoor Cook from Amazon.

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