Check It Out:

With summer just around the corner, it’s time to fire up the grill and get ready for outdoor barbecues. The Newport Beach Public Library has many new cookbooks to help you cook outdoors with recipes ranging from flavorings to meats to pizza cooking on the grill.

?“500 Barbecue Dishes: The Only Barbecue Compendium That You’ll Ever Need” by Paul Kirk. This barbecue compendium is crammed with 500 mouth-watering recipes, all of them clear and easy to follow. Filled with tips on how to select the right ingredients for your barbecue and how to make them taste absolutely perfect, this may be the only book about barbecue you will ever need. An irresistible collection of barbecue essentials, the title was written by Chef Kirk, a.k.a. the Barbecue Guru, the Ambassador of Barbecue, the Baron of Barbecue, and Certified Master Barbecue Judge, who is the author of four books on the art of barbecue.

?“Cheater BBQ: Barbecue Anywhere, Anytime in Any Weather” by Mindy Merrell and R.B. Quinn. The authors confess to “an acute case of obsessive barbecue syndrome,” but they realize that not everyone has the time to use soaked wood chips or the means to build a smokehouse. The secret ingredient to “cheater barbecue” is liquid smoke, which isn’t synthetic but rather made from actual water condensed from smoking processes. They say that and a handful of simple sauce recipes and rub mixtures are just about all that one needs for great barbecue at home. The recipes are easy to follow and this book offers sound proof that you don’t need fancy grills or stainless-steel outdoor kitchens to make great-tasting food as the authors point out that great barbecue is as much about the relaxing as it is the cooking.

?“Pizza on the Grill: 100 Feisty Fire-Roasted Recipes for Pizza and More” by Elizabeth Karmel. Americans love pizza and Americans love to grill. Put them together and you have your own made-at-home version of a wood-oven pizza, straight from your gas or charcoal grill. “Pizza on the Grill” contains 100 recipes for innovative, just-got-to-make-it pizzas, including dessert pizzas, that will make you the backyard patio grill master or mistress of your neighborhood. Recipes include Thai one on pizza, pulled-pork pizza, and fig, walnut, and rosemary pizza, along with traditional classics like pizza margherita and little Italy pepperoni pizza. each recipe will contain music-to-grill-by and drink suggestions, as well as appetizers and salads to round out the meal and make this a one-top entertaining resource.

?“BBQ Bash: The Be-All, End-All Party Guide, From Barefoot to Black Tie” by Karen Adler and Judith M. Fertig. With 100 creative, delicious recipes for the grill or smoker, this book is the key to partying with a touch of panache. Chapters are divided into appetizers, entrees, sides and salads, and succulent desserts. Also included are tips about charcoal and gas grilling, smoking, skewering, stir-grilling, planking, stove-top smoking, and even stocking the bar, setting the tables, and selecting the right music. It includes everything you need to take your barbecuing to the next level.

New books are also on order so if you would like to be the first to check them out visit the Newport Beach Public Library website at www.newportbeachlibrary.org to request any of the above books or forthcoming titles such as “Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire” by Mary Karlin or “Soaked, Slathered, and Seasoned: The Complete Guide to Flavoring Food for the Grill” by Elizabeth Karmel.

CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public Library.