ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240005
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Summer & Smoke
Not surprisingly during this cookout season, there are heaps of grilling cookbooks hot off the press.
* Reed Hearon, author of ``La Parilla: The Mexican Grill'' (Chronicle Books, $19.95), says recados - spice mixtures from the Yucatan peninsula used for seasoning meats, fish and poultry for the grill - make up one of the four building blocks of the Mexican grill. The others are salsas, tortillas and ``a fire to grill over.''
Although some of the ingredients sound strange and some of the cooking techniques seem exotic, the pleasure of the Mexican grill is that it is so simple. Hearon identifies ingredients and provides a list of mail-order sources, explains the techniques and lists the equipment needed for Mexican grilling. Photos by Laurie Smith beautifully capture culture and cuisine.
Among the tempting recipes: Grilled Scallops in the Shell, Pork Ribs with Tamarind Recado, and Grilled Corn on the Cob with Chipotle Rub and Lime.
* In "Adventures in Grilling" ($20, William Morrow & Co./Hearst Books), TV chef George Hirsch shares international fare from Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Central and Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim.
Recipes include Potatoes and Salt Cod from Italy, Paella from Spain, and Shepherd's Pie from the United Kingdom - all adapted for the backyard grill.
* George Foreman is no chef, but the two-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world does know something about knockouts and what eating healthy can do. His "George Foreman's Knock-Out-the-Fat Barbecue and Grilling Cookbook" (Villard, $13.95), in collaboration with author/certified nutritionist Cherie Calbom, is an informative, entertaining and useful guide to low-fat, healthy grilling, complete with nutritional analysis for each recipe and healthful hints and tips in the form of "nutribites." There's even a small section geared to vegetarian grilling.
Recipes, designed for cooking either on an outdoor charcoal or indoor electric grill, range from casual Grilled Santa Fe Chicken Burgers to extravagant Sea Scallop Brochettes with Tomato-Yogurt Sauce to Foreman family favorites such as George's Powerburger.
* Hot on the tail of a current trendy retro craze is the spiffy ``Patio Daddy-O: '50s Recipes with a '90s Twist'' by Gideon Bosker, Karen Brooks and Leland and Crystal Payton (Chronicle Books, $12.95).
In the '50s, write the authors, "The daddy-o dominated, patio gastro-bash was an exercise in gustatory savoir-faire, in short, a ritual signifying the man's ability not only to bring home the bacon, but to cook it as well."
In addition to a good selection of grilled dishes from the days of no-counting calories and cholesterol, the book celebrates some '50s favorites like date-nut cream-cheese sandwiches, banana-pudding pie and the ever-popular martini, with quite a bit of '90s spin. If you're fascinated by the feel of the '50s, the graphics alone are worth the price.
* ``John Willingham's World Champion Bar-B-Q" ($25, William Morrow & Co.) meticulously shares the expertise, tall tales and more than 150 recipes that have helped make Willingham one of the world's most widely acclaimed barbecue chefs.
Willingham explains that real barbecue is not simply cooking a burger or marinated chicken breast on a backyard grill, but rather is cooking meat at a low temperature for a long time in a closed chamber, using indirect heat produced by hardwood logs, chips, chunks, pellets or charcoal. He also expounds on defining cookers, different sources of fuel and heat and achieving the right temperature. For those who prefer to cut to the chase, the easy-to-follow award-winning recipes are excellent.
* Back for its eighth printing, Mildred Fischer's "Best Barbecue Recipes" ($5.95, Golden West Publishers) compresses a nationwide collection of more than 200 prize-winners. Marinades, dry rubs, mops and side dishes are given, along with notations on regional preferences for barbecue sauces - Southern states' are hot and spicy - and complete chapters about beef, chicken, pork, ribs, wild game and variety meats, fish and seafood. Supply sources and information on barbecue contests and publications also are included. - FOOD EDITOR ALMENA HUGHES, THE WASHINGTON POST AND THE ASSOCIATED PRES CONTRIBUTED TO THIS STORY
LENGTH: Medium: 76 linesby CNB