IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award

Named in honor of America’s most cherished publisher/printer, the Benjamin Franklin Awards™ recognizes excellence in independent publishing. Publications, grouped by genre are judged on editorial and design merit by top practitioners in each field.

Winners were announced and trophies awarded to the best books in several categories at the publishers gala awards ceremony on the evening of May 28, 2009.

Cookbooks
Char-Broil® Everybody Grills!, Creative Homeowner
Ralph Brennan’s New Orleans Seafood Cookbook, Vissi d’Arte Books
The Tillamook Cheese Cookbook: Celebrating 100 Years of Excellence, Arnica Publishing

Wow – that’s #2 this year! (see the other one CLICK HERE)

Happy Grilling!

Awards will be presented May 29, 2009 in New York.

I won’t be attending the Independent Publisher Book 2009 award event in New York next week – but I’m so very pleased to tell you that Everybody Grills! will be awarded the Bronze (3rd place) for the national ‘Cookbooks’ category.  (Hey – for our first time outta the gate – I’ll take it!) More than 4,000 books were entered in the competition.

Special congratulations to  Char-Broil and the wonderful supporters who made it all possible. A big congrats to the most tasteful, talented and patient editor in the world – Lisa Kahn.  And, of course,  thanks and congrats to everyone at Creative Homeowner who undertook the effort to make this cookbook look so good that folks want to eat the photos! I’m pleased at the reception for this cookbook and so very honored to be a part of the development and featured in the final production.

You can get your copy today at the Char-Broil web site. CLICK HERE

Happy Grilling!

But I’ll tellya.

This fella is one good cook. And while his writing may not be a style for all to enjoy, these ‘”Three Golden Rules” he suggests for grilling are certainly worthy of your time to read an ponder. You’ll find he is referencing charcoal – a fuel that is coming back in popularity for flavor and method. But the sense of it all is applicable to all forms of cooking.

Happy Grilling!

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Grilling Tips from the The River Cottage Meat Book’s ‘Meat Manifesto’
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Three Golden Rules
1. “This applies to cooking over wood as well as over charcoal— don’t cook over flames, cook over embers. Resist the impulse to start cooking while your fire is still producing flames.”

2. “Remove the fat and you remove the problem. You don’t have to cut every last scrap of fat from your meat, and in the context of the fierce heat of the barbecue, the subtle veins of marbling fat become more precious than ever. When it reaches a certain temperature it will start to “render” and drip in generous trickles on to the fire, which will flare up and spoil the meat. So I usually trim it back to a modest 1/8 inch or so.”

3. “Be generous with the fuel medium (i.e., wood as well as charcoal). The no-flames rule means that you should not start refueling beneath food that is already cooking. So if you want to avoid a lengthy, foodless refueling delay mid barbecue, begin by burning a generous amount of charcoal or wood that will settle to a thick pile of glowing embers and sustain the cooking temperature for a good hour or so.”

What Can Go Wrong

Cooking with flames is bad for taste!

“There are two things bad barbecuing does to spoil good meat. The first is the direct action of flame on the surface of the meat. Instead of browning and caramelizing the sugars on the surface, as we would like, flames deposit the soot of combustion on it—a black carbon coating with quite an unpleasant taste. The second problem is that of rising smoke from burning fat. Unlike wood smoke’s mellow taste, fat smoke has a nasty, acrid note that spoils rather than complements the flavor of the meat. The second problem compounds the first, of course, because any fat dripping into the fire will cause flames to flare up and leave their sooty deposit on the meat.”

Special thanks and tip o’the hat to Claire Sellers and Serious Eats who posted this and reminded me of his books on my shelf.

Q: What do you get when you combine these ingredients: great grilling tips, delicious recipes, mouthwatering photos, “green” publishing and a reputation for the best in value, performance and innovation in backyard cooking equipment?

A: It’s the recipe for a tasty new cookbook from Char-Broil aptly titled Everybody Grills!

This cookbook is so much more than just a collection of recipes. It’s been described as the “definitive cookbookand how-to-grill guide” for everyone from beginners to seasoned barbecue enthusiasts. Everybody Grills! features more than 200 easy-to-follow recipes and expert tips for grilled and barbecued appetizers, main courses, salads, vegetables-even desserts “that will have family and friends licking their fingers.”

“We wanted to publish a cookbook that anyone and everyone would enjoy reading and could actually use. We wanted to capture Char-Broil’s love of outdoor cooking and share it with our friends, family and neighbors. As the introduction says, at Char-Broil, we will not be satisfied until we can say Everybody Grills”

In the works for more than a year, the recipes are gathered from Char-Broil’s extensive recipe collection, Barry “CB” Martin’s “CB’s EZ” recipes as featured in Sizzle on the Grill, as well as contributions from readers and professional & guest chefs that we’ve developed long-standing relationships with over the years.

Published by Creative Homeowner, a company well-known for offering collections of books on subjects including Design/Decor, Gardening, Home Plans, Crafts and Home Improvement. Char-Broil’s Everybody Grills! is printed as a “Green Edition” using recycled paper.  It was important to Char-Broil to publish a Green Edition as part of the growing commitment to sustainability and environmental awareness.  Through the mouthwatering recipes and fabulous photography you’ll find the book has captured Char-Broil’s passion for grilling which we are excited to share with backyard cooks everywhere – because Everybody Grills!

Char-Broil’s Everybody Grills! cookbook
● More than 200 recipes with step-by-step instructions
● Color photographs illustrating each recipe
● Chapters divided by colored tabs for easy reference and use
● A special chapter with more than 75 recipes for marinades, sauces, and rubs
● Dozens of prize-winning favorites straight from the country’s top BBQ competitions

About the Editor
Lisa Kahn, who compiled and edited the recipes for this book, has written extensively on food, restaurants, travel, home design and other lifestyle topics for publications that include The New York Times, Newsweek, The New Jersey Star-Ledger, and New York Spaces magazine. Her professional background includes publicity writing for NYC & Company, the official marketing and tourism organization for the City of New York, as well as for numerous international hotel chains and travel, meeting, and hospitality companies. A resident of New Jersey, she is an avid home cook and barbecue enthusiast who regularly prepares beer can chicken on her grill and most recently in The Big Easy!

How to Buy
Everybody Grills! (304 pages, $24.95) is available at your favorite bookseller and online at www.CharBroil.com It makes a great gift for that special ‘griller’ you know!

Mastering Barbecue by Mike Stines.

That’s right, our own guest chef and regular contributor Mike Stines. I always enjoy reading Mike’s emails to me that include his own tasty recipes, tips and ideas – he shares them generously. This week I got an autographed copy of his book and I casually opened it at bed time. When I looked up at the clock I discovered I’d been reading it for several hours. This book is one you want to get. And I suggest you buy at least two back-ups because the first will get worn out and you don’t want to be with out it. And you’re gonna want to give one to your best friend who “thinks” they already know how to grill – but really REALLY needs this book.

Before I’d read the first 10 pages I’d learned something and by the time I’d read all of the pages I lost count of all the information I got from this book. One reviewer on Amazon.com says the book has no frills – just facts. And I agree.

I will be happily using the book as my reference for techniques and tips to improve my results. Mike provides information that cooks of any experience level will appreciate and can incorporate into their own style. Of all the books I’ve read on outdoor cooking this is one that shares the good stuff from someone who is truly a master.

Actually – that’s one of the great attributes of this entire backyard grilling and barbecue world – I’ve found the true masters want others to succeed at this experience and generously share their experiences, tips and recipes so you and I can enjoy cooking great food as much as they do.

I invite you to take a look at this great book and get one of your own! CLICK HERE

Happy Grilling!