The Southwestern Grill

July 17, 2000
There may be 200 recipes in this fine collection, but most of them share a single basic, time-proven secret: opposites attract. For McLaughlin (All on the Grill; The Silver Palate Cookbook), that means taking the ingredients to be found near his Santa Fe home and combining them so that sweet becomes enamoured of hot, and crisp runs off with chewy. Often a marriage of fruit and spice carries the day, such as with Spice-Rubbed Venison Tenderloin with Dried Blueberry Sauce (in which berries are soaked in Tequila, mixed with beef stock, whisked with butter and spooned over meat that has been rubbed with chipotle chile powder and sugar). Or else land and sea converge and simmer in such dishes as Grilled New Mexico Mountain Trout with Cider, Bacon and Pi on Sauce. Because grilling requires as much smoke as fire, every recipe comes with a recommended Smoking Chip Option, be it Mesquite for the Cumin-Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb or Apple for the Sweet and Smokey Corn Relish. With Frozen Raspberry Margarita Pie, and Tequila Mixed Berry Compote with Dulce de Leche, McLaughlin's chapter on desserts intoxicates nearly as much as his chapter on Cocktails and Coolers. And the extensive chapter on Salsas, Sauces and Condiments runs the gamut from a basic Black Pepper Rub to a sobering Coffee Barbecue Sauce that blends French Roast with cumin and red chilies. All in all, this cookbook provides a summer's worth of adventurous grilling.

June 15, 2000
Prolific cookbook author McLaughlin (All on the Grill, LJ 5/15/97) offers a mouthwatering array of easy grilled dishes with a Southwestern accent, from Santa Fe Chicken Satay to Grilled Salmon Steaks with Haba nero Butter. He includes a chapter devoted to tacos, tostadas, and "other hand foods," as well as one on salsas, sauces, and rubs; there are refreshing drinks and cocktails, too, and some unusual desserts. For most collections.

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