A Man, a Can, a Grill

May 19, 2003
This gimmicky cookbook, printed on the stiff, cardboard pages more often seen in picture books for infants, offers a set of exceedingly easy recipes for the fellow whose favorite kitchen tool is the can opener. Promising to make any man "king of the grill," Joachim (A Man, A Can, A Plan) presents recipes in simple equations, with photographs of all the main ingredients stacked in basic, arithmetical order (in other words, one barely needs to know how to read): a can of beer plus a can of chopped jalapenos plus a flank steak plus flour tortillas (along with a few seasonings and garnishes) renders a plate of reasonably tasty Beer-Flamed Fajitas; a can of chicken broth plus a can of light coconut milk plus a lime plus some boneless chicken breasts and spices makes Spicy Bangkok Birdies. Running alongside the images are drill-sergeant directions on how to combine the ingredients:"In a big bowl, nuke everything but the chicken....Dump in the chicken....Fire up your grill," run the Bangkok Birdies instructions. With ingredients ranging from soda pop to SPAM (Pakistani Pork Chops call for the former, while the latter appears in SPAM Cordon Bleu and Mushroom SPAMwiches), and from Pringles to refrigerated pizza dough, this is not a book for the seriously health conscious, though fat and calories are listed and are often reasonable. Rather, it seems geared toward the busy good ol' boy craving a manly meal, to whom a "perfectly roasted whole chicken...with an open beer can stuck up its...um...orifice" (the recipe for Beer-Can Chicken) sounds appealing.

June 1, 2003
This gimmicky cookbook, printed on the stiff, cardboard pages more often seen in picture books for infants, offers a set of exceedingly easy recipes for the fellow whose favorite kitchen tool is the can opener. Promising to make any man "king of the grill," Joachim (A Man, A Can, A Plan) presents recipes in simple equations, with photographs of all the main ingredients stacked in basic, arithmetical order (in other words, one barely needs to know how to read): a can of beer plus a can of chopped jalapenos plus a flank steak plus flour tortillas (along with a few seasonings and garnishes) renders a plate of reasonably tasty Beer-Flamed Fajitas; a can of chicken broth plus a can of light coconut milk plus a lime plus some boneless chicken breasts and spices makes Spicy Bangkok Birdies. Running alongside the images are drill-sergeant directions on how to combine the ingredients: "In a big bowl, nuke everything but the chicken....Dump in the chicken....Fire up your grill," run the Bangkok Birdies instructions. With ingredients ranging from soda pop to SPAM (Pakistani Pork Chops call for the former, while the latter appears in SPAM Cordon Bleu and Mushroom SPAMwiches), and from Pringles to refrigerated pizza dough, this is not a book for the seriously health conscious, though fat and calories are listed and are often reasonable. Rather, it seems geared toward the busy good ol' boy craving a manly meal, to whom a "perfectly roasted whole chicken...with an open beer can stuck up its...um...orifice" (the recipe for Beer-Can Chicken) sounds appealing.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.