The Big Book of Backyard Cooking (3 page)

This book, which is designed to bring family and friends together, is dedicated to my own family: To Ronny, my husband and my best recipe-tester, who samples both my successes and disasters with equal enthusiasm, and who is the most efficient dish-washer I could ever hope for; To Michael, my son, who has turned into a talented cook himself, both to my surprise and his, and some of whose ideas can be found on the following pages; To Heidi, my daughter-in-law, who married into a family of serious eaters and loves good food and entertaining as much as we do; And, finally, and with great expectations, to Edie, my granddaughter, who now dines on baby food, but whose DNA is primed for her to have an adventurous palate, too!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

No cookbook, especially one like this with 250 recipes, is ever the effort of a single person.

Students, assistants, professional colleagues, neighbors, friends, and family all helped me in various ways to bring this book to fruition.

My longtime cooking associates, Emily Bell and Sheri Lisak, came on board early in the planning stages and offered creative and practical advice every step of the way. Deb Brown, Jane Giat, and Ellen Wilkins Ellis helped create and test recipes in my kitchen for months on end. Lesley Abrams-Schwartz traveled from Boston to my home in western Massachusetts weekly to cook with me. And more than a dozen generous friends and cooking students all over the country volunteered to make and critique the finished recipes. Thank you Marilyn Dougherty, Ann Ryan-Small, Jackie Murrill, Cindy Pizzanelli, Sara Evans, Suzanne Goldberg, Marilyn Cozad, Cheryl Brooks, Mark Zacek, Brenda McDowell, Barbara Morse, and Gerry and Gavin Spence.

Elinor Lipman and Ellen Wilkins Ellis offered invaluable suggestions when it came time to write the text for this book.

The inspiration for some of the recipes in this collection came from my weekly column, “That’s Entertaining,” published by The Los Angeles Times Syndicate, and from articles I authored in
Bon
Appétit
magazine. I would like to thank my editors, Connie Pollack at the Syndicate and Kristine Kidd, and Barbara Fairchild at
Bon Appétit
, for giving me the opportunity to write about food.

My longtime agent, Judith Weber, found a perfect home for this book at Chronicle Books, where Bill LeBlond, editor
extraordinaire
, welcomed it. Thanks also to book designer Aisha Burnes.

And, although I’ve come a long way in tapping out the pages of a manuscript on my laptop, this project never would have been completed without the help of computer whiz Nicholas Dahlman.

Last I would like to thank my family, especially my husband, for all their love and support.

INTRO

Americans began their love affair with backyard cooking over fifty years ago, after World War II. Across the country during the late 1940s and early 1950s, there was a burst of suburban development in the United States. It was the era when ranch homes surrounded by grassy yards were sprouting up outside the country’s metropolises. The economy was flourishing, and many growing families moved from cities to these outlying areas. Gradually, America’s suburban landscape became defined by quiet streets lined with neat rows of houses, each with its own patch of green.

Two things influenced these new suburbanites to start cooking outdoors. Leisure time was one of them. Many had 9-to-5 jobs with weekends free. Individuals could finally relax after the manic war years, and slowed their pace. The second influence was their new habitat. A huge number of Americans now lived in houses surrounded by a yard—a public one in the front and a more private one in the back. It didn’t take long for people to discover that the backyard, sheltered from the street, was an inviting setting for friends and family to gather. The welcoming breezes on warm days and nights were an enticement as well, because most homes, post World War II, were not air-conditioned.

Gradually, the yard evolved into another room—an outdoor dining room—and eating there was a natural but exciting development. Eventually, cooking began to take place outside, too. The appearance of the famous Weber kettle grill, invented in 1951 and first sold in 1952, made cooking over an open fire an easy enterprise. The rest is history. Backyard cooking quickly became a national trend, one that has not waned over the years. Decades later, cooking and eating outdoors are both firmly ensconced as a defining part of American culture.

Through the decades many foods have become mainstays of backyard menus. Of course, there’s that trio of grill favorites—steaks, burgers, and hot dogs—as popular today as in the early days of backyard cooking. But, now we cook all manner of meats, fish, and fowl, as well as vegetables, over searing flames. Then there are the backyard classics—dishes that are not grilled but still beloved outdoor fare: boiled lobsters, steamed mussels, fried chicken, or baked ham served cool, and sandwiches. Slaws and salads, and soothing drinks to quench a warm day’s thirst, are other perennials. No alfresco meal would be complete without a sweet conclusion. An A-list of desserts would include fruit and icebox pies; pound, layer, or short cakes; crisps and crumbles; brownies; cookies; and ice creams.

Just thinking about these foods makes my mouth water. Creating a collection of recipes for backyard cooking has been a truly delicious project. You’ll find many familiar recipes on the following pages. In each case I looked for the best version of such dishes. Try, for example, Old-Fashioned Potato Salad with mashed hard-boiled eggs in the mayonnaise dressing, or the easy baked beans recipe called A Mixed Bag of Beans, or Burnt-Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream, made with caramelized sugar. Other entries are popular dishes with updates. Grilled Caesar Salad has the usual ingredients, but the lettuce is grilled in this version. And, instead of standard coleslaw, you can choose from Parmesan Black Pepper Coleslaw, Red and Yellow Pepper Coleslaw, and Coleslaw with Spanish Olives.

America’s culinary borders extend far beyond our Atlantic and Pacific coastlines and past our neighbors Canada and Mexico, so many recipes in this book have international touches. Brazil’s celebrated parsley sauce, chimichurri, is perfectly gorgeous spooned over lightly charred steaks.

Gremolata, the famous Italian herb garnish, embellishes grilled veal chops, while wasabi powder, fiery ground horseradish root from Japan, adds pizzazz to mayonnaise. From southern France, there’s a Provençal-inspired vegetable tart. Sutrisno’s Chicken Satay is an authentic dish from Indonesia, and Zucchini, Potatoes, and Tomatoes, Cooked Greek-Style found its way to me via a Greek friend.

Countries with warm climates seem to have an inexhaustible repertoire of cooling drinks to stave off the heat, so there are mojitos from Cuba, caipirinhas from Brazil, and sangria from Spain.

Having taught cooking for well over two decades, I’ve noticed how much my students appreciate extra information—those little tips and hints that aren’t usually written into a recipe. So, sprinkled throughout this book, you’ll find notes on marketing for new or unusual ingredients. You’ll discover that there is a lot of descriptive detail in the steps of each recipe to ensure that you make these dishes successfully. Finally, since every home cook I have ever encountered always asks me if a dish can be prepared in advance, you’ll see many make-ahead suggestions.

This is the cookbook for those who love to eat and entertain outside. Whether you have a huge expanse of green lawn, a porch, a patio, or a city rooftop, food just seems to taste better when sampled under the stars or the sun’s warming rays. The dishes in this collection are not fancy, but rather down-to-earth fare brimming with flavor, to enjoy leisurely with family, friends, and neighbors. I hope they will be an inspiration for you to dine out—in your backyard!

BASICS:

TIPS AND HELPFUL HINTS, TECHNIQUES,

AND SOME BASIC RECIPES