BBQ USA

In 450 recipes covering every state as well as Canada and Puerto Rico, BBQ USA celebrates the best of regional live-fire cooking. Finger-lickin' or highfalutin; smoked, rubbed, mopped, or pulled; cooked in minutes or slaved over all through the night, American barbecue is where fire meets obsession. There's grill-crazy California, where everything gets fired up — dates, Caesar salad, lamb shanks, mussels. Latin-influenced Florida, with its Chimichurri Game Hens and Mojo-Marinated Pork on Sugar Cane. Maple syrup flavors the grilled fare of Vermont; Wisconsin throws its kielbasa over the coals; Georgia barbecues Vidalias; and Hawaii makes its pineapples sing. Accompanying the recipes are hundreds of tips, techniques, sidebars, and pit stops. It's a coast-to-coast extravaganza, from soup (grilled, chilled, and served in shooters) to nuts (yes, barbecued peanuts, from Kentucky).

Guided by the simple conviction that if something tastes good baked, fried, sautéed, or steamed, a pit boss somewhere in this land has figured out how to make it even better over a live fire, Steven Raichlen logs tens of thousands of miles to take you on a tour of America's barbecuing

Finger Lickin' or highfalutin', smoked, rubbed, mopped, or slathered, the 425 recipes in BBQ USA are where fire meets obsession, and the results are smoky perfection.

A Brief History of Barbecue in America (5)

Getting Started: A concise Primer on Grilling & Barbecuing (17)

A short course in choosing a grill, setting it up, getting it lit, and knowing when the food is cooked.

Off to a Fiery Start (32)

Begin the meal with pizzazz. Flame cook Prosciutto-Wrapped Peaches like they do in Virginia, chicken wings the Louisville way, Mojo-Marinated Pork Florida style, and Tiki Beef Kebabs with California flare. Dozens of choices, plus some drinks to serve alongside, including a Chimayo Cocktail.

Live-Fire Salads (108)

Grilling brings out the best in a salad. Wait until you try the Grilled Caesar Salad or the Tomato and Hearts of Palm. Plus Calamari Salad with White Beans and Bitter Lettuce, and four kinds of slaw.

Breads and Pizzas (132)

The grill makes the perfect toaster. There's plenty of room for that Little Italy favorite, garlic bread. Or A New Corn Stick from the West Indies. Or pizzas the way they grill them in Rhode Island and New York. Bread takes to fire like smoke to the grill.

Gloriously Grilled Beef (162)

North America's love affair with beef is celebrated in a luscious round-up of steaks from Tucson, San Antonio, New York, Miami, Dallas, Toronto, L.A., Indianapolis, and of course, Philadelphia (sizzling with cheese). Plus briskets from North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Ohio, and everything else big and beefy.

Going Whole Hog (232)

The icon of American barbecue, pork, couldn't be more succulent than it is here—pulled and piled high on buns like they do in North Carolina, coffee-crusted and served Kenucky-style with Redeye Barbecue Sauce, roasted whole for a pig pickin à la West Virginia. Plus ribs from all over including Missouri's Sweet and Smoky Dry Rub version.

Lamb wih Sizzle (308)

A favorite meat of our Founding Fathers, and it's no wonder. Wait until you try Virginia's Spit-Roasted Lamb with butter & Salt, Illinois' Smoked Lamb Shanks with Mint Barbecue Sauce, and Missouri's BBQ Queens' Parmesan Pepper Rack of Lamb. You'll understand why.

Burgers, Dogs & Sausages (332)

Seeking a new way to grill a burger? Look no further than Connecticut's Ultimate Hamburger. Or, how about a California sushi burger? Hot dogs? Try Cincinnati Chili Dogs. Or how about great Grilled Greek Sausage with Peppers and Onions, a top choice in Massachusetts. Plus plenty of other recipes for America's barbecue favorites.

Birds on the Barbecue (364)

Brant's Brined Beer Butt Bird from Alabama, New York's Original Cornell Chicken, Missouri's Powderpuff Barbecued Chicken Breasts, and Vermont's Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey. Plus, duck, game hens, and quail. The best birds cooked the best ways—grilled, smoked, or spit-roasted.

Flame-Seared Fish (432)

Maple-Mustrad Salmon from Vermont, New Jersye's Grilled Swordfish with Summer Salsa, Spice-Crusted Tuna from California, Bacon-Grilled Trout from Montana, Big Apple Cod from New York, and Grouper Matacumbe from the Florida Keys—our country is rich with fish; here they are all fired up to perfection.

Sizzling Shellfish (520)

Soft-shell crabs grilled the Delaware way. A Canadian dill-grilled lobster. Five West Coast ways to grill oysters. Shellfish is more than shrimp on the barbie, but they're here, too, grilled both Louisiana and Indiana style.

The Vegetarian Grill (564)

Portobello "Cheese steaks" from Pennsylvania, Hickory-Smoked Baked Bean Squash from Maine, and three different quesadillas from across the country are barbecued dishes so good, no one will beef!

Flame-Roasted Vegetables (586)

There's nothing like live fire to bring out a vegetable's sweetness. Not to be missed are Louisiana's Cajun Grilled Asparagus or Midwestern Grilled Corn with Maytag Blue Ceese. Or how about Hawaii's Grilled Plantains, or Vermont's Madeira Grilled Acorn Squash.

Sides from the Grill (626)

Grill up a New England "baked apple." Prepare brown beans the West Virginia way. Serve spaghetti with a smoky sauce like they do in Tennessee or grilled macaroni and cheese New Mexico style. These side dishes are stand-out sensational.

Unbeatable Sauces (656)

Dozens of sauces to choose from, covering all the great barbecue regions. Try St. Louis Red and Nashville Sweet, Central Texas Barbecue Sauce, or a trio of sauces from Kentucky. There are also Liquid Fire from Florida and The Doctor's Medicine from Tennessee. Plus slathers, salsas, and chutneys.

Here's the Rub (698)

Make great barbecue even better with the pit master's secret weapons—the rubs, marinades, mop sauces, and glazes used to add flavor and sheen to meat or fish. Try Tennessee's versatile sweet-hot Cold Mountain Rub—it's good on just about everything. If you're looking for something more tongue-torturing, Missouri's K.C. Pepper Rub fills the bill. No barbecue should leave the grill without a little something from this chapter.

Great Grilled Desserts (712)

Don't let the fire die down until you've flame seared dessert: Smoke-Roasted Apple Crisp, Cinnamon Grilled Peaches, Smoked Alaska, and Grilled S'Mores are all worth keeping the coals aglow.