Feisty celebrity chef-restaurateur Guy Fieri of the Food Network seems to metaphorically be on fire a lot, kicking up one ruckus or another. Now the bad-boy host of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives debuts his fifth cookbook, Guy On Fire: Grilling, Tailgating, Camping and More (William Morrow, $30, 352 pages). You’ll need the 130 recipes next time you’re outdoors and want to fire up some chow over hot coals and fragrant smoke.
Fieri may be one of a kind, but he sure can cook, as he shows in imaginative recipes like salt and pepper spareribs with Spanish romesco sauce; soft-shell crab sandwich with homemade slaw and tartar sauce; beef ribs with orange barbecue sauce; and grilled lamb with mint mojo sauce.
One bonus is the tips explaining cooking and prep techniques and procedures, such as the step-by-steps on how to start a campfire for cooking, and how to stuff a turkey breast. A second bonus is Fieri’s anecdotal sidebars, such as the time in Hawaii when his buddy showed him how to tenderize octopus in a “food-safe metal cement mixer.” Now, there’s a tale.
— Allen Pierleoni
Sacramento Bee
