The Big Book of Backyard Cooking: 250 Favorite Recipes for Enjoying the Great Outdoors [Paperback]

Betty Rosbottom (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Big Book of | Publication Date: March 1, 2004

Food just tastes better under an open sky. In this handbook to the alfresco life, one of our best-known cooking teachers shows how to please friends, neighbors, and family with hundreds of delicious dishes suitable for enjoying the great outdoors -- whether it's a rooftop garden or a sprawling lawn. With classic fare such as fried chicken and potato salad, grilled favorites like juicy burgers, barbecued ribs, and sweet summer corn, plus fabulous new creations like Lamb Chops with Roquefort, Figs, and Rosemary and Chocolate Toffee Brownie Cake, eating and entertaining outdoors has never been easier. Rosbottom includes her favorite marinades and sauces, appetizers to keep the crowds at bay, deliciously fresh salads and starters, summery desserts, and much more, not to mention great tips for making sure grilled meats are done to perfection. Covering everything from fine dining under the stars to Sunday picnics by the lake, this latest addition to the big-selling Big Book series is the perfect guide to taking it outside.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When the temperature climbs and it’s time to fire up the backyard grill again, culinary author Rosbottom’s hefty cookbook will give grillers a treasure-trove of recipes, combining old favorites with delectable twists. Not limiting herself to the barbecue grill, Rosbottom (food columnist for the LA Times and contributor to Bon Appétit magazine) generously offers recipes for summer vegetables, salads, desserts and cool drinks, as well as the usual meats, fish and poultry over an open fire. Cooks can sample traditional fare like Southern Style Ribs washed down with Old-fashioned Lemonade and Peanut Butter Cookies, or explore updated creations like Chili-Rubbed Sirloins with Guacamole Salsa, Mojitos and Upside-Down Lemon Meringue Pie with Raspberries. An exotic flare enhances many recipes that were either influenced by or taken directly from other cuisines, like the Salmon Burgers with Cucumbers and Sesame Mayo and the Chicken Satay, or the parsley Chimichurri sauce and Sangria. Rosbottom usefully pads each recipe with a note on its origin, special cooking instructions and notice on advanced preparation. Some recipes call for ingredients difficult to find at a regular grocery store; to help cooks overcome supermarket limitations, the author includes how to whip a substitute creme fraiche or mix an original medley of herbes de Provence. Overall, these recipes-over 250 of them-stimulate both the imagination and the palate for outdoor celebrations without adding undue preparation and worry.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Betty Rosbottom is the author of several books on cooking and entertaining. She writes a weekly column for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate and is a frequent contributor to Bon Appetit . Founder of La Belle Pomme Cooking School in Columbus, Ohio, she now teaches cooking classes in her hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts, and at leading culinary schools throughout the US.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811836045
• ISBN-13: 978-0811836043
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,273,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Entry by Betty Rosbottom, September 26, 2007

By 

MMS (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Book of Backyard Cooking: 250 Favorite Recipes for Enjoying the Great Outdoors (Paperback)

I have every book written by Betty Rosbottom. Her recipes never fail me. The title of this particular outing might lead you to believe that this is simply a book of bar-b-que recipes, but that is not the case. This book covers everthing you might want to go along with your bar-b-que meal or picnic. The apple pie is outstanding. I serve it at Thanksgiving and am always asked to share the recipe.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Rosbottom Great!, October 23, 2008

By 

H. Grove "Errant Dreams Reviews" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Book of Backyard Cooking: 250 Favorite Recipes for Enjoying the Great Outdoors (Paperback)

These aren't huge, complex dishes; they're meant to be something you can whip up and serve at a picnic or outdoor barbecue, although of course many of them will work fine on your dining room table, too. Even those dishes meant to be done at a grill can be cooked on your stove for the most part.

Ms. Rosbottom set out to create something a little different in this cookbook of backyard cooking, so it wouldn't be just another cookbook. When looking for certain favorites, like potato salad, she looked for the best potato salad recipe she could find. When looking for traditional dishes such as salads, she looked for variations on traditional recipes that present us with something new and interesting. I have to say she succeeded at this---going back to the potato dishes for a moment, there were recipes in here for simple potato dishes that normally make me shrug, but that I went wild over when done her way. She includes simple relish recipes that transform meat into something extraordinary.

Backyard Cooking is a large book with more than 250 recipes in it. It doesn't have any photographs, but I don't think it needs them---these are pretty simple dishes.