Customer Reviews

Biker Billy Cooks with Fire: Robust Recipes from America's Most Outrageous Television Chef

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first saw this book in a store, I thought it was a grill cookbook. I read the back, saw that it was devoted to hot n' spicy cooking, and bought it on a whim. I found it to be perhaps the best cookbook I own. I usually feel that a meal isn't complete without meat, but these recipes are so flavorful and interesting that I don't miss it. The recipes range from simple to exotic and all are, in my experience, exceptional. I have recommended this book to many friends, most of whom have bought more copies to give to friends. I wholeheartedly recommend Kiss of the Devil Hot Cocoa, Blueberry Pancakes from Hell, Black Bean Burritos, and Hot Potato Corn Chowder. Trust me, they're all unique and exceptional. Thanks, Mr. Hufnagle, for sharing these recipes! Hope for a follow-up soon! ALLRIGHT!!!

Cooking hot and spicy food is always a challenge; one man's endorphin rush is another man's journey into culinary hell.

Still, Biker Billy, no stranger to hot peppers of every variety and intensity, manages to create some of the most tasty--and mind you, HOT--dishes known to man. The best of them he's compiled into this book.

I've made several of the dishes in here (my personal favorite is Gingerbread Bikers from Hell), and the results, as seen on various friends and members of my family, are always mixed. The hotheads are always remarkably pleased; the rest will gamely take a taste and then stare at the rest of us like we have horns growing out of our heads.

If you've ever seen Biker Billy's show, you know he's a vegetarian; an OVERWEIGHT vegetarian. This is sort of hard to do, but you'll notice that while Mr. Hufnagle eschews meat, he's not shy about using cow by-products like cheese and butter. (In spicy cooking, except for Asian food, dairy is almost required; it tends to lessen the fire in peppers, and when you're dealing with habaneros and the like, dairy is a MUST. Asian cooking is another story.) That said, as long as you're not cooking with fire every day of the week, this book will provide you with some fantastic meat-free meals that will surprise you with all the flavors that the peppers help to bring out.

Biker Billy makes preparation a breeze with easy-to-understand directions, and the fun-to-read filler around the recipes proves Mr. Hufnagle to be a fine author, too. So order this book now, and the next time some unwanted visiting relative expects you to serve him blueberry pancakes, you can put a little surprise in there for him!

Now, can somebody get this guy a show on the Food Network, please?

Met Biker Billy at his in-person demo at Mancuso's Harley-Davidson in Houston; ate his samples; and have to have the book! If this is your first venture into the world of peppers, please make the cooling dip first! The recipes contained are easy, fun and delicious. An entertaining book to heat up the kitchen by. Are you a manly enough biker, or just a wanna-be?

The first time I heard of Biker Billy was on a Sunday morning on our local PBS, my husband and I watched his show. Biker Billy was in a dark basement (I think) and he was cooking. It was so strange, as usually, on cooking shows, you see these culinary experts, dressed in their culinary clothes in a well lit kitchen and cameras everywhere. This was totally the opposite. Biker Billy was wearing his trademark Biker Billy black T-shirt and dark sunglasses.

I was so surprised to find out that Biker Billy actually had a cookbook out. I bought it, when I was pregnant, more as a novelty, but opened it up and saw a very interesting person in Biker Billy.

His cookbook is vegetarian. So, if you are looking for meat, it's not here. Also, which I knew from the TV show, he uses a lot of hot peppers. AND, as his name implies, he loves to ride motorcycles.

I sampled a few of the recipes and definitely fell in love with this cookbook. My favorites are: "Kiss of the Devil Cocoa", "Hot Garbanzo Bean Patties" (AKA Falafel) and "Hot Hummus".

A great thing about this book is that he explains the peppers he is using, and how hot they are. He also lists some resources where you can purchase these peppers.

Another thing, he even talks about motorcycle safety, as motorcycle riding is one of his favorite past-times.

If you keep your eye open, you can even see him on other shows. I saw him once on Next Door With Katie Brown (it used to be on Lifetime TV). It was hysterical to see them together. She is so wide-eyed midwestern, cute and innocent, and here is Biker Billy tossing in all these peppers and she is looking shocked, but pleasantly!

Would I recommend this book? Sure! It's a great book!

Biker Billy is the reason I started cooking with hot peppers. His book has a great overview of the different types of peppers and their hotness. His recipes span across every type of meal, from breakfast to dinner, appetizers, even desserts! His narratives at the beginning of most recipes are given in true biker style with fun comments, and history of the recipes. This is also a book for the health conscious as all recipes are vegetarian. "Aw-right!"

It's not often that a cookbook can change my perception of a group of people. My misconceptions, and I think the same misconception many people have, has not only been changed by this book, but also by meeting the author in person. I recently had the opportunity to meet Bill Hufnagle the TV show host and the author of Biker Billy Cooks with Fire. Meeting Bill and reading his book has shown me that what most people think about "bikers" is totally wrong. Bikers are compasionate, friendly humantarians that love their families, their freedom and their food (among many other things). Biker Billy Cooks with Fire is an extension to that love of food.

Looking through the pages of this book is like looking at history. This cookbook is filled with old-looking pictures of bikes, bikers and rallies. This book is also filled with recipes to add some spice and heat into your lives. Biker Billy's recipes are designed for the reader to enjoy the cooking and play with the ingredients to satisfy their individual appetites. The recipes include: Fiery Vegetable Samosas; Hot & Sweet Dolmas; Doubly Warm Roasted Green Chile Salsa; Howlin' Cheese Dip; Biker Barbecue Sauce; Blueberry Pancakes from Hell; Spanish Fire Omlet; Three Bean Tacos; Nuclear Nutty Soup; Hot Nutty Noodles; Tortured Tortellini; Hot Pepper Pot Pie; Hot Stuffed Hungarian Pancakes; Hot Smoky Potato Latkes; Wild Stuffed Tomatoes; Ballistic Bananas; and Biker Yam Pie.

All of the recipes are fairly easy to prepare and almost all of the ingredients are readily available at most markets. If you only have on outrageous book on your shelf, make it Biker Billy Cooks with Fire. Allright!

Overall rating: 3.5 pots out of 5

BETTER THAN I COULD EVER IMAGINE! EXCELLENT TASTY RECIPES. THE ONLY COOKBOOK I'VE EVER SAT AN READ AS A BOOK.

Good variety of uses for peppers. We grow all kinds of peppe and finding uses for all of them means a collection of books. Great buy for a nearly new hardback book.

Not really for Aussie's or meat eaters. Mainly regards to hot vegatarian dishes on a B.B.Q....