Fish & Shellfish, Grilled & Smoked (Paperback)

by Karen Adler (Author) "When you're in the mood for a meal of fish or seafood, grilling is your quickest, easiest, and tastiest cooking option..." (more)
Key Phrases: Kansas City, Fireworks Rub, Red Pepper Beurre Blanc (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Fish, often bottom-billed in many barbecue and grilling cookbooks with a few token recipes, succeeds spectacularly as the star of the show in Fish & Shellfish, Grilled & Smoked. Authors Karen Adler and Judith M. Fertig--Kansas City foodies and members of an all-women barbecue team called the 'Que Queens--argue that fresh fish and shellfish are a healthier option to other traditional barbecue meats due to their low-fat, low-calorie qualities. There's also wonderful variety, as demonstrated by the 300 recipes--presented in a clean, eye-pleasing layout--that pack this book. Standouts, and there are many, include Cape Cod Blackfish ("mild-flavored yet firm and meaty"); Grilled Baby Squid, brushed with olive oil, garlic, and paprika; and North Woods Smoked Walleye, marinated in wheat beer and served over mixed greens. "Fish Tales," sidebars of fish facts and history that pop up throughout, are a nice touch. There's also a funny story about the authors' reluctance to include a smoked-eel recipe. ("First of all, you have to buy a live eel. That means 30 minutes with a live eel squirming in a plastic bag next to the driver.") In addition, for folks who have a hard time getting fresh fish locally, there's a handy list of fish purveyors. This is a terrific cookbook that would fit nicely on any griller's bookshelf. --Andy Boynton

From Library Journal
Adler (Best Little Grilling Cookbook) and Fertig (Prairie Home Cooking), coauthors of an earlier grilling and smoking cookbook, live in Kansas City, MO, which they describe as the "melting pot of barbecue." Here they offer dozens of recipes inspired by a wide range of cuisines, from Cider-Marinated Boston Bluefish to Grilled Seafood Paella to Smoked Asian Leaf-Wrapped Snapper. There's also a large section devoted to "Everything Else You Need": rubs and marinades, salsas and relishes, and side dishes. The grilling recipes outnumber the smoking ones, and indeed most backyard cooks are more likely to turn to the former first, but the easy, varied recipes for using a smoker as well as the focus on fish and shellfish help set this book apart from the myriad others on outdoor cookery. For most collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Common Press; illustrated edition edition (April 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558321810
• ISBN-13: 978-1558321816
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #319,266 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars From my review in "The National Barbecue News", June 4, 2002

By	Doug Mosley (Monroe, LA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Most of us fall into one of two categories when it comes to seafood: One group understands the great flavors that comes from grilling or smoking it and the other breads it and fries it. I fall squarely into that second group. It's even come to the point where I just avoid the seafood counter at my local market all together after the damage I've done to some really beautiful slabs of fish. After all, there is a difference between between messing up a $1.99 per pound rack of spare ribs and a $12.99 per pound tuna steak.
But then came along "Fish & Shellfish Grilled & Smoked", an excellent book by Karen Adler and Judith M. Fertig. These authors may sound familiar; between them they've penned 14 cook books, one of which - "Easy Grilling & Simple Smoking with the Barbeque Queens" - they wrote together. Adler owns Pig Out Publications, the world's only book publisher/distributor devoted solely to barbecue. Fertig writes a weekly food column for The Kansas City Star. Thus, their credentials are well-earned and in "Fish & Shellfish Grilled & Smoked" they've done their best work to date.
The book's stripped-down format is a clever move. It's logically arranged into three parts: Grilling Fish and Shellfish, Smoking Fish and Shellfish and Every Thing Else You Need (yes, that is indeed the name of Part III). Parts I and II are divided into two chapters each - one for fish and one for shellfish. Following a 14-page introduction on grilling fish and shellfish, there are over 90 recipes for fish and 30 for shellfish in Part I (the fish and shellfish recipes are conveniently separated into their own chapters). Part II follows the same plan as it applies to smoking with about 25 recipes on fish and 19 for shellfish.
The recipes are presented in an easy-to-read style. Nearly all are contained within a single page and include a complete list of ingredients in one column and numbered step-by-step instructions in an adjacent column. A descriptive introduction is included under the title of each dish and suggestions for substitution ingredients is offered at the end. They've even gone the extra step of alphabetizing the order of recipes by type of fish.
With all this said, if this book could just help me to keep from having most of my grilled catfish filets left clinging stubbornly to the grill grate it would be well worth its price. The authors respond to the challenge with guidance on what type of fire is best for each cut and type of fish to help prevent this problem. Now that we've cleared that hurdle, let's try something more challenging!
The recipes allow for a growing confidence like mine. "Salsa Catfish" is the familiar grilled fish with your favorite salsa added. "Mahimahi with Kiwi Sauce" goes a step further by involving a fresh fruit puree. These are getting so easy now that even "Provencal Grilled Tuna with Sauce Remoulade" sounds doable! Now brimming with this new knowledge, it's time to move to the grilled shellfish chapter. A few recipes for lobster look interesting and then comes a surprise - "Grilled Baby Octopus". I didn't even know octopus was a shellfish, let alone that you could grill it. Nonetheless, Adler and Fertig make this task look easy, even supplying a reference on how to clean octopus.
The chapters on smoking offer up selections like "Apple Cider Smoked Trout with Horseradish Cream" and "Smoky Shrimp Quesadillas". This is looking easier all the time. Maybe it's about time I made a return visit to that seafood counter.
The first chapter of Part III offers a wide variety of rubs, marinades, sauces and the like. Some of these recipes are familiar, but there are plenty of new ideas for tastes that perform their best with seafood. The authors finish strong with a chapter on sides that don't necessarily involve seafood as ingredients but rather serve as great complements to seafood dishes.
So now I am ready to tackle whatever the fishmonger has to offer - grouper, sea bass, tilapia, halibut, monkfish or salmon. I know I can handle any or all with this book on my shelf. But now I have another problem: what do I do with this 50-pound bag of cornmeal fish breading that I have in my cupboard?

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What A Thorough Work On Grilling a Fish/Shellfish!, May 3, 2002

By	rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Fish and Shellfish, Grilled and Smoked: 300 Foolproof Recipes for Everything from Amberjack to Whitefish, Plus Really Good Rubs, Marvelous Marinades, Sassy Sauces, and Sumptuous Sides (Hardcover)

These two ladies can BBQ! They have demonstrated that in contests, and here they demonstrate that in a marvelous, complete (nearly 400 pages) compendium on grilling/smoking seafood!

It's all here, recipes, helps, side dishes, marinades and sauces, how to purchase, sources, etc. Also included are neat, useful sidebard discussions, e.g. 10 Tips and Techniques for Great Planked Fish and Shellfish, Every Time."

One can see that these authors know what they're writing about, and they provide excellent substituions, instructions, serving ideas, and so on.

I'm looking forward this grilling season to dig into such as: Lemon-Lime Monkfish, Grilled Lobster-Papya Guesadillas with Pineapple Cream, Grilled Sea Scallops with Pancetta and Bail Aioli, Beer-Brined Smoked Swordfish, and what is fast becoming a favorite: Grilled Lobster Parfait with Brandied Tomato Cream.

What healthier food is there than seafood? Here, creatively, refershingly offered in over 300 Foolproof ideas for your enjoyment. This is a keeper!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!, August 4, 2005

By	T. Griffin (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews

Many grilling and smoking books give seafood only passing attention; not this book. Recipes are excellent, and while they are much more adventurous than what is typically found in grilling and smoking books, they are still user friendly in both taste and ingredients. This is one book I'll keep on my "most used" shelf for some time to come.