If you're slowly warming up to the idea of grilling, you'll love the way she explains the basics, from choosing a grill and other equipment to knowing when to use the direct or indirect cooking method. If you're an accomplished griller, you'll get recipes and tips to take your grill skills to the next level. Expand your repertoire with this definitive book that reveals proven grilling secrets, delves into the fine points of authentic barbecue (time and smoke are key), and encourages you to be more adventurous.

More than 350 recipes in Taming the Flame offer a wealth of choices for any occasion. They range from down-home to uptown - from Bubba's Bunch Barbecued Baby Back Ribs to Bacon-Wrapped Sea Scallops, from Kenny's Wings of Fire to Salt-Cured Duck Breast with Fig Jam. Twelve Grilling 101 guides feature expert advice and basic recipes for burgers, steaks, poultry, fish, lamb, vegetables, pizza, and more. Karmel's signature Grilling Trilogy highlights the inherent flavor of grilled foods and makes grilling classic favorites easy.

Not all the recipes are hot off the grill. Some will complement your grill creations, including nibbles and bits (your crowd will clamor for the tumbled tomatoes), salads (some grilled, some not) and side dishes, and desserts (including the Best Apple Pie You've Ever Eaten and Zesty Lemon Bars). Libations ranging from Rockin' Chair Lemonade to Pomegranate Margaritas will liven up any cookout!

There are sixteen color pages showing tantalizing dishes and dozens of black-and-white photos detailing techniques - plus helpful cooking time charts, menu ideas, a grilling dictionary, and a source guide. With Karmel's love of good food and good times evident on every page, and her warmth and humor sprinkled generously throughout the book, Taming the Flame will get you fired up about grilling just about anything - anytime, in any weather.

Having grown up in a barbecue restaurant family, I bond immediately with anyone who has a master's touch at the grill and barbecue pit. Elizabeth Karmel is the genuine article, understanding (and able to clearly articulate) that delicate interplay between food and fire, flavor and finesse.

Other cookbooks by this author

• Pizza on the Grill: 100 Fun and Fabulous Fire-Roasted Recipes
• Pizza on the Grill
• Pizza on the Grill Expanded: Over 100 Fire-roasted Recipes for Pizza & More
• Soaked, Slathered, and Seasoned: A Complete Guide to Flavoring Food on the Grill and BBQ
• Steak and Cake: More Than 100 Recipes for the Best Meal Ever
• Taming the Flame: Secrets for Hot-And-Quick Grilling and Low-And-Slow BBQ