Sam the Cooking Guy - Cookbook Review
Just Grill This!
By Sam Zien
(Wiley, 2011)
It's hard to say what Sam Zien is most famous for: inventing the grilled peanut butter and
jelly sandwich, or chastising Today show hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb for
their constant interruptions. Zien wants everyone — not just macho men — to fire up the grill and he believes that almost
anything — save for eggs, spaghetti and cheese — can be grilled... even lettuce! The
philosophy of Sam the Cooking Guy boils down to this: food, grill, eat. In his irreverent,
playful and very useful new book, the host of the Emmy Award-winning TV show Just
Cook This! rails against what he considers pretentious, BBQ-contest type grilling. He
feels there's too much bravado in the business of barbecuing these days. So he serves up
recipes for easy dishes that also don't require a fancy, expensive grill.
Zien opens the book with a few fun grilling dos and don'ts along with some basic rubs
and sauces (mostly — gasp! — involving mixing a couple ingredients into ketchup
or mayo). The rest of the book is divided into ten sections: Small Things, Things Not
Normally Grilled, My Favorite Cooking Guy Sandwiches (a great chapter), Vegetables,
Beef, Not Beef, Seafood, Dogs & Burgers, Grilling Inside, and Drinks and Dessert. Each
chapter has a little something for everyone, including recipes such as Porterhouse with
Herb Garlic Butter; BBQ Shrimp Po' Boys; and Mexican Grilled Corn and Parmesan
Heart of Palm. These simple dishes blend familiar favorites with Zien's idiosyncratic
new twists. For adventurous souls, Zien offers up exotics such as Grilled Baguette French
Toast and Steak and Mashed Potato Quesadillas in his Things Not Normally Grilled
section.
While we wish that Just Grill This! featured more photos of the actual recipes and fewer
of Sam grilling, eating or looking into the camera (yes, we get it: these pix are supposed
to be funny and many are!), this design approach matches his conversational tone, witty
rhetoric and snarky commentary. All in all, it's a great book for beginners who feel a
tad mystified by the whole grilling business, anyone who's looking to add new, doable
recipes to their repertoire, and of course, fans of Sam the Cooking Guy.
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