Sticks & Stones: The Art of Grilling on Plank, Vine and Stone

I’ve been reading a great deal about wood plank grilling lately, in preparation for a blog series on the subject. There are several great books on plank grilling, but without a doubt the foremost authority is Ted Reader. His “Napoleon’s Everyday Gourmet” cookbooks are a must reader for the backyard grilling enthusiast.

Last year Ted published, Napoleon’s Everyday Gourmet Plank Grilling, what may be the definitive plank grilling cookbook and will be discussed in-depth in future blog posts. Today’s post deals with his book Sticks & Stones: The Art of Grilling on Plank, Vine and Stone which was published almost 10 years ago. I came across several references to this cookbook and knew I had to add it to my library.

The test of time is the best way to measure how good a cookbook is. Even 10 years later “Sticks & Stones” is still available for purchase new. This tells me Ted has wrote a masterpiece and it doesn’t take but a glance through the pages to know how good this cookbook it.

Whether it’s grilling on planks, marble, terra cotta or using grape vines as skewers “Sticks & Stones” make something that looks complicated and hard to do easy for backyarder. If you want to impress your guests with great tasting grilled food along with great presentation possibilities you’ll want this book.

The book takes it’s inspiration from the skills developed over thousands of years of plank grilling by the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. Ted Reader and his co-author Kathleen Sloan takes you through selecting planks and preparing them for grilling. There’s also an introduction to selecting stones, vines and twigs for grilling.

The recipe section is divided up into 5 sections. Section 1: “In the Beginning” has recipes for soups and starters. Whether it’s “Wood-Smoked Butternut Squash Soup with Cumin-Roasted Pearl Onions” or “Maple-Planked Brie with Roasted Garlic and Peppers” you’ll have the perfect start to your plank grilled meal.

A section on chicken, beef, pork, lamb, turkey and games leads to the section of fish and seafood. Toss in a section on sides and sauces and a section on sweets and treats and you have the makings for a complete meal that will surely impress just about anyone.