The Gardener & the Grill

Maintaining a brand can sometimes be a thankless proposition. Adler and Fertig, better known in the previous decade as the BBQ Queens, wore tiaras in their 2005 The BBQ Queens’ Big Book of Barbecue and proclaimed, “We grill and smoke like girls.” Seven years and several cookbooks later, they appear to have taken a Shakespearean tumble and are now humble gardeners, “two women who love to cook and especially grill.” It is indeed a matured collection featuring a host of complicated taste combinations. There is charred eggplant with tarragon spread as an appetizer, grilled summer slaw with gorgonzola vinaigrette and grilled bok choy with ginger-soy sauce. All told, there are more than 100 vegetarian recipes and, oh, wait, chicken and charcuterie pop up in several of the offerings, and the fifth of the book’s six chapters is entitled “Meat, Poultry and Fish” and includes entrees like grilled pork tenderloin with fresh fig skewers and flank steak with peppers and onions. So it is at times a meaty collection and at times a veggie collection, as any paean to the “sizzle of the grill” ought to be. And fruity as well, with the dessert chapter extolling the pleasures of grilled peaches, grapefruits, rhubarb, and persimmons. (May)