Marc Bittman and I go back about two decades. As a newly engaged young lady, I was walking through Michaels with my fiance, looking for wedding favor ideas and other fun things. In a $5 bin, I found Marc Bittman’s classic How to Cook Everything (affiliate link) and bought it. It served me well because I was learning how to cook with eggs and cheese. Previously, I only knew how to cook everything vegan.
As I learned who Bittman was – the food editor of the New York Times – and how he wrote an entire series on “how to cook everything” – I grew very impressed with his cooking methods and presentation style. Come to find out, he supports vegetarianism and wrote “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” (affiliate link) as part of his series. Of course, I bought that title, too.
If that wasn’t enough to establish a rapport with this vegetarian blogger, get this: his grandparents immigrated from Ukraine and Romania. There you have it. I knew Marc was my distant cousin.
I bought How to Grill Everything (affiliate link) because, well, my sixteen-year-old has asked us to allow him to eat meat. My husband and I do not want to have the smell of meat cooking in the house, after 20 years of vegetarianism. So we reached this compromise: I learn to grill chicken, fish, and beef. Done.
Of course, I turned to Bittman for the best grilling tutorial. So now you know why I am reading this book. There are many chapters covering different types of meat and then there is a veggie chapter plus appetizers like bruschetta and other goodies. Not just meat. As such, this is a cookbook for all who want to mess with a grill.