Mr. Dickey’s Barbecue Cookbook: Recipes from a True Texas Pit Master by Roland Dickey with Polly Powers Stramm featuring the photography of Robert M. Peacock (Pelican Publishing Company, $29.95)
There are certain facts of life that I hold to be absolute truths. One such truth is that barbecuing is part of the DNA makeup of most Southern men. Pit cooking is less about preparing food that it is attitude and tradition.
Roland Dickey has been part of his family’s business, “Dickey’s Barbecue” based in Dallas, for more than four decades. With more than two hundred locations nationwide, it would be somewhat of an understatement to say Roland knows his way around a grill.
In his new cookbook, Roland shares many of his favorite recipes. In addition to a chapter about how the Dickey business began and evolved, there are sections devoted to Palate-Pleasing Appetizers & Salads; Foot-Stompin’ Barbecue and Rubs; Knee-Slapping Meat and Seafood; Great-Tastin’ Side Dishes and Veggies; Eye-Opening Breakfasts and Breads; and Super Delicious Desserts and Drinks.
Since the Dickey outlets sell millions of pounds of smoked brisket each year, the first recipe I checked out was one for baked brisket, a little different from the smoked variety but just as delicious. According to Roland, this is the way our grandmothers cooked brisket and adds that it is a cut of meat that can be tough unless cooked for a long time at a low temperature, like in this recipe.
This is a delightful cookbook and one that is highly recommended.
BAKED BRISKET
Serves 8 to 10
Cooking time 7 to 8 hours
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1 (6 to 7 lb) beef brisket
2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 oz canned beef stock
2 oz red wine
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Preheat oven to 225F.
Rub the brisket thoroughly with salt and pepper, and use the knife to score the brisket in a tic-tac-toe pattern so that the spices will better penetrate the meat. Place the brisket in a large roasting pan, fat side up. Pour the stock, wine, onion, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce around the brisket. Cook, covered, for 7 to 8 hours. The meat should be fork tender when done. Transfer the brisket from the baking pan to a cutting board and allow it to sit and drain until the brisket reaches room temperature. Trim the fat and slice the meat across the grain.
To serve with Au Jus (and who doesn’t), save the pan drippings and skim off as much fat as possible. Cook the drippings over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by half. This will concentrate the flavor of the gravy.
Make a different side sauce by mixing equal parts mayonnaise and sour cream, and add store-bought horseradish to taste.

Austrian Desserts: Over 400 Cakes, Pastries, Strudels, Tortes, and Candies by Toni Morwald and Christoph Wagner (Skyhorse, 29.95)
Toni Morwalk is an award-winning chef who specializes in traditional European baking and Christoph Wagner a critic, author and columnist. Both men are based in Austria.
In their new cookbook, traditional baking is balanced with the dessert requirements of modern cooking. In this collection of more than 400 recipes, such time-tested dishes such as lizertorte and apfelstrudel are given new twists by making them more contemporary and attractive to the diet-conscious. Best of all, the desserts are accessible and fairly easy to prepare, especially when drawing on many of the baking secrets shared by these two men.
In addition to a chapter featuring the basics of the sweet Austrian kitchen, there are twelve basic sections: Invitation to a Viennese Coffee Break (puff pastry, and pate a choux); Baking Like a Pro (cakes, tarts, schnitten and strudel); Fruit Pleasures of the World (fine desserts of fruits and berries); The Sweet Pantry (compote, marmalades, sweet sauces, hand-crafted juices, and caramelized fruits); Snacking Doesn’t Have to be a Sin (the sweet health food kitchen); Dinner a la Crème (creams, mousses, and foams); Airy, Light, Sweet and Fluffy (soufflés, casseroles, schmarren, and pudding); Greeting from Flour Heaven (dumplings, noodles, pastry pockets, gnocchi, pancakes, buchteln, dalken, and doughnuts); The Home Ice Cream Parlor (ice cream, sorbet, granite, and parfaits); The Microcosm of Sweets (cookies and candies); Morwald’s Sweet Greetings (the best of Toni M.’s Patosserie) and The Sweet ABC (principles of the sweet kitchen from A to Z).
This is a delightful cookbook. As I examined it, my first thought was of the holiday season since desserts are nothing less than a celebration.
I tested two recipes from this collection. Since apples are plentiful this time of the year, my first choice was “Filled Baked Apples,” a rather basic recipe but one that turned out to be a real crowd pleaser with a neighbor who acted as my guinea pig. Since the daytime temperatures have been hovering around the century mark, my second pick was “Coconut Ice Cream.”
COCONUT ICE CREAM
Makes 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
1 c heavy cream
1 c coconut puree
½ c granulated sugar
4 egg whites
1 sheet gelatin
4 tsp coconut liqueur
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Boil the heavy cream, granulated sugar, and coconut puree. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Remove the coconut mixture from heat and fold the egg whites in. Add water to the gelatin, remove excess, and dissolve in warmed coconut liqueur. Mix into the ice cream mixture. Blend everything well with an immersion blender. Let cool and place the cooled cream in the ice cream machine or freeze in a shallow pan, stirring occasionally.

Come In, We’re Closed: An Invitation to Staff Meals at the World’s Best Restaurants by Christine Carroll and Jody Eddy with a foreword by Ferran Adria (Running Press, $35)
Some of the most interesting restaurant meals are served after the closed sign has been flipped and the last customer has left. It is then that many kitchens comes alive once again as staff meals are prepared. These “after hours” meals are sometimes produced by passionate cooks using great ingredients, shared by everyone from chefs to dishwashers, free of charge, and served around one big table. This new cookbook provides readers with a behind-the-scenes look at some of these staff meals as served at some of the world’s premiere restaurants.
Christine Carroll and Jody Eddy attended staff meals as they conducted exclusive interviews and gathered dozens of never-before-revealed recipes from twenty-five iconic restaurants. The result is more than 100 creative and comforting dishes made to sate hunger and nourish spirits. In short, these are dishes professional cooks feed each other.
From Ad Hoc in Yountville, California, to wd-50 in New York, these legendary establishments represent the United States and about five foreign countries. They include City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi, Frasca, a culinary destination in Boulder, Colorado, Uchi of Austin, Texas, Mugaritz in Errenteria, Spain, and St. John in London.
This is one of the most intriguing cookbooks I’ve tested. I prepared two recipes, one domestic, one foreign. From Cochon, a New Orleans restaurant owned by Stephen Stayjewski, I made the Chili-Basil Watermelon and Tomato Salad, a nice alchemy of salty, sour, sweet and spicy flavors that were delicate and delightful. My second dish, from Michel Et Sebastien Bras in Laguiole, France, was a sidedish, Potatoes Braised in Vegetable Broth which I served with pork.
This is a fun cookbook that I highly recommend.
CHILI-BASIL WATERMELON AND TOMATO SALAD
Serves 4
Dressing:
2 Tbs white vinegar
2 Tbs fish sauce
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of I lime
1 tsp Huy Fong chili-garlic sauce
¼ c extra virgin oil
¼ c basil leaves, lightly packed
½ c mint leaves, lightly packed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Salad
1 quart cubed seedless watermelon cut into 1-inch cubes
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 1-inch dice
2 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch dice
½ large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper and large flake sea salt to taste
For the dressing: In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, fish sauce, cayenne, lime juice, chili-garlic sauce, and oil. Tear the basil and mint into small pieces and then add to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside for the flavors to meld, about 5 minutes.
For the salad: Right before serving, toss the diced salad ingredients with the dressing. Season with pepper to taste, toss again, then sprinkle the top with sea salt for crunch. Serve immediately.