A Girl Grilling Some of the Things with Gaby

A review of What's Gaby Cooking: Grilling All the Things by Gaby Dalkin

I’m pretty sure Gaby Dalkin can sell me anything. I’ll be cruising along, not paying much attention to her blog for a while, when all of a sudden I’ll hear her on a podcast promoting her new book and soon it is all I can think about.

I’m not a dummy (at least not in this regard) and I know what is being done to me when this happens. But sometimes I just like to give in and let big marketing take control for a while. Scapegoat the machine. Ride the wave. Buy the book. Pretend I couldn’t help it.

To be fair, however, it’s not too dreadfully hard to sell me a cookbook. Ask my local library, which just had its $3 bag o’ books sale. The absolute dregs that I took home—gleefully—are almost embarrassing. Almost, but not quite. I mean, what a bargain!

Library haul—my shame, my joy

Anyways, we’re not here to discuss the underlying theme of my book hoarding issues. We’re here to discuss Gaby Dalkin’s new book.

If you haven’t heard of Gaby, she is an incredibly popular food blogger/Instagrammer/spice trader under the name What’s Gaby Cooking. Her viewpoint is California cooking, with a mixed emphasis on fresh/healthy and indulgent/comfort food. I wouldn’t call most of what she puts out quick or easy, but she has a reputation for being very reliable and delicious. She is also just incredibly enthusiastic about everything in a way that always makes me want to get in the kitchen.

Gaby has released five cookbooks, three of which I own, and her newest is called What’s Gaby Cooking: Grilling All the Things.

You may have run into Gaby due to the absolutely OUTRAGEOUS (this is sarcasm) controversy about women grilling that surrounded the her new book’s release, prompting articles in The Wall Street Journal and a response in Stained Page News. I actually don’t subscribe to the former, so I have no earthly idea what it says, but I am sure I don’t really care.

Still, I will confess I myself am not much of a grill girl because my husband, who is generally not comfortable in the kitchen, feels very at home on the grill, so that is usually his responsibility. On top of that, I cut my cooking teeth in various urban apartments without balconies, so I haven’t had a ton of practice with the thing until recently.

Gaby, salesperson extraordinaire that she is, really got me fired up for the grill, though. And yet, I managed to exhibit some self control. You may be as surprised as I was to learn that I restrained myself all through the preorder period, not giving into my basest instincts, knowing with a reasonable certainty that the book would appear on Hoopla (a public library app) on release day as all of Gaby’s others books had.

And what do you know? I was right! So, I immediately got to cooking from it so I could convince myself to “not have to buy it.” (Yeah right—do you know what I just bought, less than 24 hours ago? Cooking in Real Life.)

The Book

Grilling All the Things is divided up first by protein—Beef, Pork+ Lamb, Chicken, and Seafood. Then, in familiar Gaby style, there is the ode to carbs chapter, with pizzas, burgers, nachos, and sausages. There follows a Veggies chapter—some mains but mostly sides—a Dessert chapter, a Drinks chapter, and a chapter with all the recipes within recipes from the book (Odds + Ends). Interspersed are four complete entertaining menus: Smoke Show, Summer Seafood, Steak + Potatoes, and Wine Country.

Regarding ingredients, there are a few things you would not find at ye olde Walmart (I’m thinking here of Calabrian chiles and pomegranate molasses), but on the whole, I had no trouble accessing what was called for.

One thing to note is that one full entertaining menu (Smoke Show), two of the meat recipes, and many of the desserts rely on a smoker. For most of those recipes, minus the entertaining menu, Gaby writes how to use an oven in place of the smoker if necessary. But if you were hoping to prepare the majority of the dessert recipes out of doors without a smoker, then you would be out of luck.

Grilled Cheese Appetizers

I began my grilling odyssey with some of the cheesier options. First up was Charred Peppers with Whipped Feta.

Charred Peppers with Whipped Feta

This recipe involved grilling an absolute heap of peppers (3 lbs), tossing them in a basic red wine vinaigrette, and piling that peck of peppers atop whipped feta with herbs. Then more herbs piled on top. I paired this with premade burger patties because it was enough effort in itself for me. But it was very good and a huge hit.

Next up was the Grilled Brie and Grapes from the Wine Country Menu. (You can find that recipe here, if interested.)

Grilled Brie and Grapes

I sourced the finest and only brie Walmart carried to create this dish. For it, the grapes marinated in a fennel seed and brown sugar vinaigrette, which was then drizzled over the melty cheese and charred grapes at the end. I thought this was excellent and fairly easy.

Oops, I Chose Only Chicken Mains

Grilled Shawarma-Style Chicken with Fattoush Salad was the first main I attempted. Have you ever made a recipe where every time you think about it you’re sad you’re not eating it again? That’s how I feel about this one.

Grilled Shawarma-Style Chicken with Fattoush Salad

The chicken marinade was made with smoked paprika and chipotle chile powder, and while I’m not sure of the authenticity, wow was it ever good. The grilled pita, also slathered in smoked paprika, was super delicious, and the little tomato-cucumber-radish salad was a perfect accompaniment. My children, chicken haters all, ravenously shoveled this one. 10/10 for sure.

(Though, if I may, I have never met a grilled lemon that I believe has made any difference to any kind of flavor.)

Next, I made the Grilled Curry Drumsticks with Raita. I’m going to be honest with you, the night we made this we were so close to a wildfire, ash was raining down on our house and the sky looked like we were on the set of Fallout. I’m not trying to be alarmist. We’re safe. I just don’t have many thoughts on the chicken, because I wasn’t paying it much attention.

At the same time, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t anything special. But that very possibly was the ambiance. And I forgot to photograph it. Either way, it won’t replace my preferred yogurt-marinated grilled chicken recipe, that old classic from Dinner a Love Story.

Finally, rounding out the chicken trio, I made Chipotle Lime Chicken Thighs. These were simply skin-on thighs marinated in lots of chipotle and lime with a few other spices. This was another winner and another I didn’t photograph, thankfully not because of the threat of fire, just because of the intensity of rumbling bellies.

Too Many Cookies

Of course, I had to try a dessert, and because I always seem to choose the chocolate chip cookie recipe, I chose the chocolate chip cookie recipe. This time, it was a S’mores Cookie.

S’Mores Cookies

Unfortunately, I can unequivocally state that I am never making these cookies again. There are several reasons for this.

First, the recipe made too s’many cookies. The yield on the recipe is two dozen, and it actually yielded about four dozen or so for me. True, in the past I have claimed there is no such thing as too much cookie dough. But when you have to press marshmallows and bits of graham cracker into each individual cookie and bake only eight cookies at a time, and now it’s 9 pm and you’re rinsing another baking sheet under cold water to cool it off because you have only two sheet pans and all you want to do is lie down and eat a cookie and watch Tudor Farm, and WHY ARE MARSHMALLOWS SO STICKY—then maybe the limit does exist.

So either my time management skills are bad (ok, yes) but if I only mentally committed to 24 cookies and now the work has doubled, I am beginning to think that’s annoying.

Second, it took me about two batches to figure out that unless I put the marshmallows into the center of the cookie they would basically just melt away to nothing or turn to rock candy, not stay cute and puffy liked the picture. Again, annoying.

Finally, and most subjectively, can we all just agree that “s’mores” flavor reaches its apex in an actual s’more and that everything else is just a disappointing allusion to a s’more? Or am I alone in that?

Final Thoughts

The majority of the recipes I tried from this book were good to very good, so I think it is another solid product from Gaby. As I said, Gaby’s recipes are not always weeknight friendly, and this book is no exception. There are several things that skew fancy, expensive, and more involved. For example, I will likely not be attempting any of the entertaining menus, which variously feature king crab legs, tomahawk steaks, and beef tenderloins. That’s not the place I’m in currently. If none of those things is a barrier for you, then a) I’m jealous, and b) it is a very fun grill book.

If you’re new to grilling, like me, I found it very approachable. And—get this—it turns out grilling is a lot like cooking generally. Who knew?

So, will I buy it? Have you even been paying attention?