Main description:

The guide to cooking with fire and feeding a crowd, restaurateur Ben Ford gives step-by-step instructions with photos and illustrations so that you can grill, smoke, or roast the whole beast outdoors—or prepare a “tamed” version of the feast in your home kitchen.

Move over, Bobby Flay—there’s a new grill master in town! Ben Ford is known for drawing crowds with his amazing meals of humungous proportions, and he pulls out all the stops in this complete guide to throwing down-and-dirty fêtes. Whether you’re hosting a block party, pig roast, fish fry, paella feast, or backyard barbeque family reunion, you can be sure everyone will leave your party well fed and fully satisfied.

Each chapter in Taming the Feast provides a blueprint for a big feast, along with similar but “tamed” recipes serving eight to twelve. Explanatory drawings, graphs, and timelines accompany the recipes for maximum success and minimum fuss, and Ford’s recipes reflect his passion for innovative flavors and local, seasonal ingredients. To finish his Southland Clam Bake, for example, he serves classic S’mores with homemade crackers and artisanal milk, white, and dark chocolate bars. Each chapter includes a creative use for leftovers—and you’re sure to have some. Texas Style Barbecue Brisket becomes Brisket Sloppy Joe with Horseradish Cream and Farm-Fresh Fried Egg. And today’s Corn Cob-Smoked Turkey yields tomorrow’s Turkey and Wild Rice Soup.

Taming the Feast is further distinguished by Ford’s stories, told in his distinctive personal voice. His unique upbringing, defined by his father Harrison Ford’s careers as a carpenter and an actor, played a big role in shaping his palate. And his training under Alice Waters, and life as chef and owner at some of California’s most celebrated restaurants, launched his culinary journey, leading to the ethos of Taming the Feast—“cook big and get your hands dirty.”