Peace, Love and Barbecue
This book is a real treasure. The authors, Mike Mills and daughter Amy, take readers through a history of barbecue, share recipes, discuss the bbq circuit, and the bbq restaurant business. The book begins with a family history about how the Mill’s moved from Missouri to Illinois and details some of the Mills’ family influences that held bbq in such high regard.
The book starts out more like a novel than a cookbook, which personalizes the bbq experience for readers. There are a lot of personal family memories, anecdotes and details about some of the “whys” behind the Mills’ family bbq obsession.
It’s got a lot of cool black and white photographs and “secret” recipes from the family cookbook. The book also details how Mr. Mills got his start in the bbq business, his early influences, and recent successes as he expands his bbq reach to Las Vegas and New York with the Memphis Championship BBQ restaurants.
I’ve tried the recipe for the Apple City bbq sauce and it’s pretty good. I look forward to trying the rubs and numerous side-dishes.
I LOVE this book, Brian. Thanks for reviewing this. The recipes I’ve tried from it so far have all not only worked, they’ve been darn tasty, too. The Magic Dust is a really nice rub. I met Mike in NYC a year or two ago and he was so friendly, generous and warm, just like the book.