Grilling

Round out this meatless — but hearty — main course with a big spoonful of deli pasta salad on a bed of arugula, and end with purchased tiramisù topped with berries.

Brining ensures a moist grilled chop. What to drink: Pale ale.

Marinate the steaks one to eight hours before grilling. What to drink: A red wine with ripe fruit (such as Côtes du Rhône) or a pale ale.

(Churrasco de Sao Paulo a la Parilla con Chimichurri Rojo) Churrasco is a very primitive form of cooking meat. The gauchos, or cowboys, of Brazil would kill and butcher the animals out on the pampas, build a big fire, and barbecue the meat on a spit of some sort, basting it with a vinegary liquid. As cities developed, however, this recipe too became more civilized — I do ask you to prepare it the way they do in many Brazilian steak houses, with cebollas fritas (otherwise known as onion rings).

Because skirt steaks can be very long, it's much easier to handle them when they are cut in half.

The tamarind, a tropical shade tree native to India, also grows in Southeast Asia, Africa, Hawaii, Mexico, South America, and, of course, the Caribbean. Its long brown brittle bean-like pods each hold a sweet-sour sticky brown pulp containing up to ten seeds. Its flavor is akin to dates mixed with lemon and peaches. Just as we in the West often use a squeeze of lemon to lift the richness of a dish, in Asia they use tamarind. The American palate is not accustomed to the tamarind's particular brand of sourness, and so Western dishes using the fruit are usually tempered by ingredients that soften its acidity. In this dish, the heavy cream in the Smoky Plantain Crema balances the tamarind's acidity, while the chipotles complement the flavor of the grilled duck meat. When preparing this, note that the duck should marinate overnight.

A grill pan is just the thing for cooking the chicken and zucchini in this recipe.

These birds are one of many excellent grilling ideas from Steven Raichlen, author of The Barbecue! Bible (Workman, 1998) and How To Grill, in bookstores later this month.

Wasabi powder is fiery-hot, so adjust the proportion in the butter according to your heat tolerance. An Asian noodle salad from the deli, blanched sugar snap peas sprinkled with sesame seeds, and a bakery lime tart would be cooling additions to the menu.

These are nice as part of a barbecue buffet.

Those with Texas-size appetites will require an entire steak; for most others — even the heartiest of meat lovers — half of one of these rib steaks is probably plenty.

Serve with: Rice pilaf and a salad of red-leaf lettuce with rice wine vinaigrette. Dessert: Grilled pineapple and vanilla ice cream.

Serve with: Gingered rice pilaf and summer lettuces with a sesame vinaigrette.

Stone-ground cornmeal has more texture and corn flavor than steel-ground.

Serve with: Grilled asparagus and pasta tossed with Parmesan and chopped mint.