The material around the recipes is what we really love here. 'Mallmann on Fire' is the chef's second cookbook, featuring more approachable (but still fancy) recipes like grilled pears wrapped in ham, short ribs with vinegar-glazed charred endive, and whole fish stuffed with fennel. If you've heard of Francis Mallmann before, it's likely for the whole cows and goats he's seen cooking around massive fires on TV shows like 'Chef's Table.' But the lauded Argentinian chef does so much more than over-the-top nose-to-tail cooking. Price at time of publish: $30 (hardcover) $14 (Kindle) You can even grill in the morning, with a chorizo and smoked-potato breakfast burrito. Grilled shrimp and smoked crab legs sit alongside crawfish étouffée and fried catfish in the seafood section, while the entire chapter (!) of Thanksgiving recipes has turkey smoked or fried, plus cornbread dressing and candied yams. It includes fusion barbecue dishes such as smoked tri-tip tacos and smoked pork pho, as well as lots of Southern and soul-food classics cooked in all different ways. This cookbook begins with 'OG BBQ'-Texas-style brisket, ribs, sausage, chicken-but then goes way beyond that to incorporate Bludso's (and Los Angeles') many influences. With that grounding in classical technique, he opened his first restaurant serving authentic Lone Star State–style smoked meats back in Compton in 2008, and the Bludso's name has been a Los Angeles–area legend ever since. Kevin Bludso grew up in Compton, California, but spent his summers in Texas working at his great-aunt's barbecue stand.

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