Diva Q’s Barbecue –
195 Recipes for Cooking with Family,Friends, and Fire
Danielle “DivaQ”Bennett
Appetite byRandom House
I pre-orderedDiva Q’s Barbecue as soon as it became available online last Thanksgivingbecause I knew it was going to be a great grilling/BBQ book. After months of waiting, I finally got mygrubby little hands on it and it is every bit as good as I anticipated.
You might know Danielle “DivaQ” Bennett from her show, BBQ Crawl,which has run for the past three years.Or you might know her from her multiple other televised appearances,from local news shows to BBQ Pitmasters.Or you might know her from her many competition BBQ victories includinga World Championship at the Jack Daniels World Championship Barbecue a fewyears ago. I have had the pleasure ofknowing her through the BBQ Brethren many years ago and then getting to workwith her on a mutual client for the past few years. Danielle is one of the most talented,passionate, and competitive pitmasters that I know and all of that energy is reflected in herbook.
The book is softcover and is medium sized (8x10). It “weighs in” at 288 pages of photos,recipes, tips, and other great information.The format is nicely laid out making it easy to read and use. I like that she uses “call out boxes” tobring attention to important tips throughout the book. The organization of the book is the typicalBBQ book breakouts of BBQ basics, main meats by category, sides, desserts, anda few other chapters. It’s the contentof those sections that sets the book apart.
Diva Q’sBarbecue is loaded with 195 recipes. Thedifficulty level is varied, from beginner to advanced, so that everyone cantake something away from using the book. Danielle cooks on a variety of grills and smoker so these recipes aren't central to one type of cooker.
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SixRecipes You Need To Know – DivaQ gives you a few recipes to get you goingright out of the gate. I’m glad to seethe reverse sear in there.
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Rubs,Sauces, Slathers, and Spices – This chapter alone is worth the price ofthis book. Twenty six of DivaQ’sfavorite go to sauces and seasonings are shared. It has basics like Memphis Rib Rub and KansasCity Rub to more exotic rubs like Spicy Thai Rub or Moroccan Spice Rub. The sauce recipes are top notch as well.
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Fired UpAppetizers and Shareables – The chapter is the social butterfly of thebook, with it’s fun “here have some of this” type of recipes. Chipotle Devilled Eggs with Pig Candy andCold-Smoked Cheddar-Pimento Cheese? Yesplease! She has pizzas, kale chips, salsa, and tons of one bite apps that aresure to please.
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Praisethe Pig – All about pork, this chapter shares DivaQ’s World Championship WinningPulled Pork recipe and 21 other killer recipes for chops, cheeks, steaks, andbelly. I’m proud to have one of myrecipes featured in this chapter – Pork Tenderloin with Thai Peanut Sauce. If you really want to kick it up, use herThai rub on that one.
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BaconBonanza – Bacon delights here, DivaQ hits on classics like Pig Candy andABT’s while delving in to sheer bacon madness with things like Grilled Poutineand Bacon, Bacon wrapped Cadbury eggs (you read that right), and Smoked BrisketBombs.
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Beef ItUp – Diva dishes her secrets on a perfect scoring 180 Brisket. She also gives recipes for herb crusted Primerib, herbed beef tenderloin, shiitake chuck roast and more.
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Fowl Play– From Smoked Crispy Duck to Brie and Spinach Stuffed Chicken, DivaQ covers itall. Her jerk chicken sounds right up myalley and I thought the Roadside chicken was very tasty.
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GoneFishin’ – I’m not a big fish person, but this section still looksimpressive with selections like Blackened Cajun Salmon, Mahi Mahi Sliders, andGrilled Tuna Steak Tacos.
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SizzlingSides – Danielle grills up some out of the ordinary sides like Smookin’Good Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon Butter. The Grilled Artichokes with SmokedAioli are on my list for this summer as are the Candied Smoked Carrots.
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Salads,Slaws, and Breads – Kind of an eclectic collection but loaded with droolworthy recipes, such as; Grilled Panzanella Salad, Creamy Carrot Slaw, and theBest-Ever Buttermilk Biscuits.
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SweetSmoke – Danielle excels at dessert, she is well known for killing thatcategory in contests. There are lots ofrecipes in this chapter but there’s only one that I need to know and that isthe famed Death by Diva. It has scored aperfect 180 at multiple contests. It’s alittle fruit, cheese cake, brownie and more.
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| DivaQ's Roadside Chicken - I did mine raised direct on a kamado grill while she did hers indirect. Both ways work, I just like my roadside chicken over the fire because that's the way they did it at my dad's company picnics when I was a kid. |
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| Excellent flavor and I didn't have to wait for marinating like I do on my other favorite roadside chicken recipe. Of course, now I want to try them together - the marinade and Danielle's baste. That will be intense! |
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| I tried Danielle's Montreal seasoning recipe on a very nice ribeye steak for lunch one afternoon. |
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| I finally got to try Diva Q's Diablo Sauce. The only thing I did different was I used roasted garlic in mine, just because I had it on hand. |
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| Making the sauce outdoors on the sideburner. |
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| Simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon like this. We liked it smooth so I had used an immersion blender before this picture. |
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| I did this one on my Char-Broil Gas2Coal grill and a set of GrillGrates. It's a dual fuel grill but in this case, I used the gas assist to light the coals. |
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| This was some lunch! The Diablo Sauce doesn't knock you over with heat, it's more on the back end, but it's definitely there. |
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| The recipe for Kansas City style BBQ sauce is an easy and fantastic base recipe for a sweet BBQ sauce like most people enjoy. We liked it so much that we used it on a small catering gig we did. |
The photography in Danielle’s book does a good job of telling thestory of her passion for BBQ. The bookis loaded with high quality, color photographs.Ken Goodman was the main photographer but there were also contributionsfrom Robert Jacob Lerma, Doug Barlow, and Alena Dudaeva. The pictures of finished and plated foodsgives the reader an excellent understanding of what they are shooting for. I would have liked to see more “how to” or “stepby step” pictures but considering this book is already at 195 recipes andalmost 300 pages, I understand that space was an issue.
This is easily my favorite grilling/BBQ book so far this year. Who is it for? Just about anyone that grills. It givesnewbies an arsenal of information to get them up and firing on all cylindersquickly. When someone asks me what 1 or2 BBQ books they should buy because they are just starting out, Diva Q’sBarbecue will be on the short list that I give them. But even seasoned grillers will gain a lotfrom this book – I bought a copy for my sister who is a hard core Egger.
Then there’s the price. I don’tknow if it’s some kind of Canadian to US currency exchange issue (kidding) but$14.01 for a book of this quality and usefulness is an absolute steal! I’d gladly pay $25 or more for thisbook.
Brass tax is this: This bookneeds to be a part of your grilling and BBQ arsenal.
5 stars – an absoluteresource, will refer to frequently
4 stars – goodcookbook with value added tips, photos, guides, and other content
3 stars – Good,average cookbook, glad to have it on my shelf
2 stars – a recipecollection
1 star – would give itaway to someone else to get rid of it, but only if I didn't like them very much
[Standard FTC Disclaimer] Danielle did give me a copy of the book but I also paid full price for a few copies and I did not receive any other compensation. I received the Char-Broil Grill2Coal as part of a sponsorship from Char-Broil. The opinions I have given are absolutely my own.
