To throw a summer cookout no friend will ever forget, use these new cookbooks from Adam Perry Lang, Chris Lilly, and Adam Reid to go hog wild.

The Appetizer: Asian Pork Meatball Skewers

(from Serious Barbecue by Adam Perry Lang)

When the world’s best barbecue chefs converge on New York City for the annual Big Apple BBQ Block Party, the only ‘Que any of them will touch (besides their own) is that turned out by chef Adam Perry Lang at his Hell’s Kitchen restaurant Daisy May’s BBQ. And for good reason — Lang combines the creativity and panache of a gourmet chef (after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, he worked at New York’s famed Daniel and Le Cirque restaurants under Daniel Boulud, and at Paris’s legendary Guy Savoy) with the pragmatism and in-the-trenches knowhow of a true barbecue competitor (he won first place in pork shoulder at the world series of competitive BBQ, the American Royal in Kansas City, and Grand Champion at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa). In this recipe, combining the everyman appeal of barbecue with a gourmet flair, Lang uses lime juice and lemongrass to give his meatballs a light freshness. “I fell in love with these flavors while visiting my dad in Thailand,” he says. Good luck holding back and saving room for the main course. 

The recipe: 

1. Soak 8 long wooden skewers in water for an hour (or use metal skewers). Place a cast-iron griddle on grill and preheat to medium-high. 
2. Make the glaze: Combine 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice, 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar, 2 tsp grated fresh ginger, 4 garlic cloves (peeled, halved, and grated finely), and 1 tbsp finely chopped scallion (white and green portions) in a jar and shake to combine. Set aside.
3. Make the Asian dipping sauce: Combine 1/2 cup hot water, 1/2 cup fish sauce, 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice, 4 garlic cloves (peeled, halved, and finely grated), 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp chile paste (preferably Sriracha or sambal), and 1 tbsp granulated sugar in a blender and blend until smooth. Stir in 2 small hot chiles (preferably Thai bird, sliced into rounds and seeds removed) and 1/4 cup finely grated carrot. Set aside.
4. Make the meatballs: Put 2 pounds ground pork and 1/4 cup fish sauce into a large food processor and pulse to combine. Add 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots, 1/4 cup finely chopped scallions (white and green portions), 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro, 1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped garlic, 1 1/2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger, 2 tbsp finely chopped lemongrass, 2 tbsp finely chopped falt-leaf parsley, 1 1/2 tbsp finely ground fresh black pepper, 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and 1 small hot chile (preferably Thai bird) and pulse to combine. 
5. Roll the meat into 40 1-inch meatballs and push five onto each skewer, even spaced and not touching. Gently flatten the sides of the meatballs so they rest on the griddle without rolling.
6. Add 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil and 1 tbsp unsalted butter to the top of the griddle.
7. Place the meatball skewers on the griddle and brown for 1 minute per side (do this in batches if necessary).
8. Transfer meatball skewers to the open grill and grill until caramelized, about 2 minutes per side, brushing with the glaze to coat.
9. Remove skewers to a platter and squeeze the juice of 1 lime (cut into quarters, seeds removed) over the meatballs. Sprinkle 1/4 cup finely chopped scallions (white and green portions) and 2 tbsp black sesame seeds overtop.
10. Divide the Asian dipping sauce into eight small bowls.
11. Divide meatballs, 4 cups rehydrated bean threads, 1/2 cup cliantro leaves, and 4 finely chopped small hot chiles (preferably Thai bird) among 18 lettuce leaves (preferably green leaf or Bibb), and serve as wraps.

The Main Dish: Eight-Time World Championship Pork Shoulder

(from Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book, by Chris Lilly)

If you’re looking to impress with your pig prowess, it’s tough to top a recipe that’s won the fabled Memphis in May competition a record six years in a row. To Chris Lilly, the most decorated Q’er on the planet and force behind the peerless Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ in Decatur, Alabama, the secret’s in the sop: “The acidity of the lemons and vinegar balance the flavors of the sweet and salty dry rub and help soften the wood smoke flavor, making the taste of the pork well-rounded,” he says. “Applying the vinegar mop will also keep the bark pliable by adding moisture to the shoulder.” 

For your smoke, Lilly recommends using pignut hickory. “Many woods produce a very pungent smoke, including some types of hickory,” Lilly admits. “When cooking for a long period of time in a closed smoker, your BBQ can often taste over-smoked or bitter. Pignut hickory is my favorite variety because it adds a mild, less bitter flavor to the meat while providing the depth of favor normally associated with hickory smoke. But another solution would be to use charcoal as your main heat source, and occasionally add wood chunks for flavor.”   

But really, it all comes down to simplicity — and letting your pork do the talking. “This recipe does not try and cover up the natural flavor of the pork shoulder, it only enhances the great flavor,” Lilly says. “Too many people make the mistake of trying to do too much by adding an overpowering dry rub, marinade, and sauce to their meat. The result is a culinary catastrophe. I feel this recipe has a perfectly balanced flavor, and the judges over the years have determined the same thing.”

The recipe:

1. Make the sop mop: Combine 6 1/2 cups distilled colored vinegar (or white vinegar), 1/2 cup cayenne pepper, 2 tbsp salt, and 3 slices lemon in a large bowl, mix well, and store in a tightly sealed jar. Set aside for 24 hours for best flavor — this will keep at room temperature for up to two weeks.
2. Build a fire of hickory wood or charcoal and hickory mixed (or on a gas grill use soaked hickory chips in your smoker box) on one side of your grill or smoker, leaving the other side off for indirect cooking.
3. Make the dry rub: Mix together in a small bowl 1 tbsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp dark brown sugar, 2 1/4 tsp garlic salt, 2 1/4 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tbsp paprika, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/8 tsp dried oregano, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/8 tsp cumin, and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Set aside.
4. Make the injection: Combine in another bowl 3/4 cup apple juice, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup salt, and 2 tbsp Worcestershire, and stir until the sugar dissolves. ”Natural pork flavor traditionally works well with all types of fruit,” Lilly says. “Apple juice is not your only choice when injecting a pork shoulder — try substituting peach or apricot nectar instead. I often open a can of peaches, use the juice in the injection, and chop the fruit as an addition to the barbecue sauce.” 
5. Using a meat syringe, inject a 16-18-pound whole bone-in pork shoulder at one-inch intervals with the entire injection solution. (Why bother with a bone? “Cooking bone-in meat is best for a couple reasons, says Lilly. “First, the more meat is cut prior to cooking, the more natural moisture is lost during the cooking process — more pieces mean less juice. Second, cooking bone-in means more flavor whether you’re cooking in a pan or on the grill. Bones add flavor to the rich juices that bathe your meat while cooking. Now you know why mama always added a ham hock to her black-eyed peas!”)
   
6. Apply the dry rub to the outside of the shoulder in an even coating, patting so the rub adheres.
7. When the grill reaches 225 degrees, place the shoulder inside, skin side down, to cook with indirect heat, adding two small chunks of wood each hour.
8. After 13 hours, start basting the shoulder each hour with the sop mop with a brush.
9. When the blade bone releases from the meat with a firm tug (when the meat’s about 195 degrees, about 15-16 hours after you started), it’s done.
10. Remove the shoulder to a cutting board and rest for 30 minutes
11. Pull the shoulder meat from the bone by hand with insulated rubber gloves (discarding, despite what your soul’s telling you, all visible fat).
12. Serve with the sauce of your choice and white hamburger rolls. (Serves 20 to 24)

The Dessert: Maple-Bacon Shake

(from Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes by Adam Reid)

“It’s a well-documented and indisputable fact that everything tastes better with bacon,” says Reid, the kitchen equipment specialist on America’s Test Kitchen and former editor for Cook’s Illustrated. “In general when I cook, I like to mess around with the interplay between sweet and savory (in the book I also have a salted variation of a tamarind, sugar and chile shake, and a toasted oatmeal shake with scotch in it). I saw a maple-bacon donut at Voodoo Donuts in Portland, Oregon that intrigued me, and I was also thinking about breakfast plates, where you douse pancakes or waffles in maple syrup, which inevitably gets all over the bacon too. It always tastes great.” Almost blasphemously, Reid’s recipe only uses some of the rendered bacon fat, casting the bacon itself aside as a pre-shake nibble. “I considered suggesting to crumble the bacon on the shake as a garnish, but I thought that might be a bit too much for the bacon disinclined among the readers.” Add the complementary sweetness of real maple syrup, and you’ve got a dessert that drinks like a meal.

The recipe:

1. Cut two slices of bacon into thin strips and fry, reserving 1 tbsp of bacon fat.
2. Add the cooled grease to a blender with 8 scoops (a quart) of French vanilla ice cream, 6 tbsp whole milk, 2 tbsp pure maple syrup, and a pinch of salt.
3. Pulse to blend (it’s very thick, so you may need to mash the mixture down with a spatula between pulses) until the shake moves easily, about 30 to 90 seconds.
4. Pour into chilled glasses and serve (makes 3 ½ cups)