For anyone who lacks access to outdoor grilling, here's a book of advice, tips and recipes for enjoying the same tastes and pleasures -- or nearly so -- by grilling indoors.

"Although there's nothing like the thrill of cooking over live fire outdoor or the inimitable flavor that results when foods are sizzled over glowing embers or slow-smoked over smoldering wood, you can grill very tasty and righteous food indoors," explains Steven Raichlen, a dedicated outdoor barbecue man and author of The Barbecue! Bible.

Raichlen figures the spirit of indoor grilling ingenuity began when "the first hominid roasted a haunch of meat in a fire pit in a cave." Modern-day devices like grill pans, indoor smokers, stove-top, and the ubiquitous George Foreman grill are all a continuation of the same impulse -- to enjoy the flavor of the outdoors indoors.

Five basic types of indoor grills are explained in this book -- the contact grill, the built-in, the freestanding, the grill pan, and the fireplace grill -- along with smokers and countertop rotisseries. The recipes are grouped together in chapters for appetizers, beef, pork, lamb, burgers, poultry, seafood, sandwiches, vegetables, basics (rubs, compound butters, sauces) and desserts.