"Barbecue Nation: 350 Hot-Off-the-Grill, Tried-and-True Recipes from America's Backyard" by Fred Thompson (Taunton, $18.95)

Have you ever stepped into your backyard, whiffed the delectable aroma of a neighbor's grilled food and wanted to drop your own tongs and crash his barbecue? If so, you might want to take advantage of the last bites of this barbecue season by confiscating a few recipes from Fred Thompson's "Barbecue Nation: 350 Hot-Off-the-Grill, Tried-and-True Recipes from America's Backyard."

Thompson, a newspaper food columnist and cooking teacher in North Carolina's barbecue country, used his own extensive knowledge to sniff out the most unique and best recipes in neighborhoods throughout the country. His expertise then made it easy to translate those sauce-stained scribbles into easy-to-follow directives.

Fun recipes and unforgettable faces emerge from Thompson's ambitious travels. These are people you would undoubtedly want to collect recipes from, if you met up with them. Kevin Rouse, shown grilling in his camouflage hunting hat and shirt, is just one of many examples.

"Kevin Rouse is one of those guys for whom hunting is born in the bone," Thompson writes. "He combs through the valleys and mountains of East Tennessee, hunting deer and wild turkey. I had never grilled wild turkey until Kevin and I met at a Sunday school party in Morristown, Tenn."

A friend's mom in Detroit shared burgers sweetened with applesauce and spiced up with brat-style mustard. A kid in far Northern California taught Thompson to use a cedar plank for salmon grilling to create a better effect than he had ever imagined. After gaining a smell of a beach barbecue while visiting Florida, the author crashed a family birthday party — going on even during part of the downpour of an outer band of then Tropical Storm Rita — and pried loose the clan's secret recipe for chicken thighs marinated in the state's fresh orange juice, teriyaki sauce, barbecue sauce, light brown sugar, crushed garlic, garlic salt, ground ginger and salt and pepper.

Due to efforts like that, this is one of those rare cookbooks filled with one-of-a-kind recipes you just can't find elsewhere.

Consider this a first-class course in America's proud history of grilling. By the time you finish the lively read, you'll not only have come to know a bunch of good and neighborly cooks, but also, thanks to Thompson's thorough knowledge, gotten your fill of what makes minute differences in regional sauces as well as every imaginable kind of meat, seafood and poultry dish.

Like many of Thompson's new friends, you may find yourself grilling year-round — if you follow their hearty advice, such as this for a gem from North Carolina of a whole smoked barbecue turkey. It's caressed by a sweet chile rub and stuffed with orange and onion, the scent that may have curious neighbors barreling into your yard.

NORTH CAROLINA SMOKED TURKEY BBQ

Sweet Chile Rub:

3 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 1/2 teaspoons ancho chile powder or regular chili powder

4 1/2 teaspoons paprika

4 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Turkey:

1 (10- to 12-pound) turkey

1/2 onion

1/2 orange

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Homemade or store-bought barbecue sauce (preferably North Carolina-style), to taste

Yields 10 servings.

In a small bowl, combine the rub ingredients.

Rinse the turkey under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Cut away any excess fat and discard the innards. Place the onion and orange in the cavity and season the cavity with salt and pepper. Generously pat the chile rub all over the outside of the turkey.

Set up the grill for indirect grilling. Oil your grill's cooking surface.

Place the turkey on the grill, close the lid and cook. Keep the grill temperature at about 300 F, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh away from the bone registers 180 F and the juices run clear, about 2 hours. Carefully move the turkey around as necessary to allow all sides to cook evenly; replenish the fire as needed if cooking with charcoal.

Carefully remove to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice or, if cool enough, pull into shreds. Place in a large bowl and toss with as much of the sauce as you prefer. Serve immediately. This also freezes well for up to 2 months.

LEXINGTON-STYLE NORTH CAROLINA BARBECUE SAUCE

2 cups cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon hot sauce

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Yields about 3 cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk all the ingredients together until the sugar and salt dissolve. Use immediately or store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Shake before using.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "After Work Gourmet" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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