The El Paso Chile Company Rum & Tiki Cookbook

by W. Park Kerr (William Morrow)

You could easily run up a bar tab of more than the cost of The El Paso Chile Company Rum & Tiki Cookbook drinking Rum-and-Cokes or other ordinary concoctions at your local tavern. Why not instead let W. Park Kerr order your drinks via his sleek and easy-to-swallow rum cookbook?

First, you'll toast with top recipes for classic cocktails such as daiquiris, Planter's Punch, Mai Tais, Piña Coladas, Cuba Libres, Caipirinhas, Pink Zombies, Hurricanes and egg nogs. Then get ready to tip big for more exotic libations such as lemon-rum martinis, melon-tamarind liquados and Rangoon Rickeys (made with a stalk of lemon grass, ginger ale, rum and lime juice.)

Don't worry about getting tipsy since, if you'd like, there are also plenty of selections to line your stomach with first from the color-photographed, 110-page volume. Plantain chips with rummy black bean dip is an impressive appetizer deriving punch from rum, thickly cut chopped bacon, yellow onion, garlic, scallions, achiote paste and refried black beans. Grilled coconut-rum shrimp With curried peanut dipping sauce is almost sure to grab your attention, as are rum-jerked chicken wings, luau baby-back ribs with guava glaze and garlic crab fettuccine in rum cream sauce.

Save room for dessert, too. Cheesecake with orange-rum-raisin glaze is sinfully rich. Island spice flan with mango-strawberry compote is sweet (from the compote), spicy (from the Allspice) and potent (from the homemade vanilla-rum extract) all at the same time.

As you can tell, Kerr is accomplished at handling a lot more than chilies. True, he gained fame as the founder of The El Paso Chile Company, a premium Southwest food business, and has written some fiery cookbooks. But as his current effort shows, the man is one of the most creative gourmets firing up today's cooking scene.

RECIPES

—Melon-Tamarind Liquado
—Garlic Crab Fettucine in Rum Cream Sauce

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