Steven Raichlen's Project Fire

When it comes to barbecue, St. Louis isn't yet as famous as Kansas City or Memphis, but the Gateway City is experiencing a live fire renaissance. They're famous for plate-burying pork steaks and eponymous spareribs (trimmed, rubbed, and slow-smoked over applewood). And get ready for a Project Fire first: St. Louis toasted ravioli with homemade marinara sauce.

Ever since humankind first put food to fire, the world’s grill cultures have wrapped and rolled flavorful ingredients. Steven explores two South American grilled classics—a stuffed chicken breast from Uruguay called pamplona, and a colorful stuffed beef roll Argentineans know as matambre. Plus, a Project Fire Mystery Box recipe that may involve a crustacean.

Whether you’re hosting overnight guests, a late morning brunch, or seeking a reason to get out of bed, this show amps up your breakfast game by firing up the grill. First, a spectacular breakfast pizza. Next, a supremely satisfying grilled vegetable frittata. Finally, the most outrageous cinnamon rolls we’ve ever tasted from executive chef Russel Cunningham of St. Louis’ Union Station.

Scroll through the images on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and you’ll find grilled and smoked dishes of astonishing ingenuity. In the spirit of this new style of barbecue, we’ve invited three of my favorite influencers to grill with me - Derek Wolf from Over the Fire Cooking, Scott Thomas from Grillin’ Fools, and Susie Bulloch from Hey Grill Hey.

Wagyu, “Japanese cow” literally, was once an obscure cattle breed from Japan. Today, it’s on restaurant menus and in butcher shops around the world. Get ready for a sumptuous Japanese A5 Rib-Eye with sesame salt and grilled rice cakes, followed by wagyu steak tomahawks with fire-roasted marrow. Then feast your eyes on wagyu smash burgers with parmesan crisps.

For many, barbecue means meat. But you may be surprised to learn that one of the earliest recorded barbecues featured fish wrapped in grape leaves. Today Steven begins with saffron-scented Catalan shrimp kebabs, followed by trout Mexican style with a sizzling garlic cilantro sauce. Then there’s a Mystery Box that will astonish you as much as it surprised Steven.

Skewering and spit-roasting meat rank among the world’s oldest and most universal grilling methods. Forty thousand years ago, Neanderthals roasted hunks of meat over a campfire. Today, Steven spit roasts a pork loin stuffed with onions followed by an Indian rotisserie leg of lamb perfumed with saffron. He then skewers the unknown ingredient inside the Mystery Box.

What's America's most popular meat? It's Poultry. Americans consume more than 112 pounds per person each year. Today Steven prepares an astonishing array of grilled poultry from brandy brined rotisserie chicken to duck legs flame roasted Peking-style. And with a specia guest a Project fire first: Turkey "ribs" - found in St Louis and virtually nowhere else

Steven has always enjoyed showing extreme grilling techniques that, though unconventional, deliver unabashedly delectable results, such as his Caveman T-Bones or salmon on a shovel. Taking your grilling to the next level, that tradition continues with Lomo al Trapo with Fiery Colombian Salsa, grilled Brussels Sprout Stalks with Curry Butter and a Project Fire Mystery Box

The Mediterranean Grill: Lamb Chops, Grilled Artichokes, Fennel-Grilled Branzino.

Sandwiches Hit the Grill: It’s a simple formula: bread + protein + condiment, but it adds up to a triple decker of pleasure. In today’s show, the sandwich hits the grill. From a glorious BLT made with home cured and smoked bacon, to pan bagnat—a magisterial grilled tuna sandwich inspired by the French Cote d’Azur. And then it's a sandwich for dessert in a Project Fire mystery box.

No one knows what spectators ate at the first Olympic games, held in ancient Greece in 776 BCE, but today’s sports fans and grill fanatics like to celebrate their obsession with a barbecue. Tailgating favorites come hot off the grill in this episode as we tackle Project Fire Rib Wings, Buffalo Brisket Burnt Ends, and a Balkan Mixed Grill with some special guests.

Seventy percent of the earth is covered with water and yet, the combination of live fire and seafood can be a grillers worst nightmare. For this season’s Raichlen’s Rules, we’ve decided to ease your anxiety. A lot of people are intimidated by the prospect of grilling seafood, but by strategically picking the method, fire can make the bounty of the sea wondrous.