Saturdays, July 1 - July 28 and Aug. 26 - Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV / On demand with PBS Video App
STEVEN RAICHLEN'S PROJECT FIRE returns with more projects, more fire, and even more instruction on ways viewers can take their grilling to the next level. This season, Steven explores topics that are of interest to today's grillers, including health and sustainability. Season 3 includes on set-guests and innovators of live fire cooking techniques.
Episodes from Seasons 1 -4 are currently available to stream on demand.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1: “Barbecue Health Food” Saturday, July 1 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - Here's a little-known fact about Steven Raichlen. His first James Beard Award-winning book wasn't about barbecue: it was a book on healthy eating. In today's show, we harness the flavor-boosting, fat-melting power of live fire to produce grilled fare that not only tastes good, but is good for you. From the paellas of Spain to the grilled beef salads of Southeast Asia, this show explores barbecue health food.
Episode 2: “Planet Steak” Saturday,July 8 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - Steak. Few other words in the English language have such power to make our hearts beat faster and our mouths water than sizzling slabs of beef seared over live fire. In this show we embark on some meaty globe hopping, exploring over-the-top steaks from France, Cambodia, and the American Southwest. Hot fire. Sizzling meat. It's a carnivore's dream come true.
- Hanger Steak With Mustard And Caramelized Onions
- Cambodian Steak With Salads And Condiments
- Reverse-seared Porterhouse Steaks With Poblano Crema
Episode 3: “Best Ribs Ever” Saturday, July 15 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - Let Texans brag about brisket and Carolinians praise pulled pork shoulder. For the rest of us, the ultimate symbol of barbecue-and test of a grill master's mettle-is ribs. But just which rack you relish depends on where you fire up your smoker or grill. In the American Midwest, ribs generally mean baby backs or other pork ribs, while in Korea, the bone of choice is the beef short rib. In the eastern Mediterranean, lamb ribs reign supreme. In this show we give you three of the best ribs ever.
- Korean Grilled Beef Short Ribs
- Spice-rubbed Baby Back Ribs With Chipotle Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
- Mystery Box Challenge - Lamb Ribs
Episode 4: “Killer Barbecue-Hold The Meat” Saturday, July 22 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - You don't need a degree in barbecue to know that vegetables have hit the grill big time. Veggies for hardcore carnivores who crave killer accompaniments to their favorite grilled meats. Veggies for health-conscious grillers who want to incorporate more grilled vegetables into their diet. Vegetables for everyone-omnivore, flexivore, vegetarian, vegan-who delights in the smokiness and supernatural sweetness live fire imparts to plant and dairy foods. This show is all about barbecue-hold the meat.
Episode 5: “Charm City 'que” Saturday, July 28 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - Baltimore may lack the barbecue bona fides of Houston or Kansas City. But the town where I grew up boasts plenty of awesome foods for grilling. Pit beef was born here, and this jaw-stretching sandwich of grilled top round sliced tissue-thin and piled high on a kaiser roll with fiery tiger sauce, remains some of the best barbecue on a bun. In the seafood department you find a sweet white-fleshed fish the rest of the world calls striped bass and we Baltimoreans still know, love, and grill by the name of rockfish. And speaking of Charm City specialties, no meal would be complete without local chocolate top cookies-today reimagined as s'mores. Because sometimes, the food you grew up with remains the food nearest and dearest to your heart.
- Grilled Rockfish With Shallot, Fig And Pomegranate Sauce
- Pit Beef Triple Decker With Tiger Sauce
- Charm City S'mores
Episode 6: “Barbecue on a Budget” Saturday, Aug. 26 at 1 p.m on KPBS TV - A lot of American barbecue began with inexpensive meat cuts, like spareribs, beef shoulder, and pork belly. It took low, slow cooking over smoldering hardwood to make these tough cuts tender and palatable. With the economic insecurities brought on by Covid- 19, we’re all feeling the pinch, and budget grilling has taken on new urgency. Besides, why should Kobe beef and tomahawk steaks get all the love? This is barbecue on a budget.
Episode 7: “Sustainable Seafood” Saturday, Sept. 2 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - Pollution. Overfishing. Abusive labor practices. There’s a lot of negative news coming out about the seafood industry lately, and much of it breaks your heart. Today’s show celebrates seafood we can eat because it’s fished in a way that’s humane and environmentally sound. Activists call it sustainable seafood. I call it three great reasons for firing up your grill.
- Grilled Oysters With Prosciutto And Parmigiano
- Grilled Shrimp Tacos
- Sicilian Grilled Swordfish With Salsa Verde
Episode 8: “Social Distance Tailgating” Saturday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - From its humble origins as a picnic served from the back of a buckboard wagon to today’s high-tech, high-octane outdoor foodie extravaganzas, tailgating continues to enthrall—make that obsess—American sports fans. As for barbecuing, we’ve been doing it since before there was even a United States. The two come together in this show—our annual celebration of tailgating. The socializing may be distant this year—all the more reason to up your game at the grill.
- Chicken Wing, Shiitake, And Bell Pepper Kebabs
- King Trumpet Mushroom Poppers
- Pan-roasted Oyster Mushroom With Coconut Milk And Mint
- Grilled Beech Mushrooms With Sesame Soy Butter
Episode 9: “Little Italy” Saturday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - When I was growing up, a trip to Baltimore’s Little Italy always meant culinary adventure. Today we celebrate Italian grilling and the food of Little Italys around North America, honoring the Italian reverence for simplicity and fresh seasonal ingredients, and the American passion for big flavors and ingenious grilling techniques. On the menu a North American twist on three Italian grilled classics.
Episode 10: “Cured and Smoked” Saturday,Sept. 23 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - In humankind’s long march to food security, two ancient preserving techniques have stood out over the millennia: curing and smoking. The first involves preserving foods with salt, soy sauce, or sodium nitrite—ingredients that add flavor while they inhibit bacterial activity. The second technique involves blasting foods with flavorful clouds of wood smoke. This, too, impedes, spoilage, but even more importantly, both techniques build distinctive flavors. Today, we’re pushing the envelope on traditional curing and smoking.
- Smoked Lettuce Salad With Japanese Cured Eggs
- Maple-cured Bacon
- Smoked Corned Beef With Caveman Cabbage
Episode 11: “The Improbable Grill” Saturday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - Ever since our prehistoric ancestors first put food to fire, cooks have contrived ingenious and not always conventional ways to harness the flames. In this show we explore three unexpected techniques for grilling. The first stands the vertical rotisserie used in Mexico and the Middle East on its head (or at least on its side) to make a Yucatan classic: crusty juicy tacos al pastor. The second involves a piece of equipment you don’t usually find at a barbecue—a roofer’s torch—here, used to brûlée a spectacular pineapple dessert. The third involves a mystery ingredient that virtually no one on the planet has ever grilled. I give you the improbable grill.
Episode 12: “Maryland Crab Feast”: Saturday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - This episode focuses on my favorite food growing up (and still one of my all-time favorite periods): callinectes sapidus, better known as the Maryland blue crab Come springtime, Maryland seafood markets and restaurants come alive—literally—with soft shell crabs, eaten shell and all, traditionally deep-fried, here seared over live fire. And no trip to Charm City is complete without crab cakes at Faidley’s at Lexington Market. Which brings us to the summum of the Maryland crab experience: a crab feast known as Maryland steamed crabs. The Project Fire version starts with a blazing wood fire. In this show a native son returns home to grill and eat crab!
- Soft Shell Crab Sandwiches With Charred Lemon Tartar Sauce
- Smoke-grilled Maryland Crab Cakes, Sriracha Cocktail Sauce
- Maryland Steamed Crabs Over A Wood Fire
Episode 13: “Raichlen’s Rules: Desserts” Saturday, Oct, 21 at 1 p.m. on KPBS TV - When I was growing up, dessert at a barbecue was an afterthought. Sliced watermelon or fruit salad. Maybe pie from a local bakery. It never occurred to us to grill dessert—unless it was a marshmallow roasted over a campfire and sandwiched with graham crackers and chocolate to make that camping favorite: s’mores. How times have changed! We now grill pineapples and pound cake. We smoke-roast crumbles and crisps. We smoke apples and even ice cream. Desserts aren’t just served as barbecue: they’ve become the barbecue itself.
- Thai Coconut Bananas
- Salt Slab-grilled Pears With Amaretti And Smoked Whipped Cream
- Grilled Pound Cake With Fresh Berry Salsa
- Dessert Quesadillas
- Smoked Ice Cream With Rum Raisin Sauce
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Presented by Maryland Public Television. Distributed by American Public Television.
