♪ ♪ [Host] For years physicians have extolled the virtues of the Mediterranean diet.

Today, the healthy foods and vibrant flavors of the Mediterranean are about to meet the grill.

Get ready for Sicilian grilled artichokes.

What I really love about this method is it makes the artichoke leaves as crisp as potato chips.

Branzino stuffed with and grilled over fennel.

And that my friends is how they serve fennel-grilled Branzino in the south of France.

And Greek grilled lamb chops with ember-roasted potatoes prepared by my friend and host of My Greek Table , Diane Kochilas.

Diane, this looks really amazing.

Diane Kochilas: It does.

That's nóstimo.

From St. Louis Union Station, I'm Steven Raichlen, and this is Project Fire .

(fire swooshes in) [Announcer] Steven Raichlen's Project Fire was made possible by...

This is the Big Green Egg where fire and flavor come together.

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Crafted in America for over 80 years.

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And by the following... ♪ ♪ [Steven] The ancient Romans called it "mare nostrum," our sea.

For us, it's the Mediterranean.

And the very name evokes visions of colorful fishing villages, lush olive groves, and sun drenched vineyards.

From the islands of Greece to the Rock of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean has always meant great food and gracious dining.

(fire swooshes in) To say that Italians love grilled artichokes is like saying that plants grow towards sunlight.

You find them from one end of Italy to the other, but for sheer novelty, not to mention flavor, nothing tops the grilled artichokes I found in Sicily.

♪ ♪ Step number one, trim off the bottoms of the stems, then the top third of the leaves.

♪ ♪ Then, take kitchen scissors and trim the barb chips off the leaves.

♪ ♪ Using a melon baller, scrape out the fibrous core, sometimes called the "choke."

♪ ♪ Then, I'll just clean up the scraps.

All right, now the fun part.

Pound the artichoke on your cutting board.

To separate, open the leaves like this.

Then, to keep the artichoke from discoloring, rub the cut parts of the artichoke with lemon juice.

And squeeze a little lemon juice into the cavity.

♪ ♪ To stuff the artichokes, I'm using two quintessential Sicilian flavorings: chopped fresh garlic and fresh mint.

Bunch the mint up against the knife and cut it into thin ribbons.

Then, rotate the ribbons and cut this way to finely chop the mint.

There is your chopped mint.

Bring this up.

All right, now stuff the artichokes.

So, first take garlic, put some in the cavity, sprinkle the rest in between the leaves.

♪ ♪ Now, do the same thing with the mint leaves.

I love the freshness of chopped fresh mint.

Finally, place the remaining mint in the cavity of the artichoke.

So, there are your stuffed artichokes.

Now, season each with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Then, drizzle olive oil over each artichoke.

You really want to soak the artichokes with olive oil.

This will keep them moist during grilling.

You want to drizzle the olive oil between the leaves, over the top of the artichoke, and in the cavity.

Finally, squeeze fresh lemon juice over the artichokes.

I've set the grill up for what I call caveman grilling, grilling directly on the embers.

You want to rake the embers out into an even layer, then place the artichokes directly on the coals.

♪ ♪ Grilling time, 15 to 20 minutes.

You can turn the artichokes on their sides if you need to, to grill all sides.

This looks amazingly cool, but there's also a flavor dividend.

Charring of the outside artichoke leaves will infuse the artichokes with a smoke flavor.

You all know how much I love smoke flavor.

♪ ♪ (fire swooshes in) To check for doneness, use a metal skewer, insert it in the heart.

You'll be able to feel when it's tender.

Once, the artichokes are cooked, just give a little shake to dislodge any loose embers.

(shakes off the embers) I love this.

It looks primal, almost prehistoric.

To finish up the artichokes, another drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Let's see how we did.

So, I'll take an artichoke leaf.

Mmm, I love the earthiness of the garlic, the brightness of the mint, and the smoke flavor.

What I really love about this method is it makes the artichoke leaves as crisp as potato chips.

So, sort to eat the outside leaves with your fingers, and then you can take a knife, and fork, and eat the heart.

Mmm...it's tender.

It's smoky.

It's absolutely delicious.

Sicilian grilled artichokes with garlic and mint, because sometimes the best way to grill is directly on the embers.

(fire swooshes in) We'll douse it with Pernod, we'll set it on fire.

(fire swooshes in) Here's a dish for grillers with a penchant for theatrics.

Branzino grilled over burning fennel stalks and dramatically flambeed at the table.

It's a show stopper from the French Riviera and it's about to light up a grill near you.

♪ ♪ First, fire up your grill.

I'm using a charcoal burner with a built-in ignition system.

Load the charcoal pan with natural lump charcoal.

(pours charcoal into the grill) Then, switch on the igniter button.

(ignition starts up) It will take about 15 to 20 minutes to light.

Once, the coals are lit, install the grill grates.

(installs the grates) And now for the fish.

Branzino is one of the quintessential fish of the Mediterranean.

Mild, sweet, and excellent for grilling.

Bring the fish up to your cutting board and make a series of parallel incisions through the side of the fish, to the bone.

This will help the fish cook more evenly.

♪ ♪ Then, open the cavity, season it with coarse sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, stuff it with a fennel frond and a slice of lemon.

Do the same thing with the other fish.

♪ ♪ Place the stuffed branzino back on the sheet pan.

Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, that elixir of Mediterranean grilling.

And again, season with salt and pepper.

♪ ♪ Turn the branzino over, drizzle with oil, and season the other side the same way.

Fennel is another quintessential food of the Mediterranean, not to mention an essential component of this dish.

Think, celery channeling licorice.

That's the flavor of fennel.

We'll use the bulb, the stalks, and the leaves.

So, to oil your grill grate, a chunk of fennel, dip it in vegetable oil, draw it across the bars of the grate.

Then, lay fresh fennel stalks across the grill grate.

We'll grill the fish directly on the fennel stalks.

The burning fennel stalks will flavor the fish and also help keep it from sticking to the grate.

Take your branzino.

♪ ♪ Now, close the grill lid.

This is a hybrid direct/indirect grilling process.

That is, fire's directly under the fish, but because we close the lid, we'll get heat from the top, so you won't have to turn the fish.

(fire swooshes in) It's been 30 minutes and check out the branzino.

It looks beautiful.

Golden brown, bronze with the fennel smoke.

The way you tell if it's cooked is go into one of those slits.

When the flesh comes away from the backbone easily, the branzino is cooked.

Use a spatula, take the branzino off the grill, and I transfer it to a bed of dried fennel stalks.

Now, I just dried these in the oven.

Grab the other fish.

Place it here.

And I'm going to warm about a half cup of Pernod, that anise-flavored spirit modeled on absinthe that's the classic beverage of the south of France.

Once, it's warm to body temperature, take your Pernod, set it on fire, and pour the flaming Pernod over the branzino.

♪ ♪ And that my friends is how they serve fennel-grilled branzino in the south of France.

(fire swooshes in) So, to serve the branzino, I'll just loosen it from the bones, transfer it to my tasting plate.

Let's see how we did.

Take a bite of the branzino.

Mmm, that fish is moist, sweet, perfumed with fennel.

Nice little smoke flavor.

The skin is crusty.

So, the next time you want grilling with high drama, think branzino grilled with fennel.

Up next, Greek-style lamb chops.

(fire swooshes in) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Diane Kochilas is one of the world's foremost authorities on Greek cooking, author of more than a dozen cookbooks, and a fellow host on public television.

Diane, welcome to Project Fire .

[Diane Kochilas] Thank you for having me.

[Steven] And who better to be on the show than the host of My Greek Table ?

[Diane] Well, I think I have a lot to learn from you today, Steven.

[Steven] Well, we'll learn together.

So, what do you have for us today?

[Diane] Well, I thought I would do one of the most iconic Greek Mediterranean grilling dishes, which is lamb, of course.

[Steven] Okay.

Arni.

[Diane] Arni.

That's a really classic Greek taverna recipe.

So, we're going to start with just a really simple marinade.

Greek food is by and large very simple, few ingredients in most things.

This is actually a little bit of an aberration.

Typical Greek or more traditional Greek cook probably wouldn't put... [Steven] No marinade, right?

[Diane] Mustard.

Get some garlic in here.

This is going to be fairly robust.

[Steven] I'll say.

[Diane] Get a little bit more olive oil in here.

I want to whisk it until it's smooth.

[Steven] Beautiful.

[Diane] I'm not adding lemon juice to the marinade.

If I added lemon juice now... [Steven] It'll cook the lamb a little bit.

[Diane] Yeah, exactly.

It would cook the lamb, but a little bit of a oregano.

You think sometimes about the alphabet of flavors that make up different ethnic cuisines.

Definitely in Greek cooking, it's a oregano, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic... [Steven] Absolutely.

[Diane] And some sea salt.

[Steven] Those are the base elements.

[Diane] Yep.

[Steven] And I love the way you rub the leaves between the palms of your hands.

[Diane] I love to smell it too.

It smells great.

And lemon juice we usually squeeze at the end.

[Steven] Okay.

[Diane] You know that's actually, I have very fond memories of that when I was a kid, my first few visits, we would go to these tavernas with my family.

And it seemed like out of nowhere, there would be this hand kind of coming at us from somewhere around the table.

And it would be the waiter with a plateful of lemons.

And that was to be used pretty much on everything.

I just want to lubricate the bottom of the pan a little bit.

Let's get the lamb chops in here.

And these are nice and small.

[Steven] But actually, these are pretty big by Greek standards.

The Greek lamb chops I had were tiny.

[Diane] Yes, just little medallions almost.

They look beautiful.

[Steven] They really do.

The aroma is really lovely with the garlic and the mustard.

[Diane] You can toss this a little bit, if you want by hand.

Maybe you can get a little bit more oregano in there.

How long would you typically marinate this for?

Because you know, in Greece, we don't typically marinate the meat.

[Steven] Sure.

I would think you know, 20 minutes, a half an hour, maximum an hour?

[Diane] That's all it is.

[Steven] Like, you say in Greece, it's all about the innate flavor of the lamb.

[Diane] And in Greece, there's also these great saying [speaking in Greek].

[Steven] [speaking in Greek].

[Diane] [speaking in Greek].

[Steven] [speaking in Greek].

[Diane] Sounds pretty good.

All right, that's pretty good.

[Steven] I didn't just give you the code to my bank or anything did I?

[Diane] No, no, no, no, no.

What you did say was, "You can learn to cook, but you're born to grill."

[Steven] I love it.

Okay.

Step number one.

[Diane] That's out of the way.

[Steven] Beautiful.

[Diane] So, what I thought would be kind of fun to do, we call them [speaking in Greek], which basically means roasted potato.

And the way you typically do this is under the embers in a fireplace.

[Steven] Well, we have plenty of fire on the set, so I think we can help you out with that.

[Diane] And we just want to toss this a little bit.

When they come off the grill, we're going to have some fun and kind of smash them and add a little bit more olive oil, a little bit more sea salt.

[Steven] Fantastic.

So, let's put half of them in here.

[Diane] And maybe some Greek yogurt.

[Steven] Great.

Hold that up.

[Diane] Get them in a couple of different packets.

[Steven] Made the packet right here in a single layer so they cook evenly.

And over like this.

And actually, I have one grill set up right now.

So, I'm just going to lay these right on the embers.

[Diane] What are we going to do with these?

[Steven] Yes.

I thought we would do very simple in the spirit of Greek simplicity, I'll cut the tomatoes in half and I'll ask you just to drizzle them with a little extra virgin olive oil.

[Diane] My little or your little?

[Steven] Your little.

[Diane] Okay.

[Steven] And then, I'll cut a couple of lemons in half and I'm sure this you would not find in Greece... [Diane] Grilled lemons?

[Steven] Yeah.

[Diane] Maybe in more contemporary Greek restaurants, you find that.

[Steven] Give a little sea salt and a little freshly ground black pepper.

Sprinkle a little dried oregano on top.

These are Kamado-style ceramic cookers.

[Diane] Okay.

[Steven] Direct grilling for all of these.

I've got the vent opened up wide down here, so we get a nice blast of heat.

And then, just to ensure that these will grill evenly, I'll turn these over.

[Diane] Okay.

[Steven] One, two.

Before I grill, I have a little mantra and it goes, keep it hot, keep it clean, keep it lubricated.

[Diane] Okay.

(laughs) [Steven] Let's start with these guys.

Two, Five.

Okay, I think we're ready for the lamb.

We'll arrange the lamb chops all going in the same direction.

And I'd like to go from one side of the grill to the other, because that way it's very easy to keep track of what went on first and what's ready to turn.

So that's our lemon.

[Diane] That looks great.

[Steven] Again, I think we can squeeze those on.

That'll be really nice.

[Diane] I think that's going to be delicious.

[Steven] I think these can go another minute.

[Diane] You'd never convince a Greek that the tomatoes and the lamb would take the same amount of time to cook.

[Steven] Because Greeks really like their lamb well done?

[Diane] They do.

[Steven] I mean, what to us would be well done.

[Diane] Yeah, they do.

[Steven] And then, as the lamb gets golden brown sizzling on the bottom, we can turn the chops over.

[Diane] Those look great.

[Steven] And let's turn the tomatoes over.

That's a nice char on the tomatoes.

Oh, yeah.

[Diane] They look great.

[Steven] Okay.

We just have a few more lamb chops to grill.

[Diane] Can I teach you another Greek word?

[Steven] I would love another Greek word.

[Diane] Fotia.

[Steven] Fotia.

What does that mean?

[Diane] Fire.

[Steven] Fire.

Oh, fotia.

[Diane] Fotia.

[Steven] Yeah.

Now, when I grill chops or steaks, any meat that's seared and crusted on the outside, I like to transfer it to a wire rack when I pull it off the fire.

That way the bottom won't get soggy the way it would, if you just lay it flat.

[Diane] Okay.

These look great.

What is it per side?

Like three, four minutes?

[Steven] Oh, gosh.

Two, three minutes, I think.

It's pretty quick.

But you notice, I'm kind of moving the chops around because every fire has hot spots and cool spots.

I see smoke or steam rising from the potatoes, I want turn them again.

[Diane] Right.

♪ ♪ [Diane] That's perfect.

[Steven] That looks good.

♪ ♪ All right, the potatoes should be done.

And whenever I came in, I always like to kind of shake the packets off a little bit in case there are any embers attached, and we'll go right onto a quarter sheet pan.

[Diane] Okay.

[Steven] Beautiful.

So, we'll let those cool for a moment.

[Diane] Shall we serve this?

[Steven] Let's do it.

[Diane] Okay, let's just get these on here.

They smell great, Steven.

[Steven] Amazing.

[Diane] They smell delicious.

Very Mediterranean and Greek.

[Steven] Fabulous.

[Diane] Like a feast fit for a Homeric hero.

[Steven] So, what I thought we would do with the tomatoes is we could kind of sprinkle them with a little crumbled feta cheese.

[Diane] Okay.

[Steven] And then, maybe a Kalamata olive or two.

[Diane] That's kind of a condensed Greek salad.

[Steven] It's a sort of deconstructed, reconstructed.

You know, the thing about American grillmasters, for us, more is more.

In Greece, I would say less is more.

[Diane] Yeah, that's true.

[Steven] Maybe a sprig of fresh oregano.

[Diane] Okay.

[Steven] Then, we can put these on the platter.

Got one.

And last of all, our grilled lemons.

Now, I'll take a peek.

[Diane] Ooh.

They look perfect.

[Steven] What do you think?

[Diane] Yes.

[Steven] What do you think?

Huh?

[Diane] Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

[Steven] All right.

[Diane] And they're perfect.

[Steven] Good.

[Diane] So, what they do in Crete, you go.

[Steven] Love it.

Okay.

[Diane] And then, I think a little olive oil and lemon juice over that.

[Steven] Let's smash potatoes.

[Diane] Okay.

Not too much strength.

That was great.

[Steven] Yeah.

All right.

[Diane] And I would do a little bit more salt over that.

A little bit of, I have some chopped fresh oregano here.

Can never go wrong with that.

Just a little bit of olive oil.

[Steven] That looks insane.

[Diane] You can serve this with a little yogurt.

[Steven] Diane, this looks really amazing.

[Diane] It does.

Nóstimo.

[Steven] Please, after you.

[Diane] Okay.

Mmm... [Steven] Mmm...oh, man.

Oh, man.

It's just so succulent, flavorful, garlic, tender.

Amazing.

[Diane] It's really good.

[Steven] Okay.

Then...now, let's see.

[Diane] I like this idea of a deconstructed Greek salad on the grill.

[Steven] Juicy tomato and the salty feta.

That's nice.

[Diane] You even get a little of the olive brine.

[Steven] Uh-huh.

(affirmative) Now, I'm really excited about these potatoes.

[Diane] I'm looking forward to trying one of these, too.

[Steven] We'll try one of those.

[Diane] Do you remember how to say this?

[Steven] No.

[Diane] Ofti.

[Steven] Ofti.

[Diane] Ofti.

O-F-T-I.

[Steven] Ofti.

[Diane] Potata.

[Steven] Ofti potata.

Okay.

So first, all right, let me try this.

[Diane] That's excellent.

[Steven] Spectacular.

[Diane] Most of the smoky flavor's in the potatoes.

[Steven] Yes.

I mean, it's really quite unbelievable.

It's two ingredients basically.

Salt, olive oil, and the potatoes.

And then, the smokey char from the potato skin.

[Diane] It's delicious.

[Steven] Try it with the yogurt.

Not that it needs it.

Mmm.

[Diane] The yogurt was kind of an idea because I often do that with a baked potato, a big baked potato, just olive oil and yogurt.

But I think these are perfect as they are.

[Steven] Fantastic.

Well, Diane, thank you so much.

Poly efcharisto.

[Diane] Oh, you're really good.

[Steven] What a fun segment.

[Diane] Yamas.

[Steven] Yamas.

[Diane] Thank you.

[Announcer] For recipes and more live fire cooking, visit stevenraichlen.com.

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"Project Fire" and the Classic "Barbecue Bible" can be ordered online at stevenraichlen.com or call this phone number for ordering and customer service.

Steven Raichlen's Project Fire was made possible by...

This is the Big Green Egg where fire and flavor come together.

You can roast, bake, and sear with the versatility of a grill, oven, and barbecue smoker combined.

Locate a dealer at biggreenegg.com.

Fire Magic, combining style with a versatility to sear, smoke, rotisserie cook, and charcoal grill.

Crafted in America for over 80 years.

Green Mountain pellet grills built for woodfired versatility.

Truly wireless temperature starts with Maverick.

Crowd Cow.

And by the following... [Crew] Ready hand off.

Ready.

Ready and then action.

[Steven] Whoa.

Check out the branzino.

Looks beautiful.

I want to do that again.

Diane Kochilas is one of the world's foremost authorities on Greek group.

One more time.

[Diane] Relax.

Have a little wine.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪