Start Your Summer Off With Some Grill Seeker Recipe's!

Matthew is a cookbook author, food blogger, professional grilling instructor, US Marine Corps veteran, and founder of grillseeker.com. He has mastered the art of gourmet grilling and proves that outdoor cooking can and should be an everyday pleasure. He learned early on that great food doesn't happen by chance and has been honing his culinary skills over the last thirty years. His earliest memories of outdoor cooking and his primal desire to cook over a flame ignited Matthew's lifelong passion for bringing people together around a grill and serving the perfect dish. Matthew is a Culinary Partner for Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, a grilling expert for Omaha Steaks, and an ambassador for the Hearth Patio & Barbecue Association.

Here are some amazing recipes from his book Grill Seeker that are sure to add some flavor to your Memorial Weekend as you gather in remembrance with those closest to you!

#1: Ragin' Cajun Rub

Cajun rub might bring thoughts of crawfish, boudin sausage, gumbo, alligator etc. This rub indeed matches well with those traditional cajun dishes. But once again, don’t limit yourself. In this book, I use it on both scallops and ribeye, but this is another one that’s great for pork, poultry and fish of all kinds.

For the purists, this might seem a bit more like a creole seasoning than a cajun seasoning because I use several herbs. The terms creole and cajun are often used interchangeably but there is a difference. Cajun is a bit more pepper forward while creole is more herb centric. This is sort of a hybrid that I find is the best of both worlds.

 

Place all ingredients into a shaker bottle and shake until mixed thoroughly. Store in an airtight container for up to four weeks.

 

 

#2 Tuscan Grilled Porterhouse

I’ve always been a fan of two-for-one deals, and that’s sort of what you get with a porterhouse. On one side of the bone you get a NY strip steak, and the other side offers a good-sized filet mignon. Both offer different mouth feels and flavor profiles, despite being so close together on the steer.

In most restaurants, the porterhouse is billed as the “porterhouse for two” based on the sheer size of the steak. This double-thick porterhouse is really a porterhouse for four and is meant to be shared family style. The rustic Tuscan flavors really shine through from the marinade and grilling technique. I love to serve this steak with the amazing grilled artichokes from my good buddy Chef Ryan Scott’s cookbook, The No-Fuss Family Cookbook.


#3 Eastern Carolina Style Smoked Pork Shoulder

You’ll often hear reference to Carolina style barbecue, which is somewhat confusing given there are three distinct styles of barbecue in the Carolinas. This recipe focuses on Eastern Carolina and the vinegarbased barbecue that’s so prevalent there. I fell in love with it when I was stationed there during my time in the US Marines. If you haven’t had this style of barbecue and are more familiar with the tomato-based one found in other regions of the country, you’re in for a treat!

As a heads-up, this is a long cook—16 hours or more depending on the size of the pork shoulder. The end result is a smoky, sweet, tender, and juicy pork shoulder that’s great for pulled pork sandwiches and more. The issue with this much meat is that you oftentimes have leftovers and don’t know what to do with them. I’ve included a few recipes in this book to show you how to make the best use of these leftovers and repurpose them into other outstanding meals.

 

 

 

 

 

TIP: Scoring the pork allows the fat to render more easily, which allows

the seasoning to get down into the meat, create more surface area for

the smoke to adhere to, and, best of all, provide some incredible pork

snacks to munch on at the end of the process.

#4 Smoked Peach Cobbler

One of the best things about summer is the peaches! If you read my first book, Grill Seeker: Basic Training for Everyday Grilling, you know I love peaches and did a grilled peach dessert in that book too. If you’re a grilled peach lover like me, try them with the Smoked Steakhouse Burger on page 49. They make an excellent pair.

Anyway, getting back to this recipe. This one is an all-time favorite in the summertime, using fresh peaches from the farmers’ market. This is another one of my foundation recipes, and I do a Smoked Blueberry Cobbler on page 161 that’s similar. For the blueberry cobbler, you can use fresh or frozen blueberries. You can use frozen peaches for this one as well, but I highly recommend fresh ripe peaches when available.