Rack upon glorious, mouthwatering rack of finger-licking barbecued beef short ribs. Slowly smoked and reverse-seared over a smoldering inferno of charcoal and oak wood. Prepared to tender, succulent perfection, then caramelized in layer over layer of a homemade sweet and tangy red wine barbecue sauce. Garnished with a garden of aromatic fresh herbs and served alongside the best of friends, family and two handfuls of crisp, ice cold craft-brewed lagers. Basically Heaven.

If you ask me, surf and turf burgers are life. And life is surf and turf burgers!

On this weekend I’m throwing down a livefire gridiron feast for a crowd on the eve of college football’s greatest rivalry – Michigan State University v. University of Michigan. This gourmet tailgate in beautiful Ann Arbor, Michigan features gargantuan fontina cheeseburgers comprised of both land and sea.

Shish Kabobs take me 30 years back to barbecues surrounded by family, friends and the rustic cornfields of western Michigan. With a cattle farm near by my childhood home, naturally-sourced grass-fed beef was commonplace upon our modest dinner table. But, if a special occasion was to be hosted over the barbecue, rib eye or strip steak kabobs were most often the featured main course. Although a natural choice when electing to prepare a meal for a crowd, I imagine the regular appearance of kabobs on our holiday and family gathering menus could be equally attributed to their simplicity in preparation, aesthetic in presentation, and maybe most importantly – with the assistance of a great marinade, a touch of intense heat, and the application of charcoal and hardwood essence, the mouthwatering flavor of perfectly prepared seared beef and charred vegetables have no equal.

Grilled Paella is inarguably the live fire dish of Spanish coastal summers. Just imagine enjoying a long afternoon of sunny skies and a gentle breeze, lounging by the seaside on the western Mediterranean sipping crisp white wine amongst family and friends while a smoky, white-hot barbecue loaded with freshly harvest herbs and produce from land and sea slowly simmers to tender, fragrant perfection.
Take. Me. Away. Now.

With origins dating hundreds of years past to southeastern Spain’s L’Albufera de València, paella is a free-style peasant dish that was served in celebratory community gatherings – stewed in large, shallow steel pans over a bed of smoldering coals, the recipe traditionally featured a sticky white rice called, senia, and was layered with saltwater snails, wild rabbit, duck, tomato, white beans, dried paprika, rosemary and saffron. Little has changed over the centuries as it pertains to the art of cultivating a breathtaking paella. Above all, the beauty of paella, then and now – it’s intoxicating aroma, essence of flavor, bold textures and intricate complexities lie solely in the dish’s simplicity.