As the sun rose over Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan, your faithful grill master was firing up his grill (actually three of them) for a grill session on the Today Show. His host was fellow barbecue brother in arms, Al Roker, and the menu was designed to celebrate American barbecue in all its regional glory:

Grilled artichokes from Seal Beach, California
Alder-grilled salmon from Seattle
Chicago-Mexican grilled corn (with mayonnaise, grated cheese and chili powder)
And a twist on a Big Easy dessert favorite: grilled bananas foster

And that was just for show! In terms of demonstration dishes, Steven made his “buffa-que” wings (smoke roasted Buffalo wings) and jalapeno pineapple baby back ribs. The latter received a quadruple blast of flavor: first, from a pineapple jalapeno marinade, then from a dry jerk rub, then from a vinegar glaze, and finally, from a pineapple barbecue sauce. That’s not to mention the most important flavor of all—wood smoke. The ribs were indirect grilled for 1-1/2 hours and after the anchors converged on the set (here’s a photo of me w/ Katie Couric), all that was left in the bones.

I’ll have more photos from the show later.

(Note: all these recipes can be found in Steven’s new book, BBQ USA)