* HOST: It's easy to look like a hero when you grill costly Wagyu beef and fresh lobster.

But how about budget cuts that deliver big flavors with minimal pain to your wallet?

Today, we're firing it up for Pamplona pork...

There's a lot going on in this dish.

Tea smoked chicken quarters...

This is insanely good.

And a Project Fire mystery box... Well, that's quite mysterious, but I've got an idea.

From the Pearlstone Campus in Reisterstown, Maryland, I'm Steven Raichlen and this is Project Fire .

* ANNOUNCER: Steven Raichlen's Project Fire is 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 the versatility to sear, smoke, rotisserie cook, and charcoal grill, crafted in America for over 80 years... Green Mountain Grills, wood fired pellet grills... Blue Rhino...

Truly wireless temperature starts with Maverick.

And by the following... * STEVEN: A lot of American barbecue began with inexpensive meat cuts like spare ribs, beef shoulder, and pork belly.

It took a low, slow smoking 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 a new urgency.

[fire swooshes in] Pork tenderloin is one of the last great bargains at the butcher shop.

A beef tenderloin will set you back the better part of a Benjamin.

Pork tenderloin gives you the same rich tender meat at a fraction of the price.

The taste is regal too, especially when paired with roasted peppers, smoked ham and herb cheese.

* Start with four strips of string, laid out parallel to one another.

Then, take a strip of bacon and lay it on top of and perpendicular to the string.

Take a pork Tenderloin and lay it on top of the bacon.

Then using a boning knife, cut a deep pocket in the side and you want to cut to, but not quite through, the far edge.

Just like that.

Now season the inside with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then paint the inside of the pocket with Dijon mustard.

Then, stuff the pocket first with roasted red peppers, slivered smoked ham.

Finally, spread the inside of the pork with herb cheese.

Then, fold the pork tenderloin over to close the pocket.

Then, lay a second strip of bacon on top of the pork tenderloin.

Now, bring the strings together, loop over once then twice.

That's called a "surgeon's knot" and it holds the string in place.

Then, bring over the ends and tie up the bottom, the same way.

Then, snip off the excess string.

And there's your Pamplona pork, ready for grilling.

Let me show you another.

Season with salt and pepper.

Then, paint it with Dijon mustard.

Layer in roasted red peppers, smoked ham, and spoon in herb cheese.

Now, close the pocket.

Lay a strip of bacon on top.

To cook the pork Pamplona's, I'm using a Kamado style ceramic cooker.

I fired it up added wood chunks to the coals and I've installed the heat diffuser plate.

So, it's an indirect grill.

Now, I'll take one of the Pamplona's and lay it on the grate here.

The other Pamplona, right here.

Close the grill lid.

Adjust the vents to obtain a temperature of about 400 degrees; cooking time, 30 to 40 minutes.

[fire swooshes in] It's been 40 minutes.

Whoa, and check out those pork Pamplona's.

The pork looks done, but you always want to check with an instant-read meat thermometer.

Insert it in the center.

We're looking for 155 degrees.

Bingo!

Now, cut off the strings.

Just gently pull out the strings.

Then, place a pork Pamplona on your cutting board and cut it into slices.

I like to go about three quarters of an inch thick.

Then, slide a long slender knife under your sliced pork and transfer it to a platter.

All right!

Then, I'll cut a few slices for myself.

* There's my portion.

And we made a little bell pepper vinaigrette.

This is diced roasted bell peppers with olive oil and dill.

I'll just sprinkle a little over here for color.

Take a little bit for myself.

And finally, a zucchini burnt end.

The recipe is on our website.

So, let's see how we did.

Wow.

First thing I get is wood smoke.

Smoke from the bacon.

There's the tang of the bell pepper, the creaminess of the herb cheese.

The pork is tender, juicy.

This is really nice.

For the burnt ends... Mmm, this is a great way to cook to zucchini.

By thinly slicing the zucchini, charring the edges, you get great crispy burnt ends.

So there's your pork Pamplona folks, a budget cut that tastes like a million bucks.

[fire swooshes in] * You know what, have the lit chimney for me and I'll do the dump.

And then, I need a foil pan to go in there for indirect grilling.

CHRIS LYNCH: Boom!

Pretty and tea smoked.

[fire swooshes in] STEVEN: Tea smoked duck is one of the High Holies of Chinese cuisine, and one of the few examples of Asian barbecue that's really smoked.

We're going to make it today with an underappreciated poultry cut, chicken quarters.

* It starts with a lychee tea brine.

The brine starts with boiling water.

Make a tea and spice bundle with a spoonful of Chinese black lychee tea.

To this add cloves, black peppercorns, star anise, which is a Chinese spice that has a smoky licoricey flavor.

It's one of the signature flavors of tea smoked poultry.

And next, coriander seed.

And we'll tie these in cheesecloth to make a sort of spice tea bag.

Add your tea and spice bag to the boiling water.

Brines often play sweet against salty.

So for sweetness, brown sugar, Chinese five spice powder, a mixture of star anise and anise seed, fennel seed, cinnamon, and white pepper.

Next, a couple of bay leaves, three cinnamon sticks, and the salt comes in the form of soy sauce.

Whisk these ingredients together until the brown sugar is dissolved.

Let the tea and spices steep.

Then, you'll add an equal amount of ice water to bring the brine to room temperature.

Once the brine has cooled to room temperature, take out the spice and tea bag, and pour the brine over the chicken.

Brine the chicken in the refrigerator for 24 hours, turning the pieces every few hours, so they brine evenly.

[fire swooshes in] The smoking mixture is as singular and Asian as the brine for the chicken.

It starts with cherry wood chips, just like we would use in the West.

Then, we add black tea, white rice, brown sugar, star anise, cinnamon sticks, and tangerine peel.

Now simply mix these ingredients together and there's your tea smoking mixture.

As you can see, this smoke will have a very different flavor profile than the hardwood, we use in North America.

Now for the chicken.

This is what the chicken looks like after it has brined for 24 hours.

You can see it's taken on some of the color of the tea.

I placed it on a wire rack and let it air dry in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to give us what's called a "tacky consistency."

This will help the smoke adhere to the chicken.

I've set up the grill for classic indirect grilling.

Coals in the side baskets, drip pan in the center.

I'll place a handful of our tea smoking mixture on one mound of coals.

The second mound of coals, then place the grill grate on the grill and arrange the chicken quarters in between the mounds of coals.

Skin side up, as always.

As the chicken smokes, the fat and the chicken skin will melt, keeping the meat moist.

Now, place the lid on the grill and adjust the vents to obtain a temperature of 300 degrees.

Cooking time: two and a half to three hours.

[fire swooshes in] Fast forward three hours, and check out the tea smoked chicken quarters.

They look beautiful.

I'll take them off.

I love the mahogany color that tea smoking puts on the skin.

Finish the tea smoked chicken quarters with scallion greens.

Now to put it all together, I'll take a spoonful of rice and a chicken quarter, and finally some vinegared cucumbers.

Okay.

I can't wait to try this one.

Take a slice.

Mmm, this is insanely good.

Moist, spicy.

You get that tea aroma.

It's smoked, but a very different smoke flavor than the smoke, you would get on American barbecue chicken.

I'm getting cinnamon, star anise.

It is simultaneously familiar like barbecue chicken and utterly unique.

Tea smoked chicken: it's exotic on a budget.

[fire swooshes in] * NORA SINGLEY: For a barbecue on a budget, we wanted to choose something that was not only budget friendly, but something that might surprise him a little bit.

It's such a polarizing ingredient.

CHRIS: Right, right.

NORA: You know what I mean?

A lot of people have opinions about it.

And we'll just say that right?

CHRIS LYNCH: It definitely fits the barbecue on a budget theme.

NORA: A hundred percent.

CHRIS: A lot of directions you could go.

You could go kind of crazy, out there or traditional... NORA: I know.

Shall we take a little bit of a bet.

I think, I'm going to say wacky out there.

You see, now you have to say traditional.

CHRIS: Traditional, yeah...okay...well... NORA: I'm invested now.

CHRIS: There we go.

[fire swooshes in] STEVEN: Okay folks, it's time for another Project Fire mystery box.

And the mystery ingredient is... [laughs] Liver, chicken livers.

Well, that's quite mysterious, but I've got an idea.

I had a wonderful grandmother named Grammy Ethel and every Friday night, Grammy Ethel would make the world's best chopped liver.

So, she didn't do it on a grill of course, or in a smoker, but I think, I'm going to start by making you Grammy Ethel's chopped liver smoked and grilled.

CHRIS: It's a tough one, you know because it's not a mainstream ingredient.

But I think, Steven will rise to the challenge.

STEVEN: Okay.

So, I'm starting with smoked chopped liver.

I'm going to need onion.

I'm going to need six eggs.

I'll take them at the end, so they don't break them.

Then, the second dip, I'm going to do will be a roasted vegetable spread.

I'll Take an eggplant and let's see, some Sherry vinegar.

Yeah, that will go very nicely with the peppers.

Definitely, want some fresh herbs, six eggs which I will need hard-boiled and finally, I need some bread to serve all this on.

[fire swooshes in] STEVEN: So, in addition to the smoked chopped liver, I'm going to make an ember-roasted vegetable dip.

In my family, we did have a couple vegetarians, so I want to satisfy both.

First step, dump out a chimney of coals and set up the grill for caveman grilling.

And I'll rake out the coals and do an even layer.

And then for the cavemanning.

Let's see, we'll caveman the bell peppers, the poblano chili, couple of these little peppers, and we'll caveman the shallots.

And here's a cool trick for an eggplant: cut the garlic into slivers, and then I'll make a series of slits in the eggplant, and I'll insert the garlic slivers in the slits.

So, this is a way of roasting the eggplant and the garlic at the same time.

Okay, the eggplant will go on the embers as well.

And keep the vegetables turning just until the outside is charred all over.

In effect, you're smoking the peppers, you're smoking the eggplant.

And these little hot red peppers char very quickly.

Then, the poblano chili.

Take off the shallots.

And here are your roasted peppers.

To check the eggplant for doneness, I'll use a slender skewer.

When it pierces the eggplant easily, the eggplant is ready.

While, if the vegetables are cooling, I'm going to rake the coals out, set up the grill for smoking.

So, I'll push half of the live embers to one side and half to the other side, leaving a space in the center.

I will insert an aluminum foil pan.

Then, I'll place the grate on the grill and I'll add the wood chips at the last minute.

For the chopped liver take an onion, cut it into wedges.

* And then, next I'll place the hard-boiled eggs in the center.

And finally, the chicken livers.

And I'll season them with coarse sea salt and black pepper, and then arrange the chicken livers in the pan for smoking.

Now, place the onions, eggs, and chicken livers in the center of the grill.

Then, lift this little trap door up and we'll place a couple of chunks of apple wood on the coals.

Add another then place the lid on the grill and orient the vent so that it's in between the two mounds of coals.

That way the smoke will be drawn over the eggs, onions, and chicken livers.

While, the chicken livers are smoking, I'll peel the ember-roasted vegetables.

Just scrape this burnt skin off.

* See, the skin slips right off.

Next, the poblano Chile, the eggplant.

And you can smell the roasted garlic.

Then, peel these hot chilies and finally, peel your shallots.

Slip off that charred skin.

Once the peppers are appealed, cut each in half and scrape out the seeds.

All right, let's check the chicken livers.

You can see the eggs and onions are nicely burnished with wood smoke.

For the livers, I'm looking for them to be gently yielding.

So, we're in good shape and I'll let these ingredients cool.

You could chop the ember-roasted vegetables in a food processor, but I think that spread will look prettier, if I do it by hand.

So, I'll start with the eggplant, a couple of lengthwise slices, and then I'll come through and kind of chop, dice.

That looks great.

Next, thinly slice the ember-roasted shallots.

* It's kind of more of a rough chop.

I see this as a very rustic spread.

Now, take your peppers, a series of parallel slices, and then we'll make crosswise cuts like this.

* And finally, your hot red peppers.

* Next, I'll take some fresh flat leaf parsley.

We'll add it.

Add some sherry vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Super colorful, super fresh, summery.

Now, back to the chopped liver, take the onions, rough chop them.

And I like to caramelize the onions a little in oil before I finish the chopped liver.

* Then, heat some extra Virgin olive oil in a cast iron skillet and add the onions to the oil.

[onions sizzle in the pan] And fry the onions until lightly browned.

This caramelization process brings out their sweetness.

Meanwhile, cut the smoked hard-cooked eggs in quarters.

This will help them process more evenly.

* And place the smoked hard-boiled eggs in food processor.

Next, take your smoked chicken livers and cut those into one inch pieces.

Add the chicken livers, then take your caramelized onions and add them to the food processor.

And then, add coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and chop your liver.

I like to leave the mixture fairly coarse.

My grandmother would do this with an old hand cranked meat grinder.

[food processor whirring] Scrape down the sides.

[taps the spatula] [Closes the top] [food processor whirring] One more step grilled bread slices.

Super quick cooking time.

* It's just a matter of seconds.

Turn the bread as it grills.

* [fire swooshes in] So there's your chopped liver.

I'll just sprinkle it with some finely chopped chives.

Let's taste.

So, first the ember-roasted vegetable spread.

[bread crunches as he bites] Mmm, I love the contrast with the sweet smokey vegetables and the tangy Sherry vinegar.

Really refreshing, really light.

Now, let me try the chopped liver.

[bread crunches as he bites] Mmm, now that is the taste of nostalgia.

The creamy eggs, caramelized onions, the smokey liver... Just like my grandmother's chopped liver, only with wood smoke.

Chris and Nora, I was worried when I saw those livers, but I think, we pulled it off.

Big flavor, small price, everyone wins.

Thanks for watching.

See you next time.

For recipes and more live-fire cooking, visit stevenraichlen.com.

You can also follow Steven Raichlen on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Steven's book, "How to Grill Vegetables," and the classic, "Project Smoke," can be ordered online at stevenraichlen.com, or call this phone number for ordering and customer service.

ANNOUNCER: 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 the versatility to sear, smoke, rotisserie cook, and charcoal grill, crafted in America for over 80 years... Green Mountain Grills, wood fired pellet grills... Blue Rhino...

Truly wireless temperature starts with Maverick.

And by the following... STEVEN: A whole beef tenderloin will set you back the better part of a Benjamin.

Pork penderloin... pork penderloin?

Pork tenderloin.

Pork tenderloin is one of the last great bargins.

Bargins?

Bargains.

I'll see what else is in the pantry to round out the meal.

I'm excited.

Well, guys, that was a pretty low blow.

All right.

Where'd you put my chocolate?

Oh, okay.

So I'm thinking.

Wait I'm too...?

CHRIS: To Tim.

STEVEN: Okay, Tim.

I'm sorry, Tim.

* *