[Host] Seventy percent of the earth is covered with water.

And yet, putting seafood to fire can be a griller's worst nightmare.

So for this season's Raichlen's Rules, we've decided to ease your anxiety.

Today, we're grilling swordfish steaks over a hardwood fire.

It absorbs those smoke flavors like a sponge.

Smoking mussels with pine needles.

The pine needles give the mussels an incredible piney smoke flavor.

Grilling shrimp, Italian style.

I just can't resist adding extra flavor.

And smoke roasting trout on cedar planks.

Smelling some nice cedar from the edges of the planks.

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

(fire swooshes in) [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 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... * [Steven] A lot of people are intimidated by the prospect of grilling seafood.

Their hesitation boils down to three fears.

The fish will stick to the grill grate, or fall apart when you try and turn it, or dry out when exposed to the withering heat of the grill.

I wish, I could tell you there's a one size fits all rule for grilling seafood.

There isn't.

But the good news is that, by strategically picking the method, live fire can make any seafood wondrous.

(fire swooshes in) The first method is grilling directly on the grate over a hot fire.

What's important here is to pick a sturdy fish like tuna or swordfish.

You can grill these much as you would a beef steak.

(fire swooshes in) [Steven] People often ask what's my favorite food to grill at home.

Well, I love everything, but I keep coming back to swordfish, especially grilled over a wood fire.

I love how swordfish grills like a steak.

I love how it absorbs the smoke flavor.

This one involves a really cool technique.

Grilling with wood on a charcoal grill.

* Load your chimney starter with wood chunks instead of charcoal.

I'm using oak.

And then, take a sheet of newspaper, crumple it up, and place it in the bottom of the chimney starter.

Light it with a butane match and thanks to the upward draft, you'll have lit wood embers in 10 to 15 minutes.

Now for the swordfish.

Season it first with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Then, finely chopped fresh oregano and strip a few thyme leaves off of a branch of thyme.

Now, drizzle the swordfish with extra virgin olive oil.

Then, cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice over the fish, catching any seeds between your fingers.

Now, turn the pieces over and season the other side the same way.

And finally, for one last blast of flavor, take bay leaves and pin them to the top of the swordfish steaks with cloves.

So, that's your swordfish.

Let it marinate while you make the sauce and prepare the fire.

For the sauce, I'm serving a Miami twist on classic Argentinian chimichurri.

It starts with flat leaf parsley, fresh oregano, fresh thyme, chopped fresh garlic, hot pepper flakes for spice, our coarse sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Now, place the lid on the processor.

Run the processor to finely chop the herbs.

(food processor whirring) Now, add a couple tablespoons of sherry vinegar and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

And work in extra virgin olive oil.

Add it slowly to make an emulsified sauce.

And finally, one non-traditional ingredient, yellow raisins, which I've soaked in boiling water to soften.

The raisins will add a sweet touch, which will go great with the wood grilled swordfish.

You just want to pulse the processor.

You don't want to grind the raisins too finely.

Then, we'll take a taste.

Mmm, sweet and garlicky.

Nailed it.

(fire swooshes in) You can see the wood chunks in the chimney have burned down to glowing embers.

Just arranged the hot coals across the lower grill grate.

I'm using what I call a "two zone fire."

Coals raked evenly over two thirds of the bottom of the grill.

The last third closest to me with no coals.

That's your safety zone.

Then, place the grill grate over the coals and we'll give it a few swipes with a grill brush.

Then, take a folded paper towel, dip it in oil and draw it across the bars of the grate.

Now, take your swordfish, which has been marinating with the herbs, olive oil, and lemon juice, and arrange the swordfish steaks over the fire.

We'll start bay leaf side down.

Your grilling time is about 3-4 minutes per side.

Give each swordfish steak a quarter turn halfway through.

This will help it grill evenly.

The beauty of this dish, we're actually grilling over wood, so you're get that beautiful wood grilled smoke flavor.

Give the steak a quarter turn.

* I spend part of the year in Martha's Vineyard, where we are lucky enough to get harpoon swordfish.

It's landed the same day it's caught.

You cannot get fresher fish anywhere.

So once, the fish starts to turn opaque at the edges, turn it over.

Mmm.

Give your swordfish one final quarter turn.

And to test for doneness, I use the poke test to see it feels firm and just begins to flake.

* Here's your wood grilled swordfish and your raisin chimichurri.

Let's see how we did.

I'll take a piece of fish and some chimichurri.

Mmm.

Take a bite.

Mmm.

Man, crusty on the outside, moist inside and nicely perfumed with wood smoke.

* So, let me try a piece with the chimichurri now.

Mmm.

Garlicky, peppery, and I really like the sweetness of the raisins with the swordfish.

So now, you know what I grill at home and how to turn your charcoal grill into a wood burner.

(fire swooshes in) Then, there are shellfish.

For example, clams, mussels, and my favorite, oysters.

For smaller seafood like this, grill it on a rack, in a pan or in a basket.

* What if I told you that one of the best dishes I ever tasted on Planet Barbecue contained only one ingredient, that it used a fuel you find in forests and parks everywhere, and a grilling technique unique in the annals of barbecue.

The French call it " clade de moules" and I call it one of the best ways there is to cook mussels.

The mussel is a black shelled bivalve, particularly prized on the west coast of France.

When working with mussels, first, if you see any with partially open shells, tap them on the cutting board.

If the shell closes, you know the mussel is still alive and safe to eat.

If the mussel shell stays open, discard it.

Cardinal rule with any shellfish - when in doubt, throw it out.

The next thing to look for is the beard.

It's a cluster of fibers the mussel uses to cling to the rocks.

If the mussel has a beard, grab it with needle nose pliers and pull it out.

At the restaurant La Bouvette on the Ile de R , an island off the west coast of France, they actually use a cast iron skillet with holes in it, the sort you would use for roasting chestnuts.

If you don't have one, you can make a holed pan.

Simply poke a series of holes in the bottom of the pan with a sharp knife and twist to make holes about a half an inch in diameter.

Obviously, this is not a great thing to do to the blade of a knife you use every day.

Once, you have perforated the bottom of the pan, loosely fill it with dry pine needles.

And you want to sort of feather the pine needles.

That way they'll catch fire more easily.

It's important that the pine needles be dry.

Now, take the mussels and lay them on top of the pine needles.

And you want them fairly sparsely spread, about one pound of mussels per person.

* And that's all there is to it.

Now, the grill.

We're working on a charcoal grill, but you can also cook the mussels on a gas grill.

When working with charcoal, I like to use natural lump charcoal.

You can see the shape of the original branch.

And what you do is light it in a chimney starter.

Place either a piece of crumpled newspaper or a paraffin fire starter in the bottom.

Light it on the grill.

Beauty of a chimney starter, the shape funnels the heat upwards so the coals light evenly without having to use petroleum based fire starter.

And here's a chimney, I lit earlier.

So, simply dump out the coals and rake the coals into a mound in the center of the grill.

You want a hot fire.

Then, place the grill grate on top of the grill and you're ready for business.

Then, place the mussels on the grill directly over the charcoal, and they'll start to smoke almost instantly.

What you want to do is you want the pine needles to catch fire, and it's in this flash of blazing pine needles that the mussels cook.

The pine needles give the mussels an incredible piney smoke flavor.

And if you need to, you can help the flaming process along by hitting the mussels with a butane lighter.

* And once, the pine needles flame, cover the mussels with another foil pan.

That holds in the heat and smoke.

Cooking time is really quick, 5-8 minutes, or just until the mussel shells open.

* The beauty of this dish, you serve the mussels right in the pan with the burnt pine needles and you eat it with your bare fingers.

Take one.

Mmm...oh, my God.

Smoked mussels with that piney flavor.

Unbelievable.

And here's how they do it in France.

You take one set of empty mussel shells and then use them kind of as tongs, and you eat another, and another.

Mussels grilled on a bed of pine needles, because sometimes grilling is best when it's at its most simple.

* (fire swooshes in) When it comes to cooking shrimp, boiling leaves a lot to be desired.

Swap boiling for live fire and a blast of wood smoke.

Now, you have my attention.

Skewer the shrimp with peppers and onions and the textures, and flavors are out of this world.

(fire swooshes in) There are many differences between Italian and American grilling, but it boils down to this.

When Americans grill, we use rubs, marinades, butters, bastes, and barbecue sauces to build complex layers of flavor.

When Italians grill, they buy the best ingredients and keep the grilling as simple as possible.

* Spiedini is the Italian word for shish kabob.

These are beautiful wild shrimp, which I peeled and deveined.

Now for the onion.

The idea here is you want to cut all of your vegetable pieces to the same size so they cook evenly.

For the onion, you cut it in half first, then cut each half into six wedges, and then break the wedges into individual layers.

Save the small pieces for later use.

Now, assemble the Spiedini.

So first, place a shrimp on the skewer.

Then, a fresh sage leaf.

Italians love the aroma of fresh sage.

Next, red bell pepper, and then Italians call these peppers "friggitelli."

They're like Padr n peppers, or shishitos.

Next, a yellow bell pepper and then a bay leaf, and then another shrimp.

The idea here is you build these with your eyes.

These Spiedini should look as beautiful as they taste.

And here are your shrimp Spiedini.

They're as colorful to look at as they will be tasty to eat.

Now, season your Spiedini with coarse sea salt, because I like those crunchy crystals of salt.

Then, freshly ground black pepper.

And as always, we grind our pepper fresh each morning in a spice mill.

Then, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Squeeze between my fingers to catch any seeds, and finally a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Now, the sauce.

The sauce is called "Salmoriglio."

I like to think of it as Sicilian chimichurri.

It starts with fresh basil leaves, which I'll place in a food processor, then stemmed fresh flat leaf parsley, green olives, which are going to give you a tangy salty flavor, and capers, which will add more tartness and salt, freshly and finally grated lemon zest for brightness, and hot dried red pepper flakes for heat.

Place the lid on the processor and finely chop these ingredients.

(food processor whirring) Oh man, that's incredibly fragrant.

Now, add your liquid ingredients.

Freshly squeezed lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and enough water to thin the sauce to pourable consistency.

Finally, salt just a little because the olives and capers are salty, and freshly ground black pepper.

(closes the food processor lid) (food processor whirring) And puree the ingredients into a smooth sauce.

Mmm.

Tangy, tart herbaceous, vibrant.

Salmoriglio is my new chimichurri.

I'll grill the Spiedini over a wood fire.

The wood will impart a delicate smoke flavor.

First, you want to clean your grill grate with a stiff wire brush, then oil it with a cotton oiling cloth dipped in vegetable oil and drawn across the bars of the grate.

This not only oils the grill grate, but cleans it.

Now, take your shrimp and arrange them on the grill grate.

* This is quick.

Couple minutes per side will do it.

(fire swooshes in) Once, the Spiedini are browned on the bottom, turn them over and grill the other side the same way.

You can see the ends of the bay leaves char.

That releases a bay leaf smoke, an herbal smoke, that'll further flavor the shrimp.

And you can base the Spiedini with a little bit of the Salmoriglio.

As an American, I just can't resist adding extra flavor.

* (fire swooshes in) To check the shrimp for doneness, a little squeeze.

They feel firm.

They're ready.

Transfer the Spiedini to a wire rack over a sheet pen.

You see me use this wire rack a lot.

It keeps the bottom of the Spiedini from getting soggy.

And here are your wood grilled Spiedini.

* I'll drizzle a little sauce over them.

* Then, take a shrimp.

Mmm.

The shrimp are crusty and smoky on the outside, moist inside.

Nice sweetness from the peppers and onions.

And then, you've got the salty tang of the olives, and the capers, and the Salmoriglio.

By Italian standards, this would be pretty complex.

By American standards, it's simple.

I say, it's right on the money.

(fire swooshes in) A delicate fish, like sole or trout requires a very different method.

The fish can stick to the grate or fall apart when you turn it.

One foolproof method is to place a third element between the fire in your fish, such as fennel stalks, a salt slab or cedar plank.

(fire swooshes in) Planking is a great way to cook fish without leaving half stuck to the grill grate, and bacon makes everything taste better, especially trout.

* Conventional wisdom holds that you soak a cedar plank before grilling, theory to keep it from burning.

I'm going to do just the opposite.

I'm going to char the plank because the flavor really comes when the wood starts to smoke.

So, place the plank on the grill.

(fire swooshes in) Charring time, a couple of minutes.

And that's what you're looking for.

Now, assemble the trout.

Start with three pieces of butcher string and lay a strip of artisanal smoked bacon.

These beautiful trout are about a pound apiece and season the cavity with sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Then, place three lemon slices in the cavity and a sprig of dill.

And finally, a few pats of butter.

As the fish cooks on its plank, the bacon fat will melt into the outside.

The butter will melt into the inside, guaranteeing you succulence.

Now, place another strip a bacon on top, and then tie the fish together.

You loop over once and then you loop over a second time to create a lock knot, and then simply tie the knot off like that.

Then, using kitchen shears, just trim off the excess string and place the trout on the charred plank.

I've added a half of lemon for extra flavor.

In order to do indirect grilling, we're going to install a convector plate.

Thanks man.

Now, put the plank trout on and you'll see why we need a cooker with a really big gate.

Close the lid.

Adjust the vent, open at the top, open at the bottom.

I'm going to cook the trout at a high heat, about 400.

Cooking time, 20 to 30 minutes.

(fire swooshes in) * (fire swooshes in) Okay, it's been 30 minutes and wow.

Take a look.

Is that beautiful?

Smelling some nice cedar from the edges of the planks.

Take the fish off.

Remember the planks will be very hot, even burning on the bottom, so place them on a wire rack.

* Just remember to snip off and remove the strings, and let's see how we did.

So, I'll cut a piece of trout.

Just cut through the back here.

Oh, baby.

Mmm.

So sweet and moist and smoky.

Mmm, the bacon, the plank.

This is like a symphony of flavors.

(fire swooshes in) Grilling seafood doesn't need to be daunting.

Choosing the proper strategy will set you up for success.

Mmm.

Fresh seafood, hot fire, soulful wood smoke.

Grill on.

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

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

"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... [Steven] Three to four minutes per side, giving a quarter turn after a minute.

Ah... (silly vocal sound) You got it, right?

You don't need all that.

What you do is light it in a chimney starter.

You place either a piece of crumpled newspaper.

Wait, no, bay leaf.

What comes next?

Got confused myself here.

Red bell pepper.

And here are your grilled-- sorry, wrong camera.

Whoa.

* *