This dish is about as old school as it gets. In Italian this is called pollo al mattone, and to make it you start by removing the backbone and flattening the chicken. Then you brine it, dry it, season it and cook it with the pressure of two hot bricks on top. Sounds caveman, I know, but wait till you try it. This version has my California spin on it with a dry rub that has a little heat, a little sweet and a whole lotta flavor.

Hands down, one of my favorite childhood memories is of making camping sandwiches. Get ready for greatness.

I don't think beef ribs get enough BBQ love, usually because people don't cook them long enough, so they are too chewy. Well, not these babies, they're fall-off-the-bone tender.

Not many things will get my kids out of the pool like a salted caramel milkshake, and not many things will increase your odds of being pushed into the pool like drinking a salted Jack Daniel's caramel milkshake with me and my buddies. 

Farro is one of the oldest grains known to mankind. I make a double batch of this hearty salad and keep it in the cooler for a quick high-protein snack during the day. But this dish is a meal in itself: The veggies, the tender farro and the zesty vinaigrette are all you need.

If there's one thing that a cast-iron pan was born to do, it's make skillet cornbread. The consistent heat is exactly what cornbread needs. My version here is camping cornbread gone wild. Roasted poblanos? Are you kidding me? This cornbread eats like a meal, and it goes great with chili or my Old-School Baked Beans!

If you want to add great flavor to a pork loin, brine it. If you want to add super flavor to your pork loin, stuff it with your favorite Cajun-country sausage. This recipe is worth all the effort.

If there's a vegetable that loves the grill, it's corn: Caramelize the natural sugars, add a little bit of chipotle heat, then kiss it with a little bacon. The only thing I warn you is that you cannot live on this alone. You must eat other things.