We’re huge fans of grillmaster Steven Raichlen’s smoky, meaty cookbooks. His latest work focuses on updating our beloved grilling techniques. Dive into recipes for grilled meats, vegetable sides, desserts and more. Here’s a way to really class up your albacore tuna.

Most of the dishes you see on my TV shows are carefully planned in advance. This one I created on the spot to showcase some gorgeous, astonishingly fresh albacore fillets a local fisherman brought to the set of Project Smoke. Plancha searing gives you a crisp smoky bacon crust on the outside, but you keep the grilling sufficiently brief to leave the fish sushi-rare in the center. Cut crosswise, the albacore looks like bacon-wrapped filet mignon. To continue the beef metaphor, you serve it with a Peppercorn Cream Sauce.

Insider Tip: This recipe calls for a technique I call plancha grilling: You cook the fish on heated cast iron, adding hardwood to the fire to generate wood smoke. Alternatively, you can direct grill the tuna, but the bacon won’t be quite as crisp.

Reprinted with permission from Project Fire