Ready, Set, Grill! Sam's Club Enlists Barbecue Champion To Reveal Grilling Secrets For Memorial Day Weekend

BENTONVILLE, Ark., May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Memorial Day marks the official start to summer when families dust off their grills and start planning for a season filled with outdoor gatherings. Whether planning a holiday BBQ or prepping a weeknight meal, pitmaster and cookbook author Troy Black helps make grilling a go-to meal solution. Chef Black joins the Sam's Club Simply Delicious Chef Brigade to show families how to create everything from fire-roasted appetizers to savory steaks.

Sam's Club is now spotlighting Chef Black's menu for a whole meal on the grill with demonstration videos on the SamsClub.com/meals "Tips & Videos" tab and photos and printable recipes on the SamsClub.com/meals "Easy Recipes" tab.

"The most important step to creating a great meal on the grill is buying quality ingredients that can hold their flavor under the heat," says Black. "Sam's Club offers plenty of variety to keep my menus interesting. Plus, their fresh meat, seafood, produce and bakery items come with a 200% satisfaction guarantee so members can feel good about experimenting during grilling season."

To help families hone their grill skills, Black offers a few tips to ensure each meal is cooked to perfection:

• Start with Oil: Before heating up the grill, apply oil or nonstick cooking spray to the grates. This will help keep food from sticking and tearing, thereby losing its natural juices.
• Trim the Fat: Guard against flare-ups by trimming away excess fat from meats. Leaving only a 1/4-inch of fat will help retain the flavor.
• Keep Vegetables Cool: Vegetables tend to burn more quickly than meats. To avoid burning and to prevent produce from losing its crunch, cook vegetables at the outer, cooler edges of the grill.
• Let Steak Sit: Allow meat to rest for five minutes before serving so that natural juices reabsorb and leave steaks juicy.
  
  

The Memorial Day holiday features a limited-time membership offer through May 31.  Members who upgrade or new members who join Sam's Club as an annual Advantage ($40) or Plus ($100) member will receive $150 worth of extra savings on select groceries and every day needs pre-loaded onto their membership cards.

"Our research tells us that our members love spending time together with friends and as a family to make meals a special occasion. So each summer, Sam's Club aims to bring the kitchen outdoors and help members create flavor-filled food on the grill," said Shawn Baldwin, senior vice president of fresh groceries at Sam's Club. "We focus on premium cuts of meat, sustainable seafood, fresh vegetables and fruit picked at their peak so you can easily find quality meal ideas and the backyard entertaining essentials to present them in style."

Visit with Chef Troy Black as he hosts the Sam's Club National BBQ Tour, a 31-stop U.S. competition featuring top barbecue talents who go head-to-head at Sam's Club locations this summer. Sanctioned by theKansas City Barbeque Society, the Sam's Club National BBQ Tour culminates with five regional events and the national championship at the hometown of Sam's Club in Bentonville, Ark. With over $500,000 in prize money and major bragging rights, plus samples and grilling tips for hungry spectators, the Sam's Club National BBQ Tour has the largest purse of all  U.S. barbecue competitions to date. For tour dates, participants and winners, visit SamsClub.com/bbq.

This Memorial Day weekend, fire up the grill and try Chef Black's delectable dessert. Visit SamsClub.com/meals for Chef Black's full "Whole Meal on a Grill" menu and other ideas:

Grilled Peaches and Pound Cake

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of sliced fresh peaches
• 1 package Artisan Fresh Slice Pound Cake
• Powdered sugar
• 4 metal skewers

Directions:

• Slice peaches and then skewer the slices.
• Place on medium high grill and cook for two minutes on each side.
• Remove from heat and take slices off skewer.
• Place one peach slice on top of each pound cake slice and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Now in its second year, the Sam's Club Simply Delicious Chef Brigade is a team of renowned culinary masters enlisted to create restaurant-quality, simply delicious meal solutions that our members can easily make at home. As regular Sam's Club shoppers themselves, the Chef Brigade demonstrates that cooking at home with fresh Sam's Club ingredients can be just as delicious and exciting as dining out. Visit SamsClub.com/meals to learn from the Chef Brigade through how-to videos, pin and share more than 200 new recipes a month or use a wine pairing app to complete your next meal.

About Sam's Club

Sam's Club®, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is the nation's eighth largest retailer and a leading membership warehouse club offering superior products and services to more than 47 million members in clubs across the U.S., as well as in Brazil, China and Mexico. Members save an average of 34 percent over traditional retailers. To learn more about Savings Made Simple®, visit SamsClub.com, and look for Sam's Club on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and our Mobile and iPad® Apps.

SOURCE Sam's Club