3rd-and-Dun: Matty Barbecue

When people in Canada hear the name Matt Dunigan, they typically think of one of two things: Football or barbecue.

For Canadian Football League fans, he is synonymous with excellence as a two-time Grey Cup champion, three-time CFL all-star and member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

For foodies, however, he is known as something entirely different: The host of Road Grill, a muscly middle-aged dude enthusiastically grilling everything in sight and peppering his recipes with ‘yeaaahs’ and ‘lookahdats’.

With this 3rd-and-Dun series, our goal is to tell stories: Food stories. Football stories. Family stories.

And hey, if you’re just here for the recipe: Scroll to the bottom.

Let’s go on a journey with Matty BBQ.

You can hear the smile in Matt Dunigan’s voice as he thinks back to the clam bakes, softball games and early tailgates of a childhood split between Ohio and Texas.

At 57, he’s almost as accomplished a griller as he was a professional quarterback.

“Growing up in Ohio, smelling those big vats of clams — the dads are playing cards and drinking beer, (and) we’re out in the fields throwing a football,” reminisced the CFL on TSN analyst. “That carried over once we moved to Texas, with the experience of being at a football tailgate, the celebration of it. You feel it, smell it, taste it and breathe it in. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

One of Dunigan’s calling cards as an analyst is his candour, and the easy way it translates into breaking the game down for the average fan at home. His approach to food and life is much the same.

“Our foundation was football, family, faith and food,” explains the Lakewood, Oh. native, who once threw for a record 713 pass yards in a 1994 CFL game. “It was simple, understandable and real. That’s what resonated with me: The game was meant to be played in a simple way, food is meant to be cooked in a simple way (and) life is meant to be lived in a simple way — that’s what my father, Frank Dunigan, always told us.”

Did you know? The CFL on TSN analyst was part of the short-lived CFL South Division, starring for the Birmingham Barracudas in 1995.

That simplicity is evident in his childhood favourite: Meatloaf, with corn and mashed potatoes.

“We were pounding that, (then) we always had jello for dessert and we thought we died and gone to heaven,” he laughed. “As humans, we do a good job of trying to complicate life and it really shouldn’t be complicated. Whether it’s faith, family, food or football, it should be enjoyed in a simple way, for what it is.”

RELATED: The Matt Dunigan Story (23-min doc)

The same no-nonsense approach applied during his Hall-of-Fame career in the CFL; he played a hard-nosed style of football, passing, scrambling and bruising his way to 43,857 all-time yards and 302 career touchdowns.

Along the way, he gained an appreciation for the culinary cultures of different cities around the league — though one will have his heart and mouth forever.

“I spent five years in Edmonton, and it has a bit of everything,” said Dunigan. “Kathy and I got married in 1984, overlooking Commonwealth Stadium in the Green and Gold room after practice one day. For four years, we were running the streets and testing every restaurant we possibly could.

“When I was playing (in) Edmonton, man, it was so diverse and you had such quality food from so many different cultures, it was just mind-blowing.”

Dunigan in action with the Eskimos in 1986. (The Canadian Press photo)

It was a number of years later, but still in Alberta, that the feisty quarterback took his first leap towards cooking television fame.

Calgary, sometime in 2005.

Dunigan had been fired as the head coach and general manager of the Stampeders, but not wanting to uproot his family, stuck around the city to “give his kids some consistency.”

One night, while enjoying a cocktail or two with his wife at home, the magic struck.

“I got a big cocktail going, and she’s in my ear all weekend ‘this company’s looking for the next grilling guru’,” chuckled Dunigan. “I got a little liquid courage, she got the camera, and she filmed me.

“I was doing some pico de gallo — usually five, six ingredients, but we’d amped ours up to about 13 ingredients — and I had a hat on, cocktailin’, having a good time. In the kitchen I’m making, of all things, redneck beer-can chicken. Drink half the beer, shove the other half up the chicken and away you go.”

The rest is grill-marked, mouth-watering history; Dunigan became known as the BBQ guy on Canadian food television, and brought his football mentality onto Road Grill.

RELATED: Road Grill: Ottawa (Gusto TV)

Check back throughout the season for recipes, stories and insight on Canadian food culture.

Turkey Burgers with Summertime Pineapple Salsa

“If I can do it, you can do it. Delicious doesn’t mean it’s complicated.

I’ve come up with grilled turkey burgers with a summertime pineapple salsa.

If you can learn how to make some simple salsas, it goes a long way. It’s not very complicated, salsa’s basically a food of your choice — pineapple, strawberries, whatever — with some red bell pepper, cut that up, dice it. Scallions — which I’m not big on — and then dice up some red onion. Mince some jalapenños, cilantros, salt, pepper and lime juice. You can put that on fish, burgers, copy that with chicken…salsas are extremely versatile for any type of summertime dish.

We go with turkey burgers because we eat pretty clean in our house, we eat a lot of turkey. It’s real simple, but the salsa will send the burger over the top. Before you know it, you’re humming and hawing going mmm…munching away.

The important thing working with turkey is you want to keep it cold, because it’s not as workable as hamburger meat would be. When you do your patties and brush them with extra-virgin olive oil, put some seasoning on it. Mix that with the extra-virgin olive oil, and baste both sides with that. Plate them and refrigerate them until you’re ready to grill. Medium to high heat, they have to be on there a bit longer because it’s not hamburger meat. But you don’t want it too high ’cause then you scorch outside.

Go make your salsa as the burger is cooking.

When those bad boys come off, make yourself another cocktail. You’re ready to roll.

Tailgating? No problem: Pre-make your patties, put them in your cooler over ice. Make your salsa the night before, and stick it in a tupperware. Add whatever you want to go along with it.

Pineapple summertime salsa. Take that to a tailgate, fire up the grill with a cooler full of beers. Slap them on, away you go: You’re eating like a king. A little bit of prep work, just 20 minutes prior to heading out the door, is all it takes.”