Grill of My Dreams

[the_gneech]

One of the big things I wanted in a house was enough backyard to put a grill into. Not a ginormous barbecue pit, nor a fancy-schmancy gas grill with stereo and jacuzzi attachments, just a plain ol' Weber that you pile up with charcoal and sear the $&@#!! out of stuff with.

Well, we've got that. :) In fact, we've been cooking on the thing for nearly a year now, whenever we managed to have both some free time and decent weather. The first several attempts were iffy at best, but as we've been practicing, we've gotten noticeably better. In fact, tonight I managed to grill just about the Platonic Ideal steak, a feat which I'm quite pleased with. :) Our first ever attempt at grilling corn in the husk, however, didn't go quite so well, the kernels ending up still just a bit too tough. I think perhaps the corn needed to have another layer of husk still on it — the husks were charred and peeling off within roughly 30 seconds, whereas that should have taken a good two or three minutes at least.

Still, that just means that next time, they'll be better. :) I don't consider myself a foodie by any means (I'm not about to turn up my nose at good ol' Matchlight in favor of marinated hardwood chips any time soon, for instance), but I am enough of an aesthete to enjoy good food, made well. :d

-The Gneech

Comments

[confusedoo.livejournal.com]

Grilling vegetables can sometimes be tricky. If I recall my food tv properly (and it's been a couple years now at least), the secret to proper grilled corn with the husks still on is to peel the husks back without ripping them off, take off as much of the silk as you can, then fold the husks back over the corn and soak it in a big pot/vat of water for a good half hour to hour. Shake off the water and put on to the grill.

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

all the above, with one caveat. Do it on a pretty low heat/flame. It's done when the kernels start to caramelize pretty evenly. (toasty brown, but not blackened)

sought the advice of an expert...

[mammallamadevil.livejournal.com]

and he said "boil 'em instead with a bit of sugar in the water".

edited for content...(laugh)

are you going for chicken, steak, or other types of fare?

(those are not too bad either for bbqing a 12-14 pound turkey, although when in Moorpark, I think our record was 26)

MLD

[xoagray.livejournal.com]

I think just about everything is better on a grill. And one very cool thing, you don't have to be Emril to have a good time with it, and put out some pretty tasty foods! :)

*wags *

[grizzly47.livejournal.com]

I've never tried grilling veggies, but I've cooked many a chicken and steak on my BBQ; it does take some practice on getting them cooked through.

My favorite though is still BBQ hotdogs.

[hallan.livejournal.com]

Grilling has always been my bane. I can cook and bake just fine, but put anything on a grill I'm tending and you can expect it to have an outer layer of char by the time I'm done. Grrr...

Hallan

[exatron.livejournal.com]

There's a trick that helps. Put most of the charcoal on one side of the grill and use the cooler side for cooking and the warmer side for searing.

[hossblacksilver.livejournal.com]

fooooooooooooooood.