Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I've never....

used an outdoor grill before.  Im almost 32 years old and I have never used the outdoor grill before.  At the risk of offending feminists everywhere, I always relied on the men around me to grill up the smokey, charred delights that i love.  I did have a decent panini press/ grill but it was a loaner and I had to return it to the rightful owner.  When we first got married, my hubby insisted that our first newly wed gift to ourselves should be...a man grill.  Now that he is still away on business...and I had defrosted a bunch of chicken meat under the mistaken guise that my friends were coming over for dinner, I was faced with the feat of acquainting myself with the grill.  My hubby even emailed me a quick easy how-to-turn-on-the-grill snippet!

Since it was my newbie effort...but more because its just me who has to eat all this meat once its cooked, I kept the seasonings simple with good old S&P.  That way, I get the health benefits of using the grill as the grease and fat is cooked off and the chicken doesnt just cook in its own fat AND the meat stays pretty neutral so that I can use the cooked meat and incorporate into other recipes.  Here is a closeup of the chicken only: 



See how the skin stayed crispy and the juice is shimmering?  Next time, I will use a sauce on this...next time. 


This final picture is the chicken with the potato I grilled along side.  Next time I have to cut the slices of potato wayyy thinner as most of the slices didnt cook all the way.  Bummer.  It looks really dismal in the picture but I like to think that I am just showcasing the essence of the bird and the bud.  Check:



Let me pose a Q to my expert grillers.  How do you keep the skin from sticking to the grill?  Is the foil spread over the grill rack and poked with holes even work?  I just remember that from my parents old school ways.  Also how do you clean the grates?  My grill grates seem to catch all the food particles instead of letting things fall to the bottom of the grill.  My OCD does not want to make a mess with the grill!!!!!!
Hasta la bye bye kiddos. 

2 comments:

  1. I love our gas grill! Admittedly, I let my husband do all the heavy grilling. Something about sticking my arm over high heat does not sit well with me.

    As for cleaning, I got this bit of advice from a (male) coworker who is married to their grill: a quick brush of the grate with a still grill brush when the heat is first turned out should work. But advises that at the beginning of the grilling season to do a more thorough cleaning.

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  2. Looks lovely DD - Actually, I think that a nice rubbing with good quality sea salt, and maybe some togarashi is all good quality chicken needs.... so long that it's grilled over good quality hardwood charcoal. Before grilling I do two things, I clean the grate with a grill stone - a pumice like stone that gets all the "nasty bits" off the grill. Secondly, I oil the grate using a folded up paper towel dipped in Canola, or any other neutral oil, and using long handle tongs, I rub it over the bars of the grill. If the grate is hot enough before you start your cooking, items tend not to stick.

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