Cooking With Fire

I finally got up the nerve to try the gas grill yesterday. The house we're renting has a nice little BBQ grill in the back, but I've never used one of these things, and I found it a bit intimidating. Also I'm afraid of blowing things up.

Last night my first attempt was lamb burgers and grilled eggplant. I found local pasture raised ground lamb at the East End Co-op. I made the patties with an adaptation of the keftedakia (meatballs) recipe in my Greek cookbook. It has lots of fresh parsley, mint, and a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg which smells and tastes fantastic. I kinda winged it with the eggplant, cutting them into discs, weeping them for awhile, then dousing them in balsamic vinegar, garlic and olive oil. I burned the patties a bit, learning that once the grill is hot you have to turn the gas down to low for the cooking, esp when the lid is closed. Oops!

Tonight I cut up a whole chicken, rubbed olive oil into the skin, and threw the pieces on the grill. I also sliced up a zucchini and halved some tomatoes that were gifted from our neighbor's garden, sprinkled them with salt, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and placed those on once the chicken was up to 100 degrees. Next time I'll try marinating the chicken ahead of time to keep it from getting so tough, and put some grated parmesan on the tomatoes just before the meat's done.

This grilling thing is awesome for keeping the house cool in the summer. I hate to cook when it's hot, and normally I would insist on going out to a restaurant any time it's over 79 degrees indoors, but the grill takes away that excuse. Also things cook way fast. I really need to get a wireless meat thermometer so I don't have to keep going out back every 5 minutes to check on the temp.