Tonight's Menu
- grilled chicken drumsticks & thighs
- grilled sweet onion
- green salad "bar"
Remember when I said it was really warm this weekend? Yeah, yesterday it got up into the 90s. Which is just insane, but it made me want to grill that much more. Now, I read the weather forecast. I knew a cold front was supposed to come through last night, and that today it would be chilly and windy. I just didn't realize HOW chilly and windy. But I had promised my kids grilled chicken for dinner (DH the poultry-allergic guy was working late) and I was determined to deliver.
So, it took forever to light the grill because of the wind. And also because of the wind, the inside of the grill didn't get nearly as hot as I really needed it to. And so everything took FOREVER to cook, but it all worked out okay in the end.
First I rinsed and dried the chicken parts, then I sprinkled them on both sides with Jane's Krazy Salt and freshly ground pepper. Long story short (I had to check them A LOT for doneness, and of course every time I opened the grill, the temperature dropped FURTHER) I ended up cooking them for about 18 minutes skin side down, and another 20 or so skin side up. They actually came out really juicy and delicious with crisp, flavorful skin, but it took about twice as long as usual to get them to that point.
The onion was a good idea in theory. In practice, the lower temperature of the grill kind of worked against me. What I did was peel and slice a sweet yellow onion (a 1015 or Walla Walla or Maui or something like that), layer the slices with dabs of butter, salt and freshly ground pepper, wrap it in heavy-duty foil, and cook it alongside the chicken, turning it halfway through the cooking time. It ended up not cooking and caramelizing as much as I was hoping. Maybe it would have worked better if I'd laid it out in a single layer inside the foil instead of re-assembling it into a round onion shape. Oh well. It was still flavorful, and even the girl child, who NEVER eats onions, thought it was good. Go figure!
Tonight's salad bar was mixed greens, sliced carrots, sliced cucumber, and grape tomatoes.
Come back, warm weather! I'm not done grilling!
1 comment:
This reminds me of the time Mr. Lemony tried grilling steaks in January, 15 degrees F. First he brushed the snow off the grill. Then he preheated. About an hour later, he grilled. Then he brought the steaks in the house. Then I tested one and found it to be quite raw inside.
About an hour later, we ate our barely Medium steaks.
Then the wind blew the very large grill off the deck.
My hat is off to you.
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