To Marinade or Not…

The suburbs are alive with the aroma of grilling, and a lot of those who are grilling do so after letting the target meat sit over night in a bath of the grill-dude’s chosen secret sauce or rub.

However, this article in the WaPo food section suggests that the value of the marinade may be more in the ritual than in the overnight soaking, and that to get real flavor the marinade time can be less than ten seconds accompanied with either an occasional dunk into or spooning of the sauce during the cooking process.

Take a look, and decide for yourself.

The Chicken that Almost Blew Her Face Off

It is Labor Day weekend, and the neighborhoods are ripe with the smell of mower gasoline, bug spray, and the smell of grill masters at work.

In my home,  my wife does the cooking and I do the grilling.  We have come to accept that we each have certain gifts when it comes to food preparation…and any activities that potentially involve flammable properties is delegated to me.

However, there was one time when my beloved SWMBO dared to grill…with unusual results.

My wife, the beloved SWMBO, blogged before I did and got me invovled.  She has not blogged in a lon gwhile as grad school has taken up her time.  However, she did take the time back in the day to record her attempt at grilling.

All those who bill be grilling tomorrow-read and heed and don’t forge into unknown territories…

And now, in the interests of public and culinary safety, brought to you from an undisclosed blog location, this is SWMBO’s entry describing her grilling efforts of June 20, 2005…

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Tuesday, June 21, 2005

The Chicken that Nearly Blew My Face Off

Last night, I decided it would be a good idea to fire up the grill to cook a whole chicken. It was a calm, pleasant, even coolish night, and I thought that sitting on the deck would be a great way to spend an early summer evening.

I am a good cook but I have never turned on the gas grill before, and I have never really cooked anything other than a few burgers on the grill. The grilling responsibilities have long since been abdicated to my husband.

Things started off okay. I opened my Paula Deen cookbook, found the recipe for “Beer in the Rear” chicken, and then rinsed, dried, and seasoned the big ‘ole bird. In my brain I was thinking “how hard can it be?” My husband grills a lot…

[Bwana grilling note-for those who have not tried the Beer Can Chicken recipe, the idea is to use the beer can to stand up the chicken.  While cooking, the beer evaporates out of the open can, keeping the chicken moist.]

Well, apparently, it is beyond my capabilities.

I turned the knobs, I hit the ignitor, nothing happened. Called the husband. Turned a few more handles, adjusted some settings, nothing happened. Called the husband. Pulled out my large candle lighter thingy, stuck it in the side of the grill and……..

KABLAM!!

There were bits of hair falling out, a lovely singed smell about me, and a scary new sense of my own mortality. I was so close to really burning my face that I had to sit in stunned silence for several moments while the fire roared in the grill.

[Bwana note-apparently during all the time prior to lighting the flame the gas was on.  While I was not there, apparently the black cloud that went up was not unlike the big explosions at the German fuel dump in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"]

Things didn’t get any better from there.

I turned the flames down, put the chicken on the grill, lowered the lid, and went inside to clean up my hair and to check out the damage. Next thing I know, there was billowing smoke coming from the grill. The flames were so huge that I could barely get the lid open (finally dawned on me to get the oven mitts — duh). I was hesitant to turn the grill completely off because I did NOT want to have to restart the fire and at that point I actually thought I would need to keep cooking the chicken. Ultimately, I turned off the grill because I was about to burn down the house and deck. Even after I turned it off, the flames did not subside for 10 or 15 minutes. Nothing like a little burning chicken fat to really get a fire going.

[Bwana grill note-when grilling something like "Beer in the Rear" chicken, use indirect heat.  If using a gas grill, put the chicken on one side of the grill and only turn on the burner on the other side.  If using charcoal or wood, put an aluminum tray in the middle of the shell and directly under the chicken.  Pile the charcoal/wood on either side.  You get the indirect heat from the charcoal, and the fat drips into the tray.]

The chicken looked like a blackened marshmallow. Torched skin and a raw interior. Scrumptious.

I called husband. He picked up dinner.

I will try again to conquer the grill.

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So far, she hasn’t…but there’s always tomorrow!

Remember, light the candle lighter and then turn on the gas.  If you use charcoal, I recommend you use a chimney for lighting.  Either way, as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus always said “Let’s be careful out there!”

Life’s A Beach!

As noted earlier, yesterday we got home from our vacation.  First came a day at Kings Dominion late last week… and then on to North Myrtle Beach for a week with the in-laws, their children, and the grandchildren. Fourteen (14) of us in a beach house…yep, it was a rocking time!

We saw some interesting things.  In Ashland, we saw a black Ford 150 pickup truck with tags that read “got ink” and had what appeared to be a set of plastic testicles handing from the trailor hitch.  Somewhere in NC, we bestowed the “I am Pretentious” award on an old style Saab with tags “Phd Phd”.  There is a McDonalds in Dunn, NC that has video screens to entertain customers in the drive up outside and fireplaces to warm customers inside.  Dolly Parton’s brother Randy has just opened a theater at Exit 171 on I-95 in Roanoke Rapids, NC.  It is visible from the interstate, and is quite the building!

Life at North Myrtle Beach, shag (the dance, not the, uh, verb) capital of the world, often seems like it is in a time warp.  Giorgio’s still sells it by the slice or the pie, they still shag the night away at Fat Harold’s, and the OD Pavillion is the home for music, food, and fun to young and old, pale or tanned.

Others change…the old five story concrete looking motel I used to stay at back in the day has been replaced by a fifteen story condo center (complete with lazy river), the horseshoe outside the Spanish Galleon is not quite as insame as it once was, and Crazy Zack’s is long gone…shoot, where can a young fellow get a beer at 0500 in NMB these days?

Maybe it was best summed up at the no name barber shop on NMB’s main street.  I went in for a long overdue haircut, and heard one of the regulars go on about some kid loitering at his store.  When asked when it started, he said, “I am not sure…the days sort of run together.”  Another regular replied, “Yep, that’s old age for you.  When you are young, the night’s blend together.  When you get old, the days run together.”

The beaches were less crowded than usual, as SC started school back in on 8.20.2007. The weather was hot, and the water was quite warm-none of this walk in slow and acclimate stuff!

Even so, there is plenty of fun to be had…and some highlights I can recommend:
-Go to Ella’s in Calabash, NC, to get some great seafood…and some might attractive t-shirts!
-If you want a great breakfast, head here in Cherry Grove, but be aware with a store name like that you might go light on the t-shirts. The food is great, the pancakes heavenly, the patrons racially diverse. Check the link, and then ponder what would happen if you opened a restaurant with that name (despite the heavy Uncle Remus focus) in NoVA…
-Want authentic Mexican? Head to Fiesta Mexicana in Myrtle Beach. Food is great, service is slow, so allow plenty of time for some great food.

We also got to play a round of miniature golf…and not just at any course, but at the home of the USPMG tour masters, the Hawaiian Rumble course. Nope, I kid you not…they even have shirt that mimics the lesser Masters golf event in August, GA.

It was a rollicking good time, replete with maximum sun and minimal sunburn…and now it is back to the grind stone, and fielding emails from folks who are irate I did not have internet connectivity while away.

Funny to think we came home from fun in the surf to weather a thunder and hail storm last night!

Meandering Ruminations…

The last month has been fully populated with landmark events, from my tenth wedding anniversary to SWMBO, WMD#2 6th birthday, a Double Toastmasters district win, work projects, plus the regular time commitments that come with a wife in grad school and two kids playing sports.

While the full content hiatus comes to an end shortly, there are a few things that have been bugging me recently I thought I should toss out to show Bwana ain’t dead yet.

**Lindsay Lohan is back in rehab.  What a shock.
**Cindy Sheehan is cracking up.  What a shock
**Aint’ it funny how all policy comes down to whose ox is being gored?  Liberal groups came out out against various death penalty additions saying they were not needed, as we already had a death penalty.  Conservatives say it is needed to give additional protection to certain categories of public officials due to criminal attitudes..  At the same time, conservatives come out against special penalties for actions that are considered hate crimes, noting there are already crimes against assault and battery and other crimes against the person.  Liberals reply these additional laws protect classes of people who require additional protection due to certain societal attitudes.
**Anyone heading toward the OBX this summer beware of the I-64 stretch heading west just east of Hampton. The road narrows from five lanes to two…and the merge tain’t pretty at all.
**By the same token, while at the OBX you cannot lose by eating at The Blue Point or the Red Sky Cafe. Also, Zero’s subs, legendary creature of Virginia Beach, has made it’s appearance with a store in Corolla…visit it and ask for Russ…still serving the best subs on the eastern seaboard!
**Months ago I urged the GOP to adopt and elocute a vision for where they want to lead Virginia. Amazingly, I was ignored. Now the Senate primaries are full of challenges between the “status-quo” incumbents and the energetic anti-tax challengers…and still no vision is being offered by either side.
**The public debate is regretably enhanced by the silence in the Virginia 37th senate race.
**I miss Ginsu knives.
**The old fashioned general store with all sorts of things you had no idea you needed until you happened upon it has been replaced by the “As Seen on TV” stores popping up here and there.
**Read the book “Made to Stick”. Well worth your time.
**Sanford’s “Invisible Prey”-excellent read.

That is about it for now…more later.