Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Grillin!!

So my friends Jennay & Gustavo sent over a box of birds for me to cook up on my new grill. 


These are small Hens, there were 5 in this box, so I got right to it. I made a marinade and did some research on how to debone them. The deboning seemed a bit fussy for a grilled item so I opted to remove the back bone only and splay them out butterfly style.

I rubbed them down with the marinade, put them into bags and set them in the fridge to absorb all the goodness for a least 4 hours.

Marinade goes as follows.
4 Tablespoons Oil ( your choice olive or canola )
a bunch of garlic pressed ( I used 6 cloves for 5 birds totaling 6.25 pounds or 2.89 kg )
3 tablespoons of Chile Powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
add whatever other spices spark your fancy for poultry. I was going for the yummy Mexi grill flavor. 
When you're ready to grill, splay the birds on your hot grill. I did about 8-10 minutes per side until the juices in the thigh areas ran clear.

The butterfly option helps to make better contact with the heat and they cook evenly and quickly. All 5 birds took about 30 minutes total in shifts.

Towards the end of cooking I threw on some radishes just for fun, they were delish grilled, try it. Jennay made Mac n Cheese to go with our meal and it was splendid, she will be blogging this recipe very soon, yes that's right Jennay I just called you out Sistah.





Surprise !

Surprises are the BEST ever !!! My friend Kim, her husband Artie and my husband James set out to rally my people to surprise me with a gift. To say I am a hard person to surprise is an under statement. Yes I am a control freak, so what ??!! Kim was stealth and steadfast, as were all the lovely friends and family that chipped in to buy me the Grill I've been coveting for months. Isn't it cool ??


I came home from the farewell ( I'll explain in a minute ) happy hour my coworkers and friends put together to find Artie and James rushing to set up the grill.
James made a card with every ones well wishes for my new and exciting future.


This made me cry, all the love and well wishes were overwhelming. To have so much support as I take this huge leap into a whole new world is so encouraging. 
This September 13th, I will start my new adventure in the Culinary world at Laguna Culinary Arts in Laguna Beach, CA.
I will attend their Pro Chef program for 6 months and then who knows what will come next...... all I know is, I am the luckiest girl in the world !
Huge thanks to you all for being in my life, I love you all madly! 
Kim you are totally amazing, I so wish you lived next door. Hugs to you and Artie. To my James, thanks for being mine and believing in me, I love you always. Cheers !