Bobby Flay Everyday!: Grill Storm

Welcome to Bobby Flay Everyday!

I am not an expert. I have never even taken a class. I have no formal training - but I love to grill. I love the food off the grill and I just like the idea, the fun and the relaxation of grilling. So naturally Bobby Flay is a hero. I have his books, I watch his shows and I try out his recipes. So my idea is to grill one of Bobby's grilling recommendations everyday and see how it goes. Bobby Flay Everyday!

The idea to grill and blog is not original. Julie Powell wrote a blog that became a book and then a movie when she cooked all 524 recipes from Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But this is not French Cooking - this is backyard, after work, tailgate, American male grilling. I grill outside in a man-cave in every kind of weather. There is no "grilling season" for me - its everyday, year-round. We will skip around through Bobby's books and TV shows and grill what we like. But grilling is more than food, its an experience - so we will also report on what music we listened to or what ball game was on while we were grilling. We will keep track of what we were drinking during the grilling and later with the food. I'll try to figure what went wrong when we fall short of Bobby's perfection and pass on any tips I know about or discover along the way. Maybe it will give others some ideas as well.

The photo is of me and two of my brother-in-laws roasting the Thanksgiving turkey on the grill last year. That's me on the far right. In real life I am a college professor and pilot. I have written 12 books, but they were all about flying - here we write about grilling. We write about Bobby Flay Everyday!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Grill Storm

Storms came across the courtyard just as I was preparing the grill. The electricity went out once, but the grill fire kept going so I kept grilling in the rain. The result was Grilled Salmon with Crunchy Sweet Mustard Vinaigrette (page 146 of Boy Gets Grill). I was a little worried about placing the salmon right on the grill grates - I usually grill salmon on a cedar plank (see previous blog with that recipe). Bobby's instructions worked out great however. He said to first put the filet on the grill skin side down and leave it there long enough to form a crust. The crust then makes it possible to turn the filet once without having the delicate fish flake apart. That technique worked perfectly. The glaze on the salmon was made of white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, finely chopped shallots, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper. In the photo you can see the glaze and the shallots. You can also see my umbrella and rain hat.

Weather Report:

What to drink? We choose the Toasted Head Chardonnay from Woodbridge, California. It's called Toasted Head because they actually use a torch to char the outside of the barrel while the wine is inside aging. This infuses the oak, rustic, vanilla flavor right into the wine. It is definitely one of our favorites.

Check them out at Toastedhead.com

What was on in the storm? Dorothy figures out a way to do a search inside our itunes file. She put in key words like rain, storm, etc. and within two seconds she had a rainy night playlist filled with a very eclectic mix. Here are just a few of the selections that we listened to while the lightning was flashing.

Umbrella by Rhianna

Downeaster Alexa by Billy Joel

Kaulana Kanekoe version of Somewhere over the Rainbow

Raining on Sunday by Keith Urban

Driven Rain by Paul McCartney

Storm by Lenny Kravitz

Spirit of the Storm by Kenny Chesney

This Tornado Loves You by Neko Case

and of course, I Love a Rainy Night by Eddie Rabbit

We saw Neko Case last summer when she and her band performed in Nashville. You really should hear her stuff if you have not already. http://www.nekocase.com/

A little storm never stops a true griller...it keeps pouring we keep grilling