Does anyone know how to grill in a torrential downpour? If so you might want to share some tips. See, here we are in June. Normally we don't have to deal with rain in June. So, mom suggested that we grill a leg of lamb. A few months ago we had got a whole leg of lamb and since we would have ten mouths to help us eat it today mom suggested (demanded would be more accurate) that I grill it. And then an uncontrollable factor gave us a whack on the head.
Being a morning person I got up at seven-thirty. I woke up laying on my side staring out my bedroom window. After a couple of moments I had the normal order of thought returned to my head. Mmmmm. Sunday. I'm cooking. (Yawn). Oh! I'm grilling! Hmm. It's cloudy. @$##.
That's when I became consciously awake.
I've spent the whole morning with half of my brain sorting out the grill problem and the other half doing whatever was being done.
Ultimately though you just have to face the problem head on. Even after two rain-soaked hours at Oaks Park, our neighborhood's amusement park.
I have no idea what I should be doing. I missed the first hour of cooking and now I feel lost. Oh well.
One of the things I don't like about the days when I cook is that I never have time to write. Now I have time though. I've made a salad and prepared the garlic bread. I've glazed the peaches and watched the leg o' lamb come off the grill (this is the least involved I've ever been in a main course. All I did was stick a thermometer in twice!)
All our guests have arrived bringing us three additional dogs. I have a real good feeling about tonight.
The table has been set but there is something missing. Sure the people aren't there but there's a great big empty spot on the table. It's the lamb! That's what's missing! How long does it take to carve a simple leg of lamb dad!? Ten years?
The ten years have passed and we have eaten.
It was really good eatin' too. The lamb was beautiful and smoky with tart undertones. The salad was dominated by the dressing which was tart yet sweet like a preserve. The garlic bread was perfect and the peaches were tart, not sweet, and I didn't like them but everyone else did so they must actually be pretty good. This was a feast in every sense of the word. I can hear laughter ringing from the dining room. Laughter is brightest where food is best.
Chief -- Did you marinate the lamb? If so, with what, and for how long? Was it a boneless butterflied leg? Seared and then almost smoked?
ReplyDeleteWe had some lamb loin chops from the farmers mkt on Ssaturday and they were tasty -- marinated in olive oil, thyme, rosemary, garlic and black pepper. Then grilled.
Of course, the top-of-mind for lamb in these parts is mint jelly and, separately, bbqed mutton.
Sorry you aren't going to make it to Maine this summer. If I can get a wifi or 3G up there, maybe I can guest edit a lobster boil blog!
Anyway, keep up the good work.