Grillicious

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I don't care if Memorial Day hasn't yet arrived - now is the time for all good men to begin making every single weekend meal on a gas grill.

I live off my gas grill in the summertime. There's the standard steak, hot dog and hamburger fare, but gas grills can do so much more. Learning to master your grill is the non-wuss way to challenge the long-held notion that men shouldn't be placed in charge of meal preparation. (Taking gourmet cooking classes is the wuss way...)

For instance, last night at Craig's place, I was appointed grillmeister and prepared the following:

  • Hamburgers
  • Hot dogs
  • A huge steak that was about 2 inches thick and about the size of a frisbee
  • Eight lobsters
  • Tuna steak
  • Corn on the cob
  • Chilean sea bass
  • Chicken cutlets

I love grilling, and I'm convinced that there's no hot meal that can't be prepared on a gas grill. Corn takes on a nice flavor when you grill it - leave the husks on and soak the ears of corn in water. Put the ears of corn on the middle rack and keep them moist by brushing water on them every few minutes as you turn them. It adds a nice roasted flavor.

And Chilean Sea Bass? We marinated ours in a Tupperware container in some lemon and butter for about 2 hours. When it was time to cook, I doubled over a piece of aluminum foil, turned up the edges and put the thing - foil and all - right on the grill next to the chicken cutlets. I got tons of compliments on it.

There are some that say charcoal is the only way to go, and they look down on us propane enthusiasts. But who the heck wants to sit around for an hour and a half waiting for coals to get to the right temperature? My grill warms up in five minutes. And despite what anybody tells you, everything doesn't need to have the "smoky flavor of mesquite" to be appealing.

I wonder if I can go an entire summer preparing all meals on the grill...