Dave, The Pit Master.

I will be the first to admit it, but even with 10 years as a professional line cook, I was never one to tackle outdoor grillin'.   First,  having only lived in apartments,  there was never a place to have a grill set up.  ( Fire codes and all that... Seems they were always afraid the tenets would burn the place down or something. )  But you would think the principles are all the same as cooking over a regular professional grill or stove top.  

And you would be wrong! 

Now I'm not talking the "cheater" gas grill that Home Depot wants you to invest half your monthly salary in.  The ones that are essentially a flame broiler that you can move around outside.   I'm talking about the simple wood burning, charcoal flaming, real coals cooking BBQ's.   Yes, they are fairly inexpensive and sometimes dirty.   And they definitely do not look as sexy as the $$$ ones from Home Depot.   But to chase flavor,  sometimes you have to simplify things up. 

Now I know that charcoal brickets happen to add flavor to the food you are grilling up.  But how do you get those brickets to light without soaking them overnight in lighter fluid?   Behold!   The Charcoal Chimney!

Who tells you these things?   I never head of them.   And had I actually seen one at Menhards or someplace, I probably would have had no idea what is was used for.   For those of you in the "know,"   this might be common knowledge, but I assure you, I had no idea the value of such  a thing.   

The theory is simple:  Load up some paper at the bottom,  followed by some new coals, and then topped off with some old coals. ( Yes!  He reuses the old coals,  but we will get back to that....)  Light the paper and watch the charcoal work its magic.   Easy!   No flaming lighter fluid fights with your brother...( the Pyromaniac.)  No firecrackers set off under a pile of brickets. (My brother's Idea... again.)   No more singed hands or fingers when the last of the matches burn out and the charcoal is still not lit.  

Additionally,  The food will not taste like gasoline.  (Another one of my brother's Ideas.... Yes,  he used gasoline to start the fires.  )  Or lighter fluid.   The natural flavor-enriching smoke and heat from the charcoal are allowed to take center stage. 

Ok, I will admit that that little trick blew me away.  (What can I say?  I'm easily impressed.)   But then the other techniques used are equally impressive.   Dave caught a number of Coho from Lake Michigan  and we grilled them up with some Brats and Home Fries. Add a couple friends and relatives and you have a summer cookout worth remembering.  Simple food, simple techniques,  and good company to make some memories.  Of course you have add in some beer and throw in some stories.   Did I mention that the temps have been hovering in the high 50's to low 60's here?   Just enough wind to keep any bugs away.   A beautiful evening to remember. 

After the food was all cooked up,  Dave covered the grill and shuts off any air supply so the coals do not continue burning.   The coals that are left will be reused for the next time.    This is another practice that I never knew:  Saving your coals for next time?   First,   my family only grilled out three times, EVER!  (I think.)

My brother in His College days....

  Probably because they did not want my brother setting himself on fire. ( Again!)  So the idea of saving charcoal was probably never considered.   We simply filled the grill with water and threw out any remaining coals. After that, we just made a camp fire and cooked marshmallows and hotdogs over the open flame.

Well that was fun.   I got to blog about grillin' and make a little fun of my brother. (those stories are true, by the way.  Perhaps slightly embellished or missing context, so your imagination will run wild.)  Other than that,  I managed to do a little chalking today.   The sidewalk around here is not the best where there are large public gatherings, so I have to go places  where people may not get to see the mural.   Ah well,  it gets me outside to breathe the fresh air.   So I can't complain.   

Small wonders all around.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week this week.   I will be starting a new Gig a Week from Monday.  So I may not have much opportunity to blog.  Then again, I have not been the best at Blogging this month anyway. 

A new best friend I met in the Park.

( Hence, the long post about grillin'...)  Let me just way the World is filled with many wonderful things.   And it is a shame that I can't catalog everything I find beautiful.   There simply is so much.  I'm sure if you look close enough, you will find some of that wonder as well.   Thanks for stopping in.