Preparing For Delicious

The expectation is killing me! With the warm holiday weekend, grilling was in full force (actually I grill in the chilling cold winter, but so what!) and I was without my Delicious!

Supposedly Delicious is still on schedule for early June and I have been dutifily preparing. Over the Memorial Day weekend I visited Penzey's Spices and stocked up on the necessities - Chicago Steak Seasoning and BBQ 3000 along with a few other items.

Knowing Delicious will take up most, if not all, of my freezer space I have been timing the inventory. I'm down to only a few frozen flank steaks and fish fillets along with one frozen bag of chopped pork for the last stir fry of the season. Once this inventory is gone, the freezer will be dedicated to red meat and breat milk. A winning combination.

I've been working on my grill skills as well. I mentioned awhile ago that during my stint in the 'burbs I worked on masterly grilling on a Weber using real charcoal. However, City ordiances forbid charcoal grills on balconies and decks, but I can use a gas grill. Nothing like a combustible, flammable tank of gas on my porch, but oh well!

Having to succumb to grilling with gas, I have had to relearn grill times and temps. But check out these grill marks on some pork loin I recently did. I find the key is to lightly coat the meat (or chicken) with oil after I apply the dry rub - I use grape seed as it has a high smokepoint - and this helps seal in the juices. This technique will be invaluable to keep the lean, grass fed Delicious, well, delicious!