I haven't really been using my Webers as much as I would like. This was a result of backlog of pulled pork, ribs, pepper stout beef and chicken in the freezer. I've also been busy. Though I wasn't really in a funk, nothing was really calling out to me either. That ended today. I was a cooking fool!
First I did some bacon on the Q-220. I really like to do bacon this way because it's easy to get it crisp w/out burning it and greasing up the kitchen with bacon grease spatters. The bacon was for a barley salad I made from the barley I baked yesterday.
Next I roasted red peppers. When they go on sale, I like to roast them and make a sort of roasted red pepper/hummus spread. I'll finish that up tomorrow.
I had more designs for the coals I lit for the peppers. First the sprouts and onions.
The onions were sort of a substitute for grilled onions (as in grilled in a skillet.) They are there to support the main event:
Liver!
Now... Before you dismiss it, you really need to taste properly prepared liver before you make judgement. I soaked this in milk for several hours this afternoon. This time I used a mix of about half and half skim milk and buttermilk. I figured that the extra acidity from the buttermilk would tenderize the liver even more (and I think it worked.) Next I drained the pieces of liver on a cake cooling rack before dredging in a mix of flour with some salt and pepper. Before I put these on the grill, I squirted some canola oil on them. With the flour they looked so dry and, well, floury! By this time the coals had burned down a bit but the grate was still hot enough to produce decent grill marks. I flipped the liver twice and took it off before it was overcooked. It came out very nice! This is the first time I've done it on the grill. I usually cook it in a cast iron pan on the stove. I think the charcoal adds a nice layer of flavor and the coating is not greasy like when it is fried. I'll be doing this again! In any case, I don't really care that you think it is good. SWMBO likes it and that's what matters to me.
Technically, the first thing that went on was a ham in my 14 WSM. It was an ordinary cured and cooked store bought ham, but I find that smoking them for a few hours really adds to the flavor. That went on before I ran to the store to pick up a few other things I needed.
It feels good to be back.