grill lime FTW

it's safe to say that we have given in to the pre-packaged lime. we used to enjoy kentucky fried once a month (when yuh mother dragged you in town on a month end and promised you a box of chicken an chips just to keep yuh quiet). now almost all our social moves are based on the availability of a doubles man, gyro stand, bake and shark stall or cutters menu. ah mean, i love a sushi at levels or kaisan as much as the other dude, but i am yet to experience something that beats back the fun, excitement, economy, security and hygienic safety of a bess lime at a breddrin's house. so when pothound said he wanted to fire up his new grill, my saturday night was planned.

the case is usually that you bring something. no pressure really. whatever you feel like. just make it good enough to eat and enough to share. i was talking to my father earlier that day about grilling fish, so i went home and took some swordfish steaks out of the freezer.

when it comes to fish, lime is a must. i forgot to pick limes while i was at my parent's house, so i used some of this handy lime juice in de lime shaped bottle. it aight in emergencies such as these.

lime juice in dey waist!!

seasoning is also key. so in the trusty chopper i blazed some onion, garlic, shadon beni, pimiento, jalapeño, big leaf time and chive.

inside wid dat!!

after that, a little salt and black pepper to taste.

full coverage we dealin with.

ready to rock and roll. i covered it with two pieces of foil just in case i decided to wrap the fish in foil instead of putting it directly on the grill. options we talkin' 'bout.

so later on we pulled up at casa de pothound, who had his stuff ready and waiting.

he didn't waste any time in getting the grill ready. out with them coals.

let's see how sure fire these coals really are.

one match and the coals started. way different from the last time we grilled.

however, alco on hand was not different from the last time we grilled. tonight gin and tonic with a splash of lime... yes... that is the drink.

fiiiiiyuuuuuh!! these coals are coated with a chemical to make them light quickly, so the thing to do is to let the chemical burn off before getting your food on.

meanwhile, some potatoes went to boil.

not this potato though. this one went to bake.

oh... maybe i should explain the scene a bit. the grill man for the night set up a hot zone with the coals on one side and left the opposite side with only ambient heat so we had different temperatures on the grill. so potatoes could bake in one corner while meats could go over the blazing heat.

meanwhile we constructed a bbq sauce with some ketchup, worcestershire sauce, the end of a bottled bbq sauce with some onions, garlic, salt and black pepper. simple but effective.

oh yeah... and the first part of that beer that baidawi finished.

with the sauce done, it was time to get it blazin'.

the first of the meats to grace the hot zone.

so the idea was to cook the chicken a little,

then dip them in the sauce.

then back to the hot zone to finish off and get some colour. some corn went on around this time too. pothound shared a simple technique that just required wetting the corn and rubbing it with some salt before putting it on the lower temperature to start cooking.

thanks to some seamless multitasking, the potatoes were mashed with a little butter, sour cream, salt, pepper and chives. we did it rustic with the skins in. man food nah.

after the chicken, we put on some more coals for more blaze. don't worry, the corns returned also.

so steaks on high heat, corn still on low heat for now.

but slowly the tables started to turn.

soon the corn was in the hot seat getting some charing while the steaks looked on.

notice the potato still jibbin there in the foil.

we threw some wings on there too.

when they were done, pothound flipped them in some wing sauce and put them back on the grill for a bit.

time for the fish... and a few pineapple slices for good measure.

not too long in the hot zone. didn't want it to be too dry.

done!

and that was it. chicken breast, chicken wing, a steak, fish with a side of mashed potatoes and a side of corn. level eats, level drinks, level lime. on a saturday night, that's all the level i really need.

leh we bubble.

de real burger kings

when we at bring it to the table talk about having it your way, we mean from scratch. that's how we were feeling on sunday, so we fired up the grill and got some prime meat sizzling for a few friends.


dawi built the grill while i went inside to start things off. now my apologies. this was a little too difficult to get detailed with the photosnappin', so i didn't document much of the meat preppin'.


Anyway, I took 5 packs of minced beef from pricesmart and added onion, celery, chive, parsley, basil, pimento peppers, green seasoning, garlic powder, all purpose seasoning, jerk powder, black pepper, bitters, A1 sauce and some lime. personally, i don't like egg in the mix, so i didn't employ the services of any eggs. worked in all the seasoning with my hands, hence the lack of photos. It's all about the seasoning, so I added the seasoning in portions and worked it all around to ensure the seasoning found its way through everything.



dawi started off manning the grill.



with some back up from kory, who is skilled on de grill.


it must be noted that the ladies didn't have to lift a finger.



except to take some video footage.


and to bring a mit or two. but nothig much more than that.


dawi mapped out the most efficient start point on the grill. he also suggested that we should coat the burger in a mixture of cornmeal, jerk powder, garlic powder and black pepper. that is what's going on in the white bowl there.



so the routine was to pat the patties into shape, coat them and place them on the grill.



the coating proved to be interesting.


but the heat wasn't quite right.


we had to make more fire.



which in turn created more sizzle.


finally, the right temperature. the burgers started to cook properly. after flipping them, we loaded some of them up with cheese. more trial, less error. the coating made a nice tasty crust. not bad at all.



with the new found confidence, kory broke out the tricks. first, he patted out some big boy burgers. then he made a little cavity and put some cheddar in the middle.


then closed them up and shaped them into some neat patties.


they had the grill lookin good.


they turned out to be hearty helpings of beef with hot melted cheese on the inside.


much success. the burgers were money. we topped them with all sorts of things. condiments like ketchup, mustard and pepper sauce. mayo and cheese wizz. onions, pickles, lettuce and tomato.


it ranked high up on my list of burger experiences.







good job fellas. let's do it again sometime.