OK, last night went really well....A couple of key items...
Started off with the crostinis. My cousin prepped a few of them but then did not put enough oil on the bottom. The first ones looked like they were a little burnt as it was a RAGING hot fire. I gave those to my wife, MiL, Cousin's wife. Sorry ladies, gotta take one for the team. Although they said they did not taste burnt. Then I did another set. He ate one and said he really liked it. OK, right? Whatever. What else is he going to say? Then he said, "I'm going to give you the best compliment a food critic can give," he then grabbed the last crostini and said, "I'm going back for seconds."
Dad wanted to do some shrimps he had brought back from the Gulf a couple of weeks ago. Put a rasberry chipotle salsa on them. Pretty good, but not all that necessary IMO. We had plenty
Dad put my fatty right over the fire so it cooked reaaaalllly fast. That was our only real set back. It was a bit dry but still really good.
The Ribs came out stellar. Nothing fancy. Rubbed the night before. Indirected for about 3 hours. Great smoke ring. He ate almost an entire slab. Seriously, he mowed down about 8-9 bones.
WE talked about steaks and he said how he wants this grill with an infared burner that gets up to like 1200 degrees like Ruth Chris. He loves a salty outer crust and a heavy sear. So knowing that I did just that with his. A great Medium Rare. So, then I asked. "You are a food critic. Eaten the best this town has to offer and probably the country, so what do you think of my steak. Everyone raves about my steaks but what are they going to say after I just fed them a free steak?
He said, "well the crust at Ruth Chris is just the best there is. So they have you there. But I have to say the interior is fantastic. When you told me about the marinade I thought it was quite unusual but it really adds a great sweetness to the meat that is just incredible."
We also had some lamb. One in a basil pesto marinade. One in a honey mustard, rosemary marinade. There is a big debate as to which is better. My dad, my cousin's wife, my mom like the pesto better. Me, my cousin and the food critic like the other. The critic said, "oh the basil is awesome as well. I would be really content with either as a meal."
While the lamb and the steaks were resting I did the lettuce and everyone raved about it again. Got another recipe for the lettuce to kick it up even higher....
At the end of the day he took home another half slab of ribs for himself and half of one of the steaks for his wife.
I asked what to expect in the article. He just said, "I can't really say till I go over my notes tomorrow."
As a parting gift we gave him a bottle of Meeker's "Hand Print" Merlot. The Sat before we went to a wine tasting where the Molly Meeker was pouring. Charlie wasn't there this year. Two years ago dad and I talked to both of them for about 2 hours at this same place as the crowd thinned out and it was just us. Charlie is the former head of MGM studios who went into wine making a couple decades ago. Just like most wineries, their lower end stuff is not all that good but their higher end stuff is fantastic - the Barbarian, Blakenheim's Frankenstein, Hand Print, etc. The hand print get the name as every bottle is grabbed by two hands covered in bright pain before being shipped out. Very original. We had Molly sign it. She wrote, "To Joe B, from our hands to yours. Charlie and Molly Meeker. Compliments of the Grillin Fools."
