Screw The Rain, It's Time To Cook

That was last night's battle cry.

Yesterday, the weather was cloudy, warm, and humid at 1:00 pm.

By 3:30 pm it was blustery and cool.

By 5:30 pm it was downright miserable.

Such is life when planning to grill outside in the late Summer. Actually, I was not disappointed to see the heat leave. The heat doesn't agree with Christine and after the hottest Summer on record, I'm over it.

Still, the windy conditions made heating up the grill a slow process. For a moment I considered throwing a stick of Crisco on it to start a small blaze under the grates.

Never discount the "arson option" when trying to get a grill heated up.

However, I was not in a real hurry. Instead of igniting the innards of the grill, I covered the side air vents with some aluminum foil.

In the event of a gas grill explosion, I'm quite positive that this technique will void both the gas grill's warranty and your homeowners insurance simultaneously.

The grill finally heated up to a respectable 450F.

I went inside and removed last night's "Guest of Honor" from the refrigerator.


A nice seasoned and marinated flank steak.

When I went to the butcher's shop a couple of days ago, they had eight really nice flank steaks laying out in the case. Any one of them would have done a food magazine cover proud.

After careful consideration lasting two seconds, I asked the woman behind the counter for the biggest one.

Like a wise man once said, "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.".

Speaking of "overdoing", that is precisely the reason why I left the flank steak in the refrigerator until the last minute. I wanted it to come out medium rare. It is a fairly thin piece of beef. By keeping it cold like that, I've found that it allows for a larger margin of error. Especially on a blustery night where the gas grill is having difficulty maintaining a steady temperature.

I kept a close eye on it. Fortunately my instincts were right.


It came out perfect.

It needed to rest for a bit. Christine passed the time with a nice cool glass of Pinot Grigio. I passed the time with a celebratory vodka and bitter lemon.

I also took that time to make one of my favorite side dishes.


Oven roasted herbed potatoes.

I could eat these every night.

I have been known to actually make these as a snack.

They come out crispy, peppery, and with a big herb flavor. When done right, they are not in the least bit greasy.

"New" red, white, or "Yukon Gold" potatoes work the best. You can use regular potatoes, but "New" potatoes have a creamy sweetness that really highlights the herbs and olive oil.

Today, the weather cleared. Christine and I got an early start to the day. We did some volunteer work at a golf tournament. The group raises money to provide grants to teachers for special projects not funded by the local school board. It's headed up by a retired teacher who had the misfortune to have me as one of his students in high school.

I figured a payback was in order.

I have to tell you, I really enjoyed myself. It was great to see some old friends. It was a perfect day to be outside. Best of all, we had our own golf cart to tool around in.

If you haven't tooled around in a golf cart, you don't know what you're missing.

Tonight's going to be a quiet night in.

Tomorrow, I leave the cooking pictures behind and delve back in to politics.

I feel a rant coming on.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.