We had to buy a new gas grill recently. Well, "had to" is a little strong I guess. We have two BBQ pits which G uses for his special slow smoked BBQ and they work fine for charcoal grilling. But in the summer months we grill several nights a week and having a gas grill is much more economical when you figure in the cost of charcoal. Heck Denver winters are often mild enough that we really grill year round. (Yes, we get loads of snow, but it melts fast as the sun is ever present throughout the winter.)
As always I researched the issue to death. Our last grill was quite fancy, very expensive and only lasted about seven years. I'm a firm believer that if you spend several hundreds of dollars (or more) on a household item, it should last far longer - although the overall quality of major appliances today repeatedly proves me to be a fool. Every single article and review I read said to not even bother buying anything other than a Weber. And so, we did it. It was way beyond what we wanted to spend even for a very basic model, but I definitely feel good about the purchase. I'm hopeful the quality will ring true and we'll still be using it in 20 years like my brother-in-law and his beloved Weber. We did luck out that the floor model had a sizable but harmless dent in it so we bargained and got a decent discount. We popped out the dent as soon as we got home.I'm so happy to have my gas grill back! It's wonderful to keep the indoor stove use to a minimum and still manage to be happy carnivores. Tonight was one of my absolute favorite meals....
The rice is a simple mixture of white basmati, fresh tomato, peaches, cilantro and the juice of one lime. We cooked it in a light chicken broth. I typically use Better than Bouillon if I don't have any homemade stock in the freezer. Homemade stock is a winter staple in this house and I'll write about it in the fall when we have the first stock making day. Another twist we do on this rice is to substitute coconut milk for half the liquid and toss in toasted coconut right before serving. It's absolutely to die for!
yumm-
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to find a good use for the peaches I canned last year, since no-one seems to want to eat them by themselves now that the Scientist is being all low carb on me. sweet-savory brown rice or maybe even sweet-savory WW couscous might be the solution.
One of the things I LOVE about my pressure canner is my ability to can my own broth. My freezer is too small for any significant storage of broth, and broth is one of those things that, at least in my life, makes sense to make only if you make a big batch. Now that I can preserve it, I make a giant batch a couple of times a year. I'm about due actually, and since the weather is going to hold cooler this weekend, I should put that on the list of things to do this weekend.
Oh that fish looks wonderful :) And that rice.....YUM!!! So fresh and delish :)
ReplyDeleteI love the whole process of making broth - the prep, the cook and even the picking of the bones. It brings back memories of my childhood and making broth with my mom and grandma. It also fills the house with the most delightful smell!
ReplyDeleteWe often do this dish with other grains - brown rice, quinoa, even barley. I've never tried it with couscous but that's a great idea!!
Definitely try the coconut version. Another yummy coconut milk thing we do is poaching fish directly in the milk and serving with the rice coconut milk dish. The flavors are so subtle that it's just perfection!
Oh, and other fruits work well too. Apricot (fresh or dried) and mango are fantastic. I like toasted slivered almonds with the dried apricot version.
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