An 8,500 Foot High BBQ !!!

There's always something special about a barbecue, particularly if you're in the wilderness and about 8,500 feet up the side of a mountain.

As is obvious from my other posts I have a great big grill just dandy for a backyard BBQ for a dozen folk, or more. But its a little tough to haul a grill like that around.

Now folks who don't keep kosher can of course just bring a bag of charcoal, or some wood, and cook their food on a filthy public grill in some park. But we have to bring our own - this time a brand new ultra-portable gas grill which we got on end of summer closeout at King Soopers for the princely sum of $6. (Which may be what it's really worth, since the stem the gas regulator screws into broke first time out).

So off we go to Rocky Mountain National Park and Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous road in the lower 48 states, with friends and their kids. Hungry friends and their even hungrier kids...so naturally the first stop after a couple of hours in the car is at a wonderful picnic area at an elevation of about 8,500 feet.

Ah, the menu ... your typical America BBQ - Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Roasted Corn, Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, and the expected condiments.

For the Cole Slaw - shredded red and white cabbage, shredded carrot, and some dressing (mayo, rice vinegar, sugar, salt, nice and simple).

Potato Salad a bit fancier ... chopped up celery, red onion, and hard boiled eggs added to the boiled potatoes. Potato Salad does take a little technique. You don't want to boil them too long or they'll turn into mashed potatoes, nor for too short a time, obviously, or they'll be raw. Then you peel them hot (under flowing water is my technique), slice them thick, and gently toss with the other ingredients. The dressing sounds suspiciously like the Cole Slaw dressing, only I added some honey mustard.

As for the rest, well I can't claim to have made the hot dogs, though I'd like to learn how some day. For variety, half were luscious quarter pound knocks for the adults, the nice fat kind that really don't fit in the standard hot dog rolls. And the hamburgers were just plain, unadulterated chopped meat (yes, I do have fancier ideas, but hey this was a picnic in the mountains, so simply was the word!).

And the corn. Ah, the corn. Roasted in the husk, a technique that brings out the maximum sweet flavor. I wet them down first - at home I let them soak for a while before roasting on the big grill.

All washed down with home made lemonade (okay, I'm addicted to the simple recipe on the Realemon bottle - 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, 2 quarts water). And to top it off, of course, nothing would do but some fresh watermelon.

Watermelon - The End To A Perfect BBQ

A Dot Of Dash

One of my five kids is in town for a rare visit - so of course off comes the grill cover for a quick one, and off to SuperTarget, hopefully to find a little kosher London Broil and some chicken quarters.

It's mixed grill time! But it's got to be simple. No time to marinate for even an hour or two... or preferably longer ... as much as that makes for great chicken.

First, though, comes the question of planning out some side dishes. This time we're talking really time challenged and thus basic. So for starters, a simple spinach salad (baby spinach, aragula, carrots, sliced red onion and sliced mushrooms) topped with some croutons and a choice of dressings.

On the side, super simple but super yummy roasted onions. Nothing at all to do but make an X in the stem end, wrap in foil, and toss on the Coleman grill while its warming up. And then wait another quarter hour - or more - at up to 600F - until the onions get soft. Now just about any kind of onion will work, but the dish does become super-special with sweet onions such as Vidalia (my favorites).

Nothing intricate about the rest of the meal.

The only thing on the chicken was a powdering of one little secret ingredient. Okay, not a secret. I used Mrs. Dash. (A dot of dash, if you will.) Then on the already-hot grill the chicken goes, turn the heat way down, and cook. With luck there won't be enough chicken fat dripping to cause flames that immolate dinner.

As for the London Broil - I'd personally like to see the brand of glatt kosher meat that our Target sells slice its London Broil a bunch thicker than they do. What I did get was adequate, but when the meat is thinner one must be careful to rescue it from the grill before its overdone. Of course my wife and I disagree on what done means - she likes it more done, I like it so rare that a good vet could almost bring it back to life.

But there it is - a really basic, but really nice, mixed grill.

Ah, and to wash it down, some brewski. This time a really tasty light ale (I'm not into most American beers, rather preferring something with more body such as ale - and puh-lease don't ever suggest to me a "light beer" -- that's dishwater). We're drinking 5 Barrel Pale Ale from the O'Dell Brewing Co. in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The simplest mixed grill - easy and delicious