Again, I am reminded of my true love. (Note: he's
not my one and only true love.) George Foreman.
I have a bad habit. Although I love cooking, I also find it very easy to go off "just for a minute" to take care of other business and leave whatever is on the burner untended. Then I get distracted and return only when the distinct smell of silverstone burnt to a crisp and flaking off of the side of the pot reaches my nostrils.
In the old days before I accepted myself, I would berate myself and then replace whatever pot was lost with one of equal quality and value (aka cost). Then I got smart. I started going to Target and buying whatever was cheapest of a comperable size, knowing that I was never going to change. I would always, in the end, burn my cookware up. Why throw good money after bad habits?
Earlier this evening, Eric came over for our regular Wednesday evening dinner. I am trying to eat lighter and, keeping Lucy and her five-color-vegetable assignment in mind, decided to grill some vegetables to build a salad around. Corn (yellow), carrots (orange), red bell pepper (red), onion white and purple (white & purple), and mushrooms (I count them as white) were marinated for a short while (separately) in 'Orange Citrus Marinade and Grilling Sauce" then set on my George Foreman grill to cook. While that was going on, I boiled up some corkscrew pasta and we cubed up some previously grilled chicken that was stored just for this purpose. With mixed greens and dressing added, it's the perfect one-bowl meal. I served it up with crusty sourdough bread and watermelon for dessert.
Well, I had so much corn to grill that I ended up not using it all for the salad; electing instead to leave it in it's marinade bowl to grill after Eric left. And threw it on my "George" upon his departure. Then I went to my desk (in bedroom) to give my regular blogs a 'quick read' and forgot all about it.
An hour later, I decided that I needed something in front. As I walked up the hallway, I could smell a sweet odor. "Hmmmmmm" I thought. "Uh oh. Maybe the dishwasher has gone dead again." But no. It occured to me as I saw the tendrils of smoke wafting across my living room that I did it again. I cooked to smithereens.
My grill is a new one. I used my old George so often that I actually wore the non stick coating right off of it. After Christmas, Target had them on sale, so I broke down and bought one with the removable plates. And although liking the convenience of being able to throw them in the dishwasher, I wasn't crazy about the heat distribution. They just didn't get as hot or cook as evenly as the old fashioned George. Or, I should say, I didn't like them as much until tonight.
When I got to the grill, I first noted that the light had gone out. That's a good thing. George is temperature controlled. He turns himself off when he reaches a certain temperature and then turns himself on again when he cools down a bit. At least I didn't burn the kitchen down.
Then I braced myself and opened the lid. What was formerly known as corn was a black charred mass all over the bottom plate. I knew I was cooked. But I experimentally took the forkey thing that comes with the grill and scraped it up a little. And got the shock of my evening.
Although the corn was destroyed, the plate was as good as ever. The non stick coating had not burnt itself off. After George cooled completely down to room temperature, I washed his plates and they were perfect. As if nothing had ever happened.
I think I can live with the "less hot" George and promise never to complain again.
First I grilled the vegetables. Fresh tomatoes from the farmers market, topped by salt & pepper, Italian Bread Crumbs, fresh grated parmesan cheese, and fresh chopped green onion.
I decided to make a five-color-vegetable side dish along with the tomatoes for health reasons, but also to add bulk to the meal. Red Peppers (red), corn (yellow), carrots (orange), purple onion (purple or dark), cauliflower (white), Bok Choy (green), and Asparagus (green) were marinated in Moondance Marinade, then cooked in my grill top wok.
Once the vegetables were complete, I took chicken breasts (skinless & boneless) which I had pounded flat earlier (best to do that between two sheets of either waxed paper or Saran Wrap) and marinated in a Citrus marinade. When you pound the breasts flat, they cook faster and more even. Also, they look like bigger portions and I, for one, am likely to eat less.
All of my dogs approved of me cooking chicken.
So did I. But the one thing that I did not approve of in the process, was burning myself. I recently - on doctor's orders - added a Medic Alert bracelet as standard dress. It hadn't occured to me that it would heat up and burn my wrist. It did. And the worst part was that it got so hot that I could not get the clasp undone to take it off. Days later, I am still suffering, even though Sandy & Christiane gave me ointment that does help.
