It was more than a few weeks ago that Tea of Tea & Cookies and I started talking about getting together for a grill session.
Oh Biggles, you’re boring me already with this story, you’ve done this before. “Oh, Hi, I’m Biggles and let’s grill today. Blah Blah BLAH !!!”
What if I told you Tea is a 2nd generation vegetarian?
That’s right, meat is just a bloody hunk of something or other as far she knows. Or at least it was until her doctor gave her a new diet. Many of the food stuffs she was used to consuming were removed and a new one added. Yup, you guessed it, MEAT.
What is meat? Meat is something an animal was kind enough to give up for us carnivores so we don’t starve to death. These might be Panthers, Bears, Moose & Egrets oh my! Alright, so we don’t eat so many panthers around here. And to be honest, I’ve never had egret. I have had panther though, and bear. When Tea began emailing me with a few questions about meat and its preparation, I thought it’d be nice to have her over for a grilling session. This way she could get a hands on demonstration of not only how to prepare meat, but how to cook it over an open fire (No, propane fires don’t count, ASS).
See, about 12 months ago, after attending one of Shuna’s classes, I thought that I should be doing my own grilling class. It’s something I know inside and out, something I have a passion for, why the hell not?
Here we find Tea’s hands massaging her grass fed beef roast. She’s always wanted to cook something with a net on it, pretty huh? She also brought a marinated flank steak she wanted to try out. She’d attempted the same cut previously and it came out tough and pretty inedible, that sucks. I’d purchased a Fatted Calf Porchetta roast, bacon, a chicken and a few other things.
Tea and I talked about spices, herbs, times and procedures. I had her play with some charcoaled wood and pointed out why things do what they do and for how long. She got to load up the stove and get the fire going. It’s an exceptionally visual art, prepping a cooking fire. While it’s something you can learn on your own as I did, it sure is nice to see what everything is supposed to look like from the beginning.
Here we find our grill after we’ve seared the roasts and now the chicken gets a turn. Take note of the roasts lounging in back with their brother, bacon.
This is pretty much how our afternoon went, cooking and talking and taking notes. Tea takes great notes, she uses a pen and paper! 4 hours outside and 3 hours eating, not bad for school, eh?
All in all I had a great time and so did Tea. Even her flank steak came out tender and juicy. All it needed was a little charcoal love.
Here is where you pay more attention. If taking a grilling class is something you’re interested in, say something in the Comment Section below or contact me directly at drbiggles at cyberbilly dot com. I don’t have any dates at the moment, but I would count on something within a few months, even sooner. Any thoughts? Ideas? Lemmie know, hey.
xo
ps – Now I remember what meat I forgot to mention. Look on the grill, in the far rear on the right? That’s a grass fed lamb steak. Oh man, it’s time for lunch, bye.
I miss “brother bacon”.I’ve been “adjusting” my eating habits and there is so little room for bacon.I could really just go face down on your grill and die a happy man.
I will sign up. I would like to learn from the Master.
Reading the title in my RSS reader, I thought just maybe you were grilling up the arms of a vegetarian …
I’d sign up. My passion for cooking has never lined up with space for a grill, so I’d love to get ready for the day when–at long last–I too have a grill.
I will work for cheap to be the TA of this class. In fact, I’ll pay you…….c’mon man, what you need: “artisanal” almond wood, a pre-smoker charcoal monkey, sharpening-steel holder (I’ll supply my own leather gauntlet glove), uh…….grease bucket tender? Let me know….
Hey,
Dang, that’s quite line-up. I know the Dairy Queen is opting in as well.
Maybe we should all get together in March, anyone know what the weather will be like?
Biggles
Me too, if it doesn’t happen when we’re in NYC. Maybe even the Bald Guy also.
I’m going to be back in town for the month of July. If you have the class then, I am so there…
I’d sign my husband up! (He doesn’t let me near the grill.)
Am I too late? (Cranky too.)
Looks like you’ve already got enough students for a couple of sessions.
What a great afternoon! Thank you, my friend. I really am the luckiest (former) vegetarian on the block. It’s not often that you get to apprentice with a Master. I’d sign up again just for the fun of it (and for the bacon, of course).
Hey,
There’s always room for a few more. It’d be nice to have about 10 or so, no less than 8.
Biggles
While my hubby is good with a grill, I think it would be wonderful to learn a few tips from a master. So I would be happy to sign him up (and if he feels insulted, I will come myself). So count Mr. B in!
Not sure where you are, but I am pretty sure it’s not near here. Pity. As a long-term vegetarian contemplating a flirtation with meat-eating (does that sound tentative enough?) I could sure use those classes.
I am SO in need of a class like this! Since moving to CA 17 years ago, I have made it my goal to learn to grill. This was not a skill I developed in the northeast. To date I am woefully inadequate. OK – 14 of my CA years I lived in a studio apartment with no yard and no place to grill. But for the last three years here in the East Bay? What’s my excuse? I have none. I remain the Queen of Mediocre Grilling.
Sigh. I would sign up for your class in an Oakland minute.
Help…
If my wife would let me, I’d fly from Atlanta to CA to participate. I’m not kidding. If you post a schedule, maybe I could swing some tickets to the Bay area. I’m really not kidding.
Oh, and seeing your svelt self on Tea’s blog makes me reconsider my whole Weight Watchers thingie. Maybe I need more artisanal bacon, less low fat crap.
Put two more on your list of students! My sweetie and I would love to take a grill class. Do you ever do whole chickens?
I hope you’re saving a space for me and the Potato Non Grata, Meat Man! I’m a born-again vegetarian too and a grill virgin. I promise not to sully your barbecue with anything green, however, and if you time this right I will bring fresh-from-the-farm flesh.
Hey, can one grill uncured pork belly?
bacon….
I would love to take a class on grilling since I plan on doing much of it during the summer down in SoCal. My main problem, however, is that I graduate from Berkeley in May and will be moving down shortly after. Hopefully, there can be a class before the ides of May.
Hey everyone and Sergio,
Keep your ears piqued. Let’s see if we can’t get something together within the next 5 to 6 weeks, eh?
Biggles
I have always been thinking about being a vegetarian, but when I see meat in the supermarket I always think, “If it goes rotten, that animal’s life will have been a waste.”