I Finally Have a New Grill

After much debate, we finally bought ourselves a grill.  You may recall our tragic grill story.  Many family members and friends insisted that Weber was the way to go, and I don't doubt their judgement, but our finances just don't justify the cost of a Weber.  Even though Rich only grills when there is an audience, I allowed him to make the choice.  He was the one who labored year after year keeping our old grill in operating condition, so he chose a Brinkmann, which has a great website that allows you to buy replacement parts cheaply and easily.    Plus, the grill was only $200 including tax.  Rich assembled it for me and even bought a cover. 

It is a bit overbuilt, I think, but it's really hard to find something simple these days. 

Here is a picture that shows part of the grill doing its magic on some Asian eggplants (notice that there is plenty of room for a glass of wine:

The eggplants were really very pretty, slender purple things, but Rich was thoroughly uninterested in eating them, so I did what I do with many of his vegetables:  I hid them.  (It occurs to me that if we stopped using the word "eggplant", and started calling them "aubergines" like the French do, eggplant might have a broader appeal.)

Rich's favorite dish in the world is Chicken Tikka Masala, the Indian restaurant mainstay.  I marinated chicken breasts overnight in yogurt and Penzey's Tandoori spice mix.  When I have more time and energy, I mix up my own spices.  It was, like, 80% humidity and 92 degrees out, so I was taking shortcuts, though.  In cooler weather I also make my masala sauce from scratch, but I used a jar of Patak's to prevent me from slitting my wrists in misery.  So anyway, I grilled the eggplant and the marinated chicken, diced both up, and tossed them in a pot of masala sauce.  I left some chicken out of the sauce for the kids, which they thought was delicious.  I also sliced some raw carrots for them.  Add some boiled white rice and homemad nan, and we had a great little meal. 

Rich ate a few chunks of the eggplant, but he was not fooled in the least.  Oh well.  I ate the aubergines, and loved them!