Going in for the Grill

The season is upon us, ya'll.

My wife and I just bought a Brinkman smoker and pit. It was a housewarming gift to us from us. Our old grill was Aussie something-or-other and the charcoal trap rusted out, the tires fell off, and the wood warped beyond all reason. But, we had it for near 5 years, and I think I paid only $50 for it brand new. It just... outlived its usefulness.

I digress.

The reason I bring this up is that the grill is a great way to maintain your perfect GFCF diet. The GFCF diet consists mainly of meats, veggies, and fruits. It's diabetes friendly, assuming you stay away from all those grass grains.

So, here's the trick.

My wife and I did some chicken to pioneer our first voyage with the Brinkman. We got some natural hickory charcoal from Home Depot.
Don't follow the directions on the back of the bag for lighting the charcoal. It's a much better use of your time and money to invest in a chimney starter.

This is a chimney starter that has already been started. There's a small compartment underneath meant for housing bits of newspaper or other kindling. The charcoal is poured in the top. The newspaper underneath is lit, and watch as the fire takes over. Once the charcoal has the characteristic white stuff on the outside, carefully pick up the chimney and pour out the contents into the grill.

The Grill
The grill is broken up into two areas, the direct and indirect.

It's important to maintain this segregation. They don't like to play with each other.

So, once the charcoal is poured into the grill, replace the grill plates and wait until you can hold you hand about three inches above the direct heat for close to eight seconds. That's when it's ready. Open up the vents about 2/3 of the way.

The Grilling
The key to good meat is heat first, move second. Slap that chicken (which we butterflied) down on the hot part of the grill meat-side up. Flip after six minutes, then flip and move to in between the direct and indirect heat after another four. The reason is because the breast meat is tender and fragile. You don't want to overheat it or char it. Keep the chicken meat-side up.

For steak, the process is similar, except after you sear, move completely over to the indirect heat.

Burgers can stand a sear on both sides and move to in between the two heat sources.

We are fortunate enough to have an exterior thermometer on our grill. We like to keep the inside temperature around 275 Fahrenheit degrees. This ensures the slow and steady heat animal protein requires.

Add charcoal as needed to maintain the temperature.

If you don't have an exterior thermometer, just use the hand check. If it gets to the point where you can hold your hand five inches above the grill plates without that burning feeling, add charcoal.

Anyways, I'll get into the fine art of spicing your chicken later.

Chayote Squash-ed

There is an abundance of good people within my family and my wife's family combined. In that abundance there are numerous good cooks. My family started and sold a successful restaurant chain in Nacogdoches called The Hot Biscuit. My wife's family has traditions passed down from generation to generation that have been tweaked, augmented, simplified, and purified. That being said, my wife and I developed an improvement on an old family recipe, Calabacita.

For those of you who don't read, speak, or understand Spanish, Calabacita means 'little squash.' Based on that ginormous context clue you can assume the dish has something to do with squash. Normally, the recipe calls for as many squash as you want. We traditionally add three medium sized zucchini or yellow squash for 4-6 servings. However, after digging through the veggie crisper we found that we had only 1 zucchini and 2 chayote squash. We picked up the chayote on a whim. I had heard from a Spanish friend of mine that the aforementioned squash was a main staple for the Aztec and comes directly from the Aztec pronounciation, chayotli. The fruit of the plant are light green and pear shaped. Once sliced down the middle, you will see a soft white flesh and one large seed. That seed should not be tossed out with the trash. You can fry it up or eat it raw. In fact, you can eat the whole squash raw like many other squash out there. This all intrigued me, so I decided to get a couple.

I'm glad I did. We found some other stuff to work with and this is what we came up with.

Calamitous Calabacita

2 lbs Chicken breast, sliced

4 tbsp EVOO

1 Sweet potato, sliced thin

2 Chayote squash, halved, seed removed, and cubed 1"

1 Italian squash, cubed 1"

1/2 White onion, quartered and sliced thin

3 Cloves garlic, minced

3 Jalapenos, minced

1 Serrano, minced

3 Roma tomatoes, cubed, pulps in tact.

1 8 oz. can black beans

1 16 oz. bag frozen corn

1/2c. Veggie broth

2 tbsp Adobo seasoning

2 tbsp Ancho chili powder

2 tbsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Top with sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, lime, and shredded Oaxaca, queso fresco, manchego, mozzerella, your imagination is limitless.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium- high heat. Once hot, add the chicken, cook (turning frequently to prevent scorching) until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F, then remove from heat. If you don't have an internal meat thermometer, go buy one. If you're too poor, just cut a nugget open. If it's still pink in the middle, keep that sucker in the heat.

In a separate crock pot, while the chicken is cooking, heat the remaining oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the sweet potato. Cook for about 4 minutes then add garlic and onion and all squash. Cook all together until the zucchini becomes semi-tender, until there is a little resistance when poked with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and chicken to crock pot. Allow to simmer until sweet potato is fork tender and the zucchini is tender. Serve immediately. Don't be distraught if your chayote is still firm. Due to the nature of the squash, it will remain a little more firm than other squash. It's supposed to be that way.

You can keep this in your fridge for up to a week, but the soft veggies will get a little soggy. It reheats like a champ.

So, there it is. I hope you all enjoy this new spin on an old recipe as much as we did. Just don't tell my mother-in-law that her daughter has perfected the art.