Friday Night Bites - Season 1 Ep 2

Last Friday night (08.19.11) marked the second episode of the grill'n-est blog show this side of the LA river.  We had a solid array of peeps and eats, with Matt & Katrina and Gilberto (haircut) primed to consume Spinach & Feta Cheese stuffed brats, a piling of marinated carne asada, asparagus, husk-on corn, and BEER-FLAVORED ice cream.

The 18 inch Weber grill was ignited at the tail-end of magic hour.

Haircut arrived with a very special beer in what can best be described as a Champagne bottle.  This celebratory beverage proved to be an appropriate addition, as Haircut's 32nd birthday happened earlier in the week.    

Haircut's Pro-Tip on grilling corn:  Make sure to soak the corn in some water for a while prior to landing it on the grill.  This helps to prevent the husk from catching aflame and starting a forest fire.  It also acts as a nice steamer cook for the corn.  Steamer...

Oh that corn was so sweet and juicy.  Check out Katrina.  She knows.

I let the asparagus marinate in my not-so-secret marinade for a quick spell prior to applying fire torture.  They may have suffered a bit too long on the grill as they were kinda limp/flaccid.  Their taste however, was a pleasurable trip.  I decided not to check my urine for changes in scent. 

I had made a conscious choice not to purchase buns for the brats as I was feeling rather burnt out on the hot-dog model food structure.  This choice was met with much cynicism and ridicule by the group of eaters.  We compromised by using some of Matt's corn tortillas and everyone was happy.  

Haircut was just happy to have a wiener in his mouth.

The carnitas meat was particularly tasty, although I'm not sure if grilling is the best method for cooking this type of protein.  It ended up being a bit dry.  Matt has recently been on a slow-cooking kick, and I think that would be the way to go with carnitas.  This style leaves them much more tender and juicy.  But again, they were still good and everyone was pleased.

The champagne of beers and a literal champagne bottle of beer.  

Unfortunately no pictures were snapped of Haircut's marvelous beer-flavored ice-cream.  You'll just have to trust your imagination on that one.  

After desert Matt and Haircut engaged in a Banjo-Off to help everyone digest their foods.  

So to sum it all up, our second episode of Friday Night Bites offered a bit more in terms of tastes and personalities.  We are very excited to see, taste, and meet anything and everything that our future installments might hold in-store.  

Friday Night Bites - Season 1 Ep 1 (Pilot)

Our first ever Friday Night Bites gathering happened last Friday night (08/12/11).  It was a rather small, but successful endeavor, populated by none other than [REDACTED]  Love in the Time of Monsters Director, Matt Jackson, and yours' truly.

We kicked off the night with the focus on Matt's new Ipad.  It came as no surprise that the son of Casa Grande AZ's esteemed Mayor would choose to lavish himself with such an item (just kidding, it was a birthday gift).  Matt has always been a showoff, and show it off he did (and it was admittedly AWESOME!).  With a new app that allows him to sketch, color, and touch up digital photographs Matt dazzled us with example after example.

See here, a picture of me stylized by Mr. Jackson

And here is another in which Matt has decided to depict the energy emanating from my Weber grill as a brownish aura.  I must say, the source of Matt's particular brand of creativity is a curious one.

And finally on to the foods!   Tonight's menu rendered a remarkably (some would say perfectly) prepared Pork Tenderloin as well as a trio of halved zucchinis.  All of the food was marinated in the same 1 gallon freezer bag.  The marinade was simple and consisted of but only olive oil, salt, pepper, and a hint of Cholula hot sauce.  Our grill did the rest, and the taste was absolutely divine.

Here is our mountain of food matter, fresh from the grill.

I should also mention that Matt provided a nifty six pack of beer (I cannot currently recall the type) and and eight pack of Ballpark hot dogs + Buns.  These served as killer appetizer, and I implore anyone given the choice to ALWAYS opt for the higher quality dogs (see: Hebrew Nationals,  Nathan's, Ball Park) over the 99 cent ten pack of Farmer John's, or whatever else...

All in all it was a spectacular Pilot to our new semi-weekly tradition of grilling on Friday Nights.  If you know me reasonably well and would like join us on the next occasion, please by all means send word!

Welcome!

Hello! Ahoy!

Tonight will be the maiden voyage of the FRIDAY NIGHT BITES blog.  Matt Jackson,  [REDACTED], and I will attempt to make some food, photograph said food, and then consume it.

Stay tuned America.