subject: Fabulousweather At The Weekend Was A Blessed Relief [print this page] We are seriously experiencing an Indian summer. Greatly argued over in boozers and papers during August and early September it is here with fabulous results this weekend (well, Sunday anyway, Saturday was somewhat of a letdown) but here we are on Monday and it's still glorious. So, that being the position, did you all gather around the charcoal grills?
We did. Well, we needed to really as our kitchen is being changed and the lads are working feverishly to get it done, but it's a huge undertaking and they are starting the 2nd week. They could be ending tomorrow, perhaps, but in the meantime we went through the weekend continuing to camp out in the dining room. Our parameters for existing on ready meals was crossed by Friday so on Sunday, we took out the Weber gas grills and we had some real grub.
It was a very fine dish as well, quite courageous to cook over either gas or charcoal grills, I assembled grilled lemon sole with a champagne sauce and sauteed potatoes. The sauce is nicely simple but delicious, firstly you melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a pan then whisk in three tablespoons of plain flour. When it has changed into a thick paste, put in chicken stock, about three cups worth and bring it to the boil, at which point, reduce the heat and pour around three cups of champers (cheap bubbly in our case but no matter) and return to the boil and leave it to simmer for around ten minutes. Finally, add in around three cups of double cream, go back to the boil, whisk thoroughly and season with salt and pepper. Change amounts as needed, remember to taste as you go and you will be left with a thick sauce ready for drizzling over the fish. It is wonderful. And, really, it's not very easy to do on a Weber bbq or any kind of bbq to be honest whether gas or charcoal grills. What I had to do was to move it around over the heat or take it off completely and attempt to find the optimum temperature.
Quite aside from the usefulness of the weather permitting us an opening to cook some proper food with the kitchen out of action, having a last opportunity use the Weber bbq is a real treat to get one last taste of summer before we disappear into the depths of Autumn and get on with the countdown to the festival season of the clocks turning back, Halloween, Guy Fawkes night, Armistice Sunday and then the lead in to Christmas and the New Year. These are not actually conducive to using a Weber gas grills unless we have an extended hot autumn which would be positively dangerous.
Personally I'm definitely sure that we will be expecting another very cold winter. I seem to be the 1 person in the world to realise that weather patterns tend to be for a double year cycle. If you remember the hottest summers, they usually come in 2's and so having had an amazing winter with all the snow and ice this year that we used to experience in the days of my youth, I'm pretty willing to wager some of your cash that a second won't be far behind. But as I work at home, I shall worry not a jot. Enjoy!
