- BBQ Ribs
- Chopped Pork Sandwiches
- Beer Can Chicken
- Grilled Shrimp
- Grilled Salmon
- Cole Slaw
- BBQ Baked Beans
- Cornbread
Others brought desserts (fruit pizza ... outstanding!), still others beverages. My job was the main course(s) and manning the steam tables. All in all, it was an awesome evening (I should have some pictures up soon). 6 grills ... 6 ... man, that was fun. Three for smoking, 2 for indirect grilling, one nice big 22" kettle for the chickens ... it was amazing. I won't blow my own horn ... hell I won't, I did a damn good job ... at least, that's what everyone said, and that's really all that matters: happy eaters.
If you're gonna have fun cooking for gatherings like this, you also need to accept the downside ... cleaning. So, here I am tonight, dishes are cleaned, staples packed away, and I'm finishing the night with a good bottle of wine (Jest Red ... if you like reds, this is an outstanding value) and cooking off some of the extras I didn't get to (or need to ... I always like having more ... running out is a personal paranoia of mine) prepare. Braised porn loin with mushrooms and garlic ... and a couple more beer can chickens.
As I was prepping the birds for the oven, getting them cleaned, oiled, rubbed down w/ a little seasoning (I like Mrs. Dash for this job right now), I noticed that one of the chickens had a broken leg, just above the knee joint ... and I felt a twinge of sadness when I found it. You know the kind I'm talking about: it's the feeling you get when you empathize with the physical discomfort of someone (or something) else. You hear a friend mention they got their finger slammed in a car door and you feel pain yourself. Well, there I was ... empathizing with what was about to become dinner.
Now, if any of you think I'm going to turn vegan ... forget it. I'm more curious about why I felt this ... why I actually found myself feeling sorry for the bird, even though the leg was no doubt broken long after death, sometime during the packing process. It's strange how it affected me ...
... though not enough for me not to pop them in the oven. I can smell them now ... fantastic!
