Vacation Grilling

The view from our balcony

 This isn't so much an exact recipe post. It's more of a "what we ate on vacation" kind of post. But the weekend was filled with such delicious foods (mostly made by my husband) that I had to share it.

Since we didn't go away this summer, we took a long weekend this month and went to the beach. It turned out to be a fabulous weekend with near perfect weather and, since it's off-season, no crowds. We rented a small ocean front condo with a full kitchen and with the full view of the ocean right on your balcony, who wants to go sit inside a restaurant for dinner? There also happens to be a grill...

As I have said before, our current housing situation lacks any outdoor space and with that is included a serious lack of anywhere to grill (except on my grill pan on the stove, but it's just not the same). Mike also happens to be spectacularly proficient at grilling without the ability to indulge in this expertise as much as he'd like. Therefore, when presented with breathtaking ocean views and a grill, he grills.

The morning we left, I marinated chicken in olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic. (This marinade idea was given me by two good friends who happen to be some of the best cooks I've known.) We also bought steak and packed them and the chicken in the cooler (we drove, obviously, or this would never have worked) I also packed bruschetta, really excellent Parmesan cheese, grapes, apples, olives, bread, salami, wine, potatoes, and vegetables.

When we arrived that first night, I sliced up the potatoes length-wise and thinly and brushed them with olive oil and seasoned them with rosemary , salt and pepper. I also sliced up a couple of bell peppers and an onion (in large slices so they won't fall through the grill grate) and Mike grilled them, the potatoes and the chicken. It was delicious. The chicken had great flavour, the potatoes were like steak fries but better and the peppers and onions had that great charred taste. It was a delicious way to start our little vacation.

Potatoes in olive oil and spices

The following day, we ate lunch in too. It was really an assembling of things we had bought (not made) but it was still delicious and we still had the beautiful view.

Lunch! (Olives are in a separate bowl b/c I hate them and they pollute the other food)

One of the other nights we were there,  we grilled the steak...

Before grilling them, Mike brushed each side with butter and then seasoned it with salt and pepper. I made mashed potatoes with garlic and rosemary and we grilled more veggies. It was sensational! The steak was unbelievably delicious.

That's Parmesan cheese in the background, not butter

We did manage to save some to have steak and eggs the next morning; also delicious.

Sorry there aren't any real recipes, but since it was so good, I wanted to share it anyway. We had an excellent time and were properly refreshed for the upcoming autumn months. I already have a plan to get back into some serious cooking. Cranberry season is coming so I am planning on making cranberry sauce. I also want to try out a few more soups as the cold weather comes upon us. If I like any of them, I will definitely post them, hopefully sooner rather than later.