grill success

I have never been really great at grilling.  Ok, fine, I'm terrible at it.  As good as I am in the kitchen, move me outdoors and I'm an utter failure.  Still, last season we replaced our aging gas grill with a new model, with cast iron grates, a thermometer, and better burner control.  After all, there was a place on the patio reserved for a grill, and it needed to be filled.  Hmmm.

Anyway, the fact that we've been reducing the amount of meat in our diets led me to open that grill and use it very few times last season.  I think I can count the number of times on one hand, in fact.  I have been feeling really rotten about having bought the thing in the first place, and I vowed that this season I would use it more, and more creatively.

I've always been afraid to grill fish because it is so delicate, and I'm so clumsy.  But last night I tried again, and check this out.

 
 

I know, I might have snapped a photo before ravaging the thing, but do you see those grill marks?  They were gorgeous.  I was really pleased.  I used a firm fish (salmon) and oiled the fish, not the grates.  I left it on there on low heat for five minutes and then finished it on the skin side.  The fish lifted off the grates perfectly and stayed in one piece.

I hope to have more grilling successes to share as the summer progresses.