Weekend Grilling

A typical summer evening on weekends around here is the lighting of the fire pit for cooking. There’s nothing quite like that smoky wood flavor of cooking on an open fire. I decided to go with ground deer meat (venison) for the burgers this evening. Normally venison is very lean and doesn’t hold together well, but 20% added fat prevents the problem of falling apart.

Grilling on the fire pit

Homemade pretzel buns were the bread of the day. The recipe for these are in another article.

Deer burger

The venison was flavored with Penzys Northwoods spice, turmeric, and black pepper. The meat was sautéed in real butter to keep it moist. The slices of cheese were Kerrygold Aged Cheddar melted into the meat patty.

Juicy burger

The butter keeps the meat very juicy and prevents it from drying out. I like my burgers plain with just meat, cheese, and bread so the fixings don’t overpower the flavor. You can add anything you want to though.

Eating good

THAT — is definitely an awesome mouthful of Bambi right there.

Roasting a marshmallow

Kendra is a grown woman who has never had s’mores in her life. That’s a heathen for you though. City folks who’ve never had a s’mores before. Until now I didn’t think such people existed. Just in case you’re a heathen too, here’s how I do it. Yours might be a little different and your mileage may vary.

Roast a marshmallow to your liking. It can be just slightly melted, or plain old crunchy carbon.

First layer s’mores

Slap said carbon on a graham cracker.

Second layer s’mores

Cover the marshmallow carbon with a chunk of chocolate bar. I prefer the 85% cacao from Lindt.

S’mores ready to go

Pinch it together with a graham cracker top and twist the stick as you’re pulling it out of the marshmallow carbon. That way you don’t pull the guts out of it.

The perfect addition to grilling

Of course there are those of us who like adult beverages with our burnt offering of meat and carbon / chocolate crackers. Your beverage can be whatever you want it to be.

Best buddy for the fire pit

What grill out on a fire is complete without a grilling companion ? Ryland the service dog likes kicking back by the fire pit when she’s not working hard. A dog, wood smoke, and copious amounts of alcohol are the way to hang out at home on the weekends.