Tonight I made a BBQ Corn salad I found on Epicurious that was a side dish for a miso chicken. I wasn't keen on the idea of chicken tonight but the bbq salad sounded excellent and all of the reviews for it glowed, which is unusual for Epi. The recipe called for edamame but that's hard to come by around here so I just used frozen broad beans, next time I'll go to the trouble of pealing off the leathery outer skin as the tough texture jarred against the popping of the juicy corn, or just tracking down the edamame. Because I was only eating the salad for dinner I left out the mayo and I didn't miss it but if I was going to make it as a side I'd add it back in. Best of all, it was quick, simple and damn tasty.

Roasted Corn and Edamame Salad - Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side
2 ears fresh corn, unhusked, or 1¼ cups cooked corn kernels
½ cup shelled edamame
¼ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup small-diced red bell pepper (capsicum)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)
1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1½ teaspoons finely chopped or grated ginger
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Soak fresh corn in cold water about 30 minutes.
Heat grill on high. Grill corn in husk, 10 to 15 minutes, turning once.
Let cool. Remove husks. Cut corn from cob into a bowl; combine with remaining ingredients.
Cover and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

via: Epicurious - Roasted Corn and Edamame Salad

Tags:Corn, Picnic, Salad, Barbeque, BBQ, Beans, Healthy

Since I moved into an apartment with a big balcony and 'harbor glimpses' I've wanted to get a BBQ. It took me forever to find one I liked. As demonstrated by an episode of King of the Hill, unlike gas, charcoal just adds that extra level of flavour that makes barbeque food barbeque. With out it you might as well be frying that steak in the kitchen and if you're as serious about a good steak as I am, it's worth having that extra level of flavour.



The first thing you notice about the Eva Solo Grill is it's striking resemblance to R2D2 and C3PO's love child. The entire thing is made from stainless steel, meaning it'll stand up to anything and last forever and it's quite well designed too. One of the side panels can be easily pulled off to revealing the ashtray and under that there is enough storage space for all it's accessories and everything you need to grill with, except the dome lid. The flat lid that comes with the grill standard can be used as a side table when not otherwise covering the grill when you purchase the optional 'legs'. I've found them surprisingly useful.

After a little practice cooking with charcoal, you can turn out some excellent meals. I've made everything from simple burgers, bbq prawns, a leg of lamb and even a few pizzas (with a pizza stone sitting on the grill bars). There aren't many downsides to this gorgeous piece of equipment, but there are some to keep in mind. It comes in two sizes, of course I got the large one, but it feels a little bit of overkill when I'm only cooking for 1-2 people, sometimes even 3 seems a little much depending what's on the menu. At the same time, with a few friends over, the smaller one would have made cooking something like the leg of lamb almost impossible. I'd still recommend going for the larger one. The only other draw back has to be said. The price. The basic grill is AUD$2300, and that just includes the grill and the lid. Everything else is an expensive optional extra, expensive even in the context of already having paid $2.3k for it. Heck, the dome lid alone is nearly $400. I'm sure you can get it much cheaper in the US or Europe, closer to the manufacturer and with a larger market. With the optional accessories, and not including the matching bbq utensils, you're looking at an investment of over $3000... The utensils will add about another $400.

Since the average bbq's life span is 5 years and this one is expected to literally last a life time, the cost per year, even over just 20 years is only $150 which starts to look more realistic.



If you're looking for a bit of the Eva Solo style with out that price tag you might want to think about the table top grill. It's made with white porceline and stainless steel inserts. For the times when I'm cooking for 1-2 or just need that bbq flavour on something, I think I might just get that too! :)

Tags:Review, BBQ, Barbeque, Grill, Eva Solo