On Jul 30, 1:12 pm, Dave Smith > wrote:
> Nuts to all the fancy recipes. I have tried different things with whole
> chickens on the BBQ rotisserie but I just discovered last night how good is
> is with just salt and pepper and basted a few times with olive oil. It was
> fantastic.

So true. There seems to be a cycle with certain basic foods. You
learn to like them in their simplicity and then you start to fool
around with them by adding ingredients and seasonings. All goes well,
new things are created, some of them good, and then -- reversion to
the basic, reacquaintance with the simple good.

I had a neighbor who made a fantastic mashed potato casserole. It was
mashed potatoes with about eight other ingredients and seasonings,
principle among which were caramelized onions, garlic, cheeses and
herbs. He had a couple other complex potato concoctions, also very
good. We had them over one night for a cookout and I made mashed
potatoes -- russets, butter, milk, salt and pepper. You should have
heard them rave.

Different friends were big steak eaters, but they had five or six
different marinades they used, and a similar number of sauces they
topped them with. They splurged once on USDA Prime grade porterhouse
to celebrate something, maybe a promotion, and for that occasion they
used a charcoal fire, salt and pepper.

I grill spatchcocked chickens frequently. It's been a long time since
I did one that wasn't marinated in something or didn't have some herbs
or spices rubbed on, or some compound butter spread under the skin. I
think the next one will be a return to simple goodness. Which I
suppose means I should take special care to look for a good bird to
begin with.... Good luck dealing with neighbor pit bulls. -aem