Surf and Surf and Turf (Empty Nest Style)

[MikeLucky]

So we're officially empty nesters and cooking dinner tonight was truly a reflection of that.

I bought 1 NY strip steak, small serving of salmon, and one lobster tail. And, I baked one potato.

This story starts two years ago, actually. I have a black Q1200 that I absolutely love. I bought it almost 2 years ago while I was in Dallas for our annual OU/texas game trip. Rather than me and my 10 buddies going out to dinner on Friday night, we decided to play Cornhole and grill up some dinner in the hotel courtyard/pool area. So that day I bought the grill at Lowe's because we needed it for the evening and I needed a grill for our camper. I've love the grill and it has performed excellently, but the only regret was that I couldn't have planned better and got a redhead version.



So, last night I bit the bullet and finally got my redhead. Put it together and placed it in its home on the patio, and now I have a black Q1200 to sell.



I was a tad disappointed because I thought it was going to be a bit darker red, but all in all I was happy to have the redhead version.

So, for dinner I started with the baked potato in the new Q1200. I put a Weber potato nail in each end and fired her up.

Now to the meat... Prepped for the grill.



In the empty nest spirit it was time to use my Smokey Joe for the cook.

Prepping the grill. Starting the small chimney.



Grill is ready.



Salmon and lobster on first.



Last was the steak.



Pulled the lobster and salmon at 135 internal, steak at 125. Dinner is served.




Oh and a nice surprise... In typical Weber style, the redhead darkened up very nice when it got hot. Made me very happy.



PS. Sadly I might have killed another iGrill probe. I went out to check the grill temp on the Q because the probe wasn't reading on my phone. The hood thermo was reading nearly 600. Lol. These Q1200s get hot, my friends. Great grills.

 

[Brad Olson]

Looks great, Mike! How was the lobster? I don't grill it very often but the next time I do maybe I should try taking its temperature instead of going by feel and risking it being overdone.

I've read about how some people really miss their kids when they go out on their own. Mine have been gone for 5 or so years now and I still don't understand.

 

[JimK]

Very nice meal and nice new redhead.

 

[MikeLucky]

Looks great, Mike! How was the lobster? I don't grill it very often but the next time I do maybe I should try taking its temperature instead of going by feel and risk it being overdone.

I've read about how some people really miss their kids when they go out on their own. Mine have been gone for 5 or so years now and I still don't understand.

Yeah, I've done lobster before and it's a fine line. I use my kitchen scissors to cut right through the top of the shell then with a knife I cut through the tail to the bottom membrane, but not through it.

I put olive oil on the tail and season it then start it meat side directly over the coals, then after about 2 minutes, turn it over to shell side down on the indirect side and just keep checking the temp. Before this cook I did the same way as you described and this one was the best one I've cooked yet.

We are okay with the empty nest. Lol. Just about to put the house on the market because it's just way too big now. Our oldest has one year left to finish her computer science degree, the middle is back in Fort Collins starting her 2nd year of college, and a couple of months ago we dropped off our youngest for his first year at the Air Force Academy. We're actually about to finally consolidate with my elderly parents so that we can help them day to day. My wife has been trying to make this happen for 6 years now, and my 85 year old father kept fighting it from happening. So, lots of changes for us. Thankfully they have a large house so we will have our own space as well as dedicated space for the kids when they do come back on breaks. So, in a lot of ways we're just moving into a larger and more full nest. Lol. We'll see how it goes.

Plus now I have even more reason to grill something every night. I'm looking forward to that.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Great looking trifecta Mike! It would hard to pick on over the other. I'll revisit some of your earlier posts to remember what your full nest cooks look like. Bummer about your probe. I've nailed a couple myself.

 

[MikeLucky]

Great looking trifecta Mike! It would hard to pick on over the other. I'll revisit some of your earlier posts to remember what your full nest cooks look like. Bummer about your probe. I've nailed a couple myself.

Well, after letting the probe cool, I tested it and it is still working.... hopefully it's still accurate. lol.

 

[J Grotz]

Nice looking cook, Mike! That Smokey Joe looks like a very handy grill for two.