First Cook: Chicken and Zucchini

I have a plate setter, but don't yet own gloves. So I couldn't cook my vegetables indirectly and later go direct on my chicken.

So....I wrapped broccoli and corn in aluminum, and put them on direct at 400 for about 10 mins. This was a time saver, since they went in before the egg was ready (it was still spitting white smoke). No problem, because I wrapped them tightly!

After 10 mins, I raised temp to 450 and threw on some skinless boneless chicken thighs. They taste better than breasts, and are a fraction of the cost (breasts are so in demand that there's a super abundance of thighs to get rid of). I'm trying to eat healthy, so I don't normally do skin or fat.

There had been no time to marinate the chicken, and I got sidetracked and never doused it with olive oil, yakitori sauce, or anything else while cooking. I flipped after a couple minutes, closed the lid and prayed for no dry-out. Sure enough, the result was PERFECT, and a thousand times better than any previous treatment of this food item. It was as crackly and succulent as if there were skin, and yet totally moist. Wow. I'm a convert. I'm not sure I'll ever sauce or marinate or even season!

I served the thighs over slices of homegrown tomatoes which had been shmeared with baba gounoush, a smokey middle eastern egglplant dip that works like mayo, but adds much better flavor (plus I thought its smokiness would meld well with the grilled chicken) and has a lot less fat and calories. I ate it open on slices of Lithuanian black bread. I bailed on the idea of closed sandwiches, because the bread was a bit too chewy/spongey. I probably should have toasted (on the BGE, maybe) and scrunched it down.

I removed the vegs with the chicken, and they were as if a pro had timed them, too.

Finally, with my BGE empty, I laid on (still direct) slices of zucchini, and doused with olive oil (lots of nasty tarry flames...I guess better to add the olive oil before adding the food to the egg). I also doused with Filipino kalamansi lemon soy sauce (a tangy magic ingredient available in large bottles in all Filipino stores and good big pan-asian markets). It seemed to be taking forever to get done, so I just closed up everything and let them bake, fishing them out just as they were beginning to pucker. Grill marks and everything...really perfect. Some crunchy, some a bit moister, but all tasting far more elegant than they ought to have.

Anyway, could not have been better. Sorry I have no photos, but hopefully there are enough weirdo elements above to give some of you some ideas.

One problem. My egg is in a nest, and I'm having a very tough time figuring out how to align it. At first, the leg was in the way of closing the lower door fully. When I twisted the egg so the leg would allow the door to close, the adjacent leg blocked it from opening! No compromise seems possible, and, in fact, all the twisting in the nest seems to have bent the grips on the sliding door thing. Egg is currently winding down downstairs, with door not quite closed because of this. Hope it's not consuming all my lump....

I need to buy gloves. And tongs. if anyone has a great suggestion (or great deal), I'm all monitor....

thanks for reading!