In honour of the warmer temperatures we have been enjoying, I decided to fire up the charcoal grill and have my first backyard BBQ of the year. While this may seem early, I feel that it is, in fact, far too late. I would BBQ all year round if I could and in all honesty I really should. That being said, it's always awesome when you crack open the grill for the first time. You get the coals going, feel the heat from the growing fire and then finally hearing that first sizzle when you pack your meat or vegetables on is amazingly satisfying. The smell of fresh food cooking over fire is simply irreplaceable and evokes memories of warm summer days with family and friends.
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| BOO YEAH GIFT CERTIFICATE! |
In order to have my BBQ, I needed to go buy something to cook. My
girlfriend won a gift certificate to
The Greensville Gourmet so we hopped in the car and began our BBQ quest. We took the back roads out to Dundas and I have to say that the ride was amazing. The road was windy and hilly and everywhere plants were coming back to life, turning green and the smell of spring washed over us as we drove with the car windows open.
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| Looks pretty cool! |
When we arrived we found that
Greensville Gourmet is a cool little gourmet grocery store just sitting on the side of the road. We walked in and looked through, finding quite a few interesting looking local products. The highlight, however, was the fresh food counter where they boast a selection of local meats, handmade sausage and burgers as well as several vegetable and salad options. The staff were amazingly helpful and welcoming, and they offered samples of pretty much every sausage they have to sell! After trying all their samples (literally all their samples, ha HA) I decided to grab a couple kinds of sausage and two different kinds of burgers.
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| MEAT! |
While they were filling my order, I met the two brothers that run the store. They were both fantastically welcoming, proud and passionate about their store. They only use local meat, sourcing from within a 100 km radius of their location. They don't use any preservatives, binders or fillers and at the end of the day, they are a family run local business that strives to supply a quality fresh product. I also ended up grabbing some buns and a housemade artichoke dip. I was exceedingly happy with my visit and it was great to meet some enthusiastic local producers. I headed home eager to start up my BBQ so I could taste my new sack of goodies!
Once I had the coals burning I threw my grill on and closed my BBQ so the grill could heat up and I could give it a nice clean with my BBQ brush. After my grill was clean, it was time to put on the meat! It was suggested that I give the sausage a quick steam before finishing them on the grill, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and fire them right over the open flame!
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| Look at all that SAUSAGE! The ugly burgers belong to my girlfriend, the vegetarian. |
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| MMMMMMMMM!!! |
When it was all said and down my upcoming meal looked pretty tasty and delicious, if I do say so myself.
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| Sausage! |
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| BURGERS (topped with cheese)! |
Everything looked and smelled so good when it came off the grill and I quickly dove in after I brought it inside. The sausage was fantastic! Deliciously flavoured and spiced, I thought that each once had their own characteristic taste and I was able to differentiate the different kinds after I accidentally lost track of them on the BBQ. I tried the Sirloin Burger and the Chicken Cheddar Chipotle burger. My particular favourite was the Sirloin Burger, although both were excellent. The artichoke dip was outstanding, fresh tasting and delightful when put on a fresh baguette. Overall I was exceedingly impressed by what
Greensville Gourmet had to offer and I will definitely be stopping by again when I have more BBQs in the summer! Definitely worth the drive to Dundas!
