Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Those are Johnsonville brats roasting on the grill. The veggie mix is asparagus, onion, zucchini, & maybe a couple of mushrooms that had been librully doused with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, with a little sea salt and ground pepper.

The veggie containment device is a ceramic-over-steel contraption that exposes the food to lots of smoke without the risk of it sliding down through the grate. It  also cleans up well in the dishwasher or with Barkeepers.

Perched at seven thousand feet at the edge of the Rio Grande Gorge near the confluence of the Red River and the Rio Grande meant a chilly evening  where the warmth of the fire was welcome. The wine? Honestly don't recall but it was a decent cabernet. 

TWC first encountered Johnsonville Brats at the annual Route 66 extravaganza in Berdoo. There they rolled out the Big Johnson Grill, which is reputed to be the longest grill in the world. I have not verified that claim, but it is a beaut!

 

The foil? Keeps the brats from rolling off of the grill into the coals.

As Ever,

TWC

Comments

[Chatelaine]

Johnsonville Brats! MmmMMmmmMM! Captain Nostar grilled some of those with some veggies himself when he was here a few weeks ago. I got him something sort of like your grilling bowl thing, but it was round. It's sort of like a wok. Cool gadget.

[ink-stained scribe]

Looks really yummy. In a few months, if all goes well, we'll be living in a house -- not an apartment -- so we can cook over an open flame. I'll be sure to buy one of them ceramic contraptions.

[TWC]

The next morning we hiked down to the Rio Grande. The trail dropped about 800 feet in elevation in 8/10's of a mile. It wasn't bad going down.......

[TWC]

Ink, the only complaint I have about the contraption is that they take up a lot of room on the grill (which you can see in the pic--that's a standard Forest Service cooking grill).

If you've got a Webber kettle LC's round one is better. For me, I like the square one because I can ease it off over into the corner of the grill. Either way you need a big grill because the thing takes up a lot of room. Did I say that already? My grill at home isn't the size of the Big Johnson but it is about three feet wide by about 15" deep, so it can accommodate the ceramic wok with holes in it nicely.

[TWC]

I have to say, LC, it is about impossible to find a better brat than a Johnsonville and these may have been perfect.

[smartass sob]

I thought you were in Tucson, but you say you are near the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Red Rivers. Is that the same Red River that forms the northern boundary of Texas? I can't seem to trace it west from the Texas Panhandle to the Rio Grande - seems to peter out. Where in heck are you anyway?

sasob

[TWC]

Was in Tucson, now home and trying to actually work. Not used to being on vacay for so long. I could get used to that though.

I thought the same thing as you. Wow. The Red River! Told the kids all about it and how I thought it was strange that it flowed west. But, it isn't the same one. This one forms in the Southern Rockies and supports the Red River Ski area in New Mexico. The Tx Red River flows east to the Missisloppy.

I also was surprised recently to learn that Tx has a Colorado River that is unrelated to the real Colorado River.

I'm trying to work up a travelogue for the trip. It really was a lot of fun.

We stumbled upon this particular BLM National Recreation Area quite by accident. Called Wild Rivers.

[smartass sob]

I also was surprised recently to learn that Tx has a Colorado River that is unrelated to the real Colorado River.

Ahem. REAL Colorado River? Folks in Austin think it's the "real Colorado." ;-)

I know...it isn't the one that flows through the Grand Canyon. But Texas does have a canyon that is the second largest in the US that's called the Palo Duro Canyon. Isn't as spectacular as the Grand though. Interestingly the southern fork of the Texas Red River flows through it on its way east. Several years ago I was surprised to learn that there is another Red River up in the North Midwest US that flows into Canada.

sasob

[TWC]

Austin is pretty nice and the house prices are good but the property taxes are, ahem, the Real Thing. Dude! Worst part is there is no getting around property tax. You *ARE* paying it.

[Col. Hogan]

The real Red River flows northerly through Fargo, Grand Forks and Winnipeg, on its way to Lake Winnipeg.

We used to watch the submarine races there when I was in high school.

[smartass sob]

The real Red River flows northerly through Fargo, Grand Forks and Winnipeg, on its way to Lake Winnipeg.

That would be the other one I mentioned, I guess, Colonel - the one that floods periodicly.

sasob

[Col. Hogan]

SA,

The land in the area is very flat. In 1949 the Red flooded. I was a wee lad at the time, but I remember we lived in the small town of Emerado, 15 miles from Grand Forks, alongside of which runs the Red River. Not only did the Red flood the whole of Grand Forks, but there was two to three feet of water over the streets of Emerado. I recall my dad wading through it, carrying me.