I love grilled food
This once started with some grilled steak a long time ago, and then I learned while having BBQ dinners in summer that everything just tastes better from the grill. Even something as simple a a chicken filet tastes way better when it's grilled instead of fried in a normal pan.
Kitchen utensils
Renting houses with kitchen utensils meant that in our first home here in Spain we didn't have any pans of our own and when we suddenly had to move to this new apartment that we also had to buy all these things ourselves because we surely didn't bring these from Hungary at the time. I assumed (idiot!) that it was cheaper to buy these new than sending another box of kitchen utensils for 30 euros to Spain. I was very wrong, lesson learned.
Set of pans
We bought a set of 3 cooking pans and a frying pan to start with and we didn't settle for the cheap stuff this time, my boyfriend wanted a certain typ of steel pan and did some good research in terms of price and quality. I personally don't love that one and often still grab the cheap coated one that came with the house as some things are a nightmare to prep in the steel pan and stick. I only had one wish: a grill pan. Yet I didn't find a decent one for a good price and I didn't need it immediately either, I was ok waiting until we saw one for a nice price.
Thanks LIDL!
Recently we were grocery shopping at LIDL and I noticed this pan which seemed of good quality and was only 15 euros while also having the right size I wanted. We took it home, knowing that LIDL is very flexible with returns in case at home it didn't meet our expectations.
My boyfriend loves a good steak (I do too but not that often and much as he does) but it seems to help him keep his stomach in check while I'm surely not made to eat too much meat because it will cause me issues and therefore I often prefer lighter stuff as chicken instead. OR vegetables because the best way to eat these is grilled, if you ask me at least.
Sweet paprika
The day before I bought these sweet paprika's that I noticed for the first time in the supermarket. I already ate them several times (grilled) when we were eating somewhere, and then 1 tiny paprika was added as the side dish (yes, they often leave out veggies here, lol) but damn, these can be so tasteful when they're grilled, I fell in love with them.
Now I had the perfect opportunity to eat them. My boyfriend added butter to the pan for his steak so that actually messed up my first round of grilled paprika but don't they look cute and green?
I tried to clean up the butter as you can see but was too impatient as I don't know yet how high I should put the gas and wait before adding them to the grill at this point. It's trial and error until they are just perfect!
Steak and paprika for dinner!
It took a bit of time to get them right:
That's just a matter of learning how to cook with the pan, but surely don't use that butter anymore (or at least a lot less, if you have to use it). My boyfriend enjoys the butter "sauce" so therefore he added that but we'll have to read up on this a bit more to find out if that's smart to keep doing or just stick to the grilling without it. The steak tasted well at least, so the first attempt turned out well.
Not the prettiest, and not the best outcome yet but I ate them all either way as I was craving them like madness! This comes from someone who hated paprika most of her life, how one can change!
In the oven
I saw on the box that it can be placed in the oven until 200 degrees Celcius as well, I first thought the handle wasn't suitable for it but the box says it is so I'm going to see if that's a good option for some grilled food and dig into the information about how to properly use this thing on a gas stove (and possibly in the oven).
There's only one downside to this pan for me until now and that's the weight. I have a hard time handling it (especially when wanting to properly dry it after cleaning) and I'm so afraid it will fall one day, I hope it never happens..
Do you ever use a grill pan at home? What's your favourite food to prep with it?
Let me know in the comments please..
Happy Grilling :)
All pictures above are my own..