Early Father's Day Present

There are many moments in life I will never forget.  Here is the short list: When I met Byrd. My wedding day.  The day I found out we were pregnant. The opening of the new restaurant. The birth of baby Byrd.  Byrd's first mother's day, I got her a card, touching I know.  And then yesterday. Memorial day 2010.  The day Byrd surprised me with an early father's day gift.  I would like to say that Byrd is a much better gift giver than I am. She always has been, and probably always will be.  She went above and beyond incorporating my dad into the mix for this one. The perfect gift.  You can see in the shadows are 2 of my now extinct smokers.  I say extinct because this gift came with a clause.  Now that you have an Egg, you have to get rid of 2 of our grills.  I am glad to part with them.

I got this around 5 o'clock yesterday and it took about an hour to put it together.  Then we had to go out to dinner. I say had here, but dinner was great.  There is nothing like spending time with the family, but this did kill me. A new toy sitting at home waiting to be played with. If i would have known we would have cooked immediately.  But that is what's great about surprises.  All day today, and last night, I got to think of what to cook first.  What a tough decision.  I have been toying around with a new mustard based marinade and think I have finally got it the way I like it.  So I went with that on some chicken thighs.

Mustard Marinade (I know, not a creative name)
1/2 cup yellow mustard
1/8 cup Saw's Sauce
2 Tablespoons McCormick's Spicy Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

Mixed together until blended well

I marinaded 4 chicken thighs in half of the marinade in a zip top bag for 2 hours. Then removed them and let sit uncovered in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

While the chicken was sitting in the fridge, I got the Egg started.  Following all directions I got it up to temp(400), plate setter in, legs up.  I put the skin side down for 20 minutes.  This was the longest 20 minutes of my recent life.  Mainly because Byrd was putting Baby Byrd down while I put the thighs on.  She kept wanting to look inside.  I was strong enough to not let myself show her.  This was tough.  After the 20 minutes I flipped them over and set a timer for 20 minutes.  Then basted the tops of the thighs with some of the reserved marinade.  Then let them finish cooking for another 20 minutes.  Here they are when I opened the Egg.

If I were a better blogger I could describe the smell/ thoughts going through my head.  Christmas morning/Any present getting holiday morning comes to mind, but that is the best I can do.

Here it is with the still favorite oven fries of Byrds.

The chicken was wonderful.  In Byrd's words " I didn't know there would be that big of a difference.  The thighs have always been good, but these were perfect. I mean on the other grills they were a consistent 8, but these were a 10!"  This stroked my ego, which is probably already to big.  I can't wait to continue to play with my new toy. I am thoroughly happy with as Byrd calls it, my first gift from my daughter. Now a question to other owners of the BGE.  What "EGGcessories" can I live without?  Right I must have them all.