A Rooftop End to Summer

     As a way to say our proper good-byes to summer, we decided to throw together a roof-top BBQ, with the Nation's Capital as the back drop.

 It was perfect timing as the weather man was wrong (no rain, nor overcast skies) our close friends were available, and Mom was visiting from the West Coast (so we were sure to put her culinary expertise to good use). Although Brian has no time to cook, he chose to attempt one of the more difficult dishes (typical),  Brick Chicken.  We bought two organic chickens and cleaned and prepped them completely, the night before.  We stuffed them with herbs, garlic and lemon, and rubbed them in a rich, nutty olive oil. Since we did not actually have a brick we improvised with a cast iron skillet on one bird, and a large rock (wrapped in foil) on another. The chickens did not know the difference. 

It worked perfectly! By the time the chickens were almost done (about 40 minutes later), they had flattened nicely. The skin was crispy and the meat was juicy.

I chose to make a spicy quinoa salad, with a recipe that I adapted from the NY Times.  Everyone seemed to love the fresh cucumber, tomatoes and peppers, coupled with the light lemon, olive oil and smoky chipotle dressing.

We also had a delicious green salad with grilled butternut squash,

and Mom made once of my favorites... padron peppers.  We tossed them in a little olive oil and salt, grilled them up in my grilling basket, and took them off as soon as they begin to char.  I think I ate 1/2 of this bowl by myself.

The afternoon went by quickly as we ate, sipped on our cucumber Pimm's cocktails, and tried to catch up with each other after our busy summer months.

As the summer sun left its high point in the sky, not only was the company great...as expected, but... as not with all BBQ's... the food was actually great too. 

A wonderful afternoon was had by all! Thanks Everyone!