Two of the things I love about summer are my garden and my grill. And I really love it when I can combine the two. So being a backyard farmer, I harvest just enough veggies to keep my grilling meats company upon occasion. And when I can load up the grate with items that came just five steps away, well, you just can't get any fresher, or better, than that.
Last weekend I had that opportunity and it was more awesome that I expected. With a platter full of marinated steak tips and sun-dried tomato chicken breasts from The Meat House ready for the fire, I headed out to the back forty (aka my 150 square foot raised garden next to the screened porch) to see what I could harvest before the sun set for the day.
I have never grown okra in all my gardening years and this was a total wild hair planting those seeds. In years past, I have experimented with new crops without much success (corn and such), but now, staring right back at me from three-foot high spindly stalks were the largest, greenest, most beautiful okra pods I have ever seen. Like pointy Wicked Witch of the West fingers reaching towards heaven, the pods snapped off easily in my hand and I snagged a half-dozen that I deemed ready for consumption.
With my Char-Broil banging out some heat, I prepped the okra for the flames and kept it as simple as I could. I brushed a tiny bit of olive oil on each casing to hold onto a few splashes of sea salt and cranks of fresh cracked black pepper. I was pretty sure that was all I wanted, but since this was an experiment, I decided to add a something else to three of the six: The Meat House's Original Camp Mix.
Many folks avoid okra because of the sliminess that comes from cutting the pods, but by using a method I picked up from Steven Raichlen and his BBQ University TV show, I kept the pods nice and slime free by making okra popsicles. I soaked some wooden skewers for a few minutes, snapped them in two and poked
them into the stem end of the pods. And just so you know, I prepared the zucchini, squash and Roma tomatoes the same way - olive oil, black pepper, a light dusting of Camp Mix and a dash of sea salt. I skewered the tomatoes and sliced my squash/zucchini lengthwise.
Never having grilled okra before, I was a little hesitant to take them off the fire too soon. Some had a little better char than others, but I think I like the less cooked best. The okra that came off earlier seemed to "pop" a little more than the well-done versions. I think in the future I will pull from the heat a tad sooner and serve hot from the grate.
The rest of the meal was stellar (if I do say so myself), but with great protein from my favorite butcher and veggies from only steps from the grill - how could it not be wonderful?
Grill Simple, my friends...
