A Challenge - You Can Grill Beyond Labor Day
This coming weekend is Labor Day Weekend - the “last hurrah” of summer. Although many schools now restart in August, not waiting until the traditional Tuesday after Labor Day, still there are a lot of transitions connected with this weekend. Our sports habits change - college football kicks off in earnest this weekend, with the NFL to follow one week later. Our fashion constraints change - “don’t wear white after Labor Day.” And, unfortunately, our cooking habits change, too. For many people, the day after Labor Day is the time to start thinking about putting up the grill for the winter.
I never have understood that last one. I know that a good number of people continue to grill at tailgates, etc., in the Fall. But for far too many people, grilling is a summer thing, and once we’ve crossed the Labor Day threshold, our grills become very lonely.
I want to challenge you to change that mindset. Fall provides some of the absolute best weather for grilling. True, we may not have the large get-togethers that we can have in the summer, but grilling is not just for “events.” Small family meals, quick snacks for one, a special dessert after the evening meal … all of these are great “excuses” for firing up the grill during the Autumn season.
Think of your grill as an extension of your kitchen, a tool to consider in everyday cooking. You decide what you want to cook, and then you decide how you want to cook it.
Karen and I decided to have BLT’s for dinner Sunday night. She went to the Farmers Market on Saturday and bought ears of corn and red lettuce. We had tomatoes from our garden. So the question was, how do I cook the corn and fry up the bacon. It would have been easy to put the corn in the microwave, fix the bacon in a skillet on the stove, and toast the bread in the toaster oven. But it was a beautiful evening, and I chose the grill.
I shucked the corn, sprinkled it with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then wrapped it in aluminum foil. I put the cast iron skillet on the grill for cooking the bacon. And I lightly coated the bread with olive oil and toasted it on the grill as well.
The meal turned out great, and cleanup was a lot easier than it normally is when I do bacon on the stove!?!
One last note. Cast iron is made for the grill! Whether it is a griddle for doing pancakes or smash burgers, or a skillet for frying bacon, or a small saucepan for heating your barbecue sauce, the grill is a great place to utilize your very versatile cast iron cookware.
By Robby Richardson
