On a dreary rainy season Sunday morning my wife tells me she is going to grill avocados on the BBQ. Now where I grew up vegetables never saw the BBQ grill. That fire was for meat and lots of it. So when I came to Japan and saw that most grills were covered with vegetables of all description I was very disappointed. Time has changed that opinion and it wouldn't surprise me to see almost anything perched on a grill. Yet, I was very skeptical about avocados. "Won't they fall off the skewers?", a Twitter friend asked me. My thoughts exactly, but not to discourage culinary inventiveness, plus the fact that nothing I could say would stop her, I remained silently skeptical; no mean feat for me I assure you.
So she breaks out the aging "shichirin" charcoal brazier- the workhorse for outdoor cooking in Japan. After the coals have reached their "white stage" she plops 3 metal skewers, see the picture, of avocados on the fire. Use metal skewers or bamboo ones that have been soaked in water. You can't walk off and let these cook like other veggie as they need constant attention and must be turned if the fire flames up too much. They only take about 3 minutes or so before they are done. My wife uses a miso and mayonnaise basting sauce whichalso slows down the surface burning.
So there you have a simple appetizer that really compliments grilled beef. I suggest you play around with different basting sauces.
