South Carolina Campground Cook-Off main dish winner

The teams at the annual South Carolina Campground Cook-Off define friendly competition. They want to win and they work to win, often discussing what next year's dish will be before this year's is judged. Yet during that weekend when all are gathered together they share stories, food, beer and equipment. Everything but ingredients.

All of which makes it casual, fun and tense at the same time. Here is the winning recipe from 2011. I'll follow up with second and third, then move on to the Dessert category. All in time for you to incorporate them into your summertime backyard grilling. 

 1st PLACE: Team Johnny's Pride's Turkey Steak with Grilled Vegetable Salad

6 turkey steaks ¾- to 1-inch thick (ask your butcher to cut steaks cross grain from a turkey breast)

Marinade:

1 ½ cups Johnny’s Pride BBQ Sauce

1 16-ounce bottle Italian salad dressing

2 12-ounce cans 7Up soda

Mix all ingredients in a blender and reserve ½ cup for basting. Place the turkey steak in a medium-sized baking dish. Pour the remainder of the marinade over the steaks, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Turn the steaks every 8 hours.

Prepare the grill for cooking. Temperature should be medium hot. After desired temperature has been reached, place the steaks on grill. Turn the steaks every 3-5 minutes, basting each time the steaks are turned. Repeat this process until the steaks’ temperature reaches 165 degrees in the center. Finally, baste both sides of the steaks with Johnny’s Pride and wrap until serving.

Vegetables:

6 ears fresh sweet corn left in the husk (Silver Queen preferred)

3 assorted color bell peppers (whole)

2 medium Vidalia onions (not peeled)

2 large tomatoes (not cut or peeled)

1 small bunch cilantro

Soak the corn in cold water until ready for cooking. Cook corn, peppers and onions by direct heat. Cook until the skins on all the vegetables are black. At the end of cooking, remove all vegetables from the heat and place in an extremely large container and cover with Saran Wrap. After 10 minutes, shuck, remove silk and cut the corn off the cob. Place in a large bowl. Scrape the black from the vegetables and remove the seeds. Chop the peppers and the onions to a fine consistency and add to the corn mixture. Stir well and serve. At presentation, place the grilled salad in the middle of the plate. Place a turkey steak atop the salad. Use choice of garnish and drizzle with Johnny’s Pride BBQ Sauce. 

Enjoy!