There’s nothing I like more than a BBQ in the back garden surrounded by friends and family. Here are my top tips on how give your guests a proper grilling…
Believe it or not, the weather shouldn’t be crucial to barbequing. Having spent time living in Australia where they BBQ all year long I learnt that barbequing is not about weather, it’s about flavour!
If you plan to invite friends over for a barbeque, try to choose a spot to position the actual barbeque where it is slightly sheltered. If the worst comes to the worst, just cook outside and then bring the food in to eat.
A lot of the time barbequing seems to mean massive “meat-fest” resulting in our eating far more meat at one sitting than we would normally do. I went on a cookery course at at Newlyns Farm in Hampshire last year I was inspired by all the different things you can bbq which are far tastier than just burgers and sausages – which get a bit boring after a while.
One of my favourites is beer can chicken. It’s simple, tasty and will definitely impress your guests. All you need is a chicken, can of beer and a bbq .. here’s the recipe http://bbc.in/iDaOze
When it is nearly ready, add a selection of fresh vegetables to the grill – onions, mushrooms, courgettes, aubergine, and of course peppers are all far tastier cooked this way. For speed, try putting smaller pieces onto skewers.
Experiment by cooking sweet potatoes in their jackets on the barbeque – once cooked, split open and pop a knob of garlic or butter inside – yummy!
The feast doesn’t stop after the main course -different fruits can be cooked on the barbeque – bananas for example, split along the top and cooked in their skins, topped with a slug of rum and cream just before serving. Better still slice a pineapple and pop this onto the grill – sprinkle with a hint of mixed spice or nutmeg and then serve with vanilla ice cream for a really unusual dessert.
Many of us now have gas barbeques to save having to wait for the charcoal to reach the optimum heat for cooking. A common mistake people make is to light their charcoal with fire lighters and other chemicals to speed things up … which is probably not a very good idea when you consider that your food will be cooking over the chemical fumes!
Keep your guests happy with a range of drinks and try something a bit different to just beer and wine…such as a jug of Sangria to get everyone smiling. And just think how much more time you’ll have to spend bbq-ing when you swap your real grass with a no maintenance Trulawn!
