Bula Vinaka and Seasons Greetings to you all,
What better way to welcome in summer than cooking outdoors on a barbeque.
BBQ’s are a relaxed way to feed family and friends, whether at the park or in your own backyard.
BBQ’s are so versatile. You can cook a whole range of things from meats and seafood as well as vegetables and fruit. A nice way to BBQ is to eat the courses as they come off the Barbie – so your guests are grazing over a period of several hours. Makes it more relaxed for the cook too.
So for our new recipes we are heading outdoors and barbequing.
Here are some of the things I love to barbeque.
• Marinated Sirloin Steaks
• Prawn Skewers with Garlic Dressing
• Steamed Mussels
• Asparagus and Peppers with Blue Cheese Or Feta
• Barbequed Bread Salad
• Corn on the Cob
MARINATED SIRLOIN STEAKS
Marinades: Take time to marinate foods to be cooked on the BBQ as a marinade will enhance and add flavour as well as tenderising meats – so you can get away with cheaper cuts. Basting food with the marinade during cooking will also help stop the food from drying out.
For the Steaks, (Could also be used for Chops, Pork or Chicken Pieces) I’ve used 1 kg of steak cut into 200g portions (the butcher could do this for you).
½ Cup good quality Soya Sauce
3 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
2 Tablespoons Chopped Minced Garlic
2 Tablespoons Chopped Minced Ginger
2 Tablespoons Honey
1. Mix above ingredients together.
2. Put steaks in large bowl (or a plastic bag).
3. Pour marinade over steaks, cover and put in fridge for 2 hours, mixing once during this time.
4. Pre-heat BBQ until really hot.
5. Place steaks on hot plate for 4-5 minutes on each side depending on how well cooked you like it. Baste with marinade during cooking.
PRAWN SKEWERS & STEAMED MUSSELS
For the Prawns and Mussels, the following garlic marinade will cover both dishes. All you need is a jar with a lid for making this.
½ Cup Olive Oil
4 Tablespoons Chopped Minced Garlic
1 Lemon squeezed
1 Teaspoon Chilli – minced
Salt and Ground Pepper
Put all ingredients in jar, put lid on and give a thorough shake to incorporate.
For the Prawn Skewers:
The easy way to do this is buy frozen skewers all set to go – these are available from supermarkets, fish markets, and some Asian stores. You simply take them out of the freezer an hour before cooking and thaw in cold water.
1. On pre-heated BBQ plate (again get it nice and hot), place prawn skewers and BBQ for 2-3 minutes on each side, turning once during cooking and basting with garlic marinade. Best eaten straight off the BBQ.
NOTE – if making your own with fresh prawns you will need to use bamboo skewers. Remember to soak these for several hours or preferably overnight in cold water before use. This will prevent them from catching fire on the Barbie!
For the Mussels:
1. On pre-heated BBQ, throw mussels in shells on hot plate part of the BBQ. Don’t put them on the grill part of the BBQ, or else they will dry out.
2. If you have a BBQ with a hood, put the hood down for 2-3 minutes until mussels steam open. A pot lid over the mussels will have the same effect.
3. Use the above garlic dressing to drizzle over mussels while cooking
CORN ON THE COB
BBQ corn on the cob for 2-3 minutes on each side and again baste with the garlic and olive oil marinade until nicely char-grilled.
ASPARAGUS & PEPPERS WITH BLUE CHEESE OR FETA
500g Asparagus, woody ends snapped off
4 Red Peppers, Quartered with seeds removed
2 cloves crushed garlic
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt & Freshly ground black pepper
100g Blue Cheese or Feta Cheese – Crumbled
1. Place asparagus spears and red peppers in bowl with garlic and olive oil, season with the salt and pepper and toss well.
2. BBQ peppers for 3-4 minutes on each side and asparagus for 1-2 minutes only (don’t overcook!), turning once during cooking until just tender and nicely charred.
3. Transfer to serving platter and top with crumbled blue cheese or feta.
BREAD SALAD
Bread Salads are an excellent way to use up stale bread. BBQ’ing bread gives it a flavour boost that is complemented by the crunchy vegetables and balsamic dressing.
1 loaf stale rustic break such as Ciabatta or Sourdough
(or a French Stick could be substituted)
Olive Oil to brush
1 Telegraph Cucumber, halved lengthways with seeds removed and cut into chunks
6 large tomatoes cut into wedges
1 medium red onion, sliced
½ Cup Black olives, drained
3 teaspoons good quality Balsamic Vinegar
3 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
½ Cup torn Basil Leaves
1. Pre-heat BBQ until hot.
2. Slice bread into chunks or rounds, depending on type of bread used.
3. Brush both sides of break with olive oil.
4. Place sliced bread on BBQ and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until toasted.
5. Remove and set aside to cool.
6. Put tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and olives into large salad bowl, add BBQ’ed bread and toss well.
7. Mix Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil together and drizzle over salad. Add Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
8. Scatter Basil leaves on top.
TIP – Don’t BBQ over a direct flame as food will char or burn. Wait until flames have died down, or raise food up away from any direct flame.
