Whether it’s hot dogs and burgers from the supermarket or a no expenses spared event, barbeques are great for 2 to 200 people and make a change from using the oven or hob (for those of us that get stuck in the kitchen while others relax in another room!). They’re sociable, fun and the food always tastes better somehow.
And…lets face it, the good weather is sure not to last for long so let’s enjoy it in every way possible, while we’ve got the chance.
My barbeque speciality is homemade burgers – so easy to make and a definite winner with everybody. Use good quality minced beef, I’ve started going to the butchers for mine recently and it’s not as expense as you might think. Put this into a large mixing bowl with some breadcrumbs, grated onion, and some egg yolk to bind. Add in some paprika for that extra smokiness and mix together well using your hands. I’m not very good with quantities with this recipe as it was something my mum taught me to do but the trick is not to make the mixture too wet or dry. It needs to feel like it will all stay together when you separate off to make into burgers but not overly sludgy; otherwise the moisture never leaves the meat and you end up with something very odd looking!. Put some flour onto a clean chopping board and some onto your hands and separate the mixture into burger size balls. Flatten slightly and shape as desired then place in the fridge for at least half an hour to set. These are now ready to cook when you are.
A good investment is a barbeque marinade book as these come full of recipe ideas for adding different flavours to all sorts of meat and fish. Most involve what you will already have in your kitchen cupboard (for example, tomato ketchup for barbeque sauce) so there’s no buying ingredients you’ll never use again. Aswell as those from the best selling chefs being advertised during the summer, some really great ones can be found in discount bookshops such as The Works (www.theworks.co.uk) from as little as 99p.
I’m sure we can all do the eating and drinking bit well enough on our own so I’ll skip onto cleaning up afterwards!
The best thing I’ve found for cleaning the barbeque grill is a steam cleaner. It’s really tough on burnt on food and can do a much better and quicker job than scrubbing at it with a scouring pad. The tools that come with them are great too as one will usually be a wire brush, ideal for this sort of job. Not only do you get the advantage of the brush itself, the jets of steam blast off any dirt, making it as clean as it was when you bought it. This means that my husband doesn’t disappear when the last person leaves now and even volunteers his services for barbeque cleaning and putting away duty – good result I’d say! If you’re planning on alfresco dining a lot over the months to come, invest in a plastic barbeque cover. This means that instead of having to make room in your shed or garage and cart the barbeque backwards and forwards all the time, it can be left in the elements without damage. It’s always to hand aswell for those times after work when it’s easier to put a chicken breast on the barbeque then heat the oven up to cook it – much nice taste too.
I could do with expanding my barbeque repertoire somewhat so it would be great to hear some of your recipes or ideas. Feel free to share….
