BARBECUE PRECAUTIONS

Keep CHILDREN and PETS away from cooking areas and never leave your BBQ unattended. Have a bucket of sand or water available in the event of a fire emergency. Ensure that your BBQ is set up on FLAT GROUND and well away from SHEDS, TREES or SHRUBS. Ensure the BBQ is COOL before attempting to move it.

FOOD SAFETY

Beware of cross-contamination which could cause FOOD POISONING. Keep cooked and uncooked foods SEPARATE. If you are grilling with a marinade, split the sauce into TWO BOWLS ; one to be used on the raw food and the other to be added to the cooked food. Marinade the food for an hour before barbecuing.

When cleaning the BBQ try to avoid cleaning with a wire brush. Tiny slivers of the metal brush can break off and can cause serious problems if swallowed by accident to the mouth, throat or gastro-intestinal region. You are better to clean the BBQ using a NYLON BRUSH and GRILL STONES.

 

SELF LIGHTING BBQ CHARCOAL

Self-lighting BBQ Charcoal can be a boost for those who struggle lighting and maintaining a constant temperature of the BBQ. It comes in large boxes yielding two sealed brown paper bags. What you do is place one entire bag on the BBQ and light the touch paper, return in half an hour and, the coals should be at the right temperature. Now all we have to worry about is the weather!!

BBQ DRINKS

GIN FIZZ ; A combination  of sourness and fizziness in this old refreshing recipe.

Serves 1: Shake the gin, lemon juice and sugar with ice until the sugar is properly dissolved. Pour out into a tall narrow glass half-filled with ice and topped up with some soda.

2 measures / 3 tbsp gin, juice of half a lemon : 5ml or 1tsp of fine caster sugar and soda water.

SEA-BREEZE ; Very popular cocktail, Serves 1 : 2 measures / 3 tbsp vodka : 2 measures / 3 tbsp grapefruit juice and 3 measures / 4 ½ cranberry juice. Shake all the ingredients well  together with plenty of ice into a chilled highball glass. Serve with a wedge of lime.  

SPRITZER : This is the most famous wine cocktail. The point is that the drink is lower that a standard glass of wine. Serves 1 : 3 measures / 4 ½  tbsp of dry white wine : 4 measures / 6 tbsp of soda water. Half fill a highball glass with cracked ice and, add the wine and soda.

ICE-CREAM SODA : An ice cream soda is a cross between a drink and a sundae. For children  this can be a simple matter of placing 2 scoops of ice cream in a sundae glass or a tumbler, pouring in 3 fl ounces /75ml of cordial and adding a bottle of soda water. Instead of using soda and cordial you could pour in Coca Cola or lemonade instead. Serve the sodas with a straw and a long spoon.

HOME-MADE LEMONADE : There are many commercial versions of lemonade but homemade is always best. 6 Large Lemons and approx 5oz / 150g of granulated sugar. First scrub the lemons in warm water, then thinly pare the coloured outer zest from 3 of the lemons using a potato peeler or zester. After that any white pith will need to be pared from the strips with a sharp knife. This is important to prevent the lemonade tasting bitter. Now put the zest in a large bowl and add the squeezed juice of all the lemons and the sugar (don’t strain the juice at this stage)

Next pour in 2 ½ pints  or 1.4 litres of boiling water, then stir well, cover and leave overnight in a cool place. Next day stir again and taste to check the sweetness, adding a little more sugar if required. Now strain through a fairly coarse sieve, as its nice if some of the lemon remains. Pour into bottles, using sterilised corks, then chill thoroughly. Serve the lemonade either straight or diluted with soda water and lots of ice.

BBQ FOOD / MARINADES

BARBECUED SWEETCORN : 2 cobs of sweetcorn : 1 dessertspoon of olive oil : salt and freshly milled black pepper.  Remove the husks and threads from the sweetcorn, then brush the kernels all over with the oil, seasoning them liberally with salt and pepper as you go. Place the corns on the grill over hot coals and watch them carefully, turning them around with tongs so all the kernels get toasted to a golden-brown colour.

The whole process will take will 5-10 minutes, depending  on how far the corn is from the heat. Test each corn with a skewer to check that it is tender. To serve, take your sharpest knife and cut the corns across  into chunks. Best eaten using your hands and just taking bites.

EASY HOMEMADE BBQ SAUCE : Homemade BBQ Sauce is perfect for sticky chicken wings, thighs and legs or roasted vegetables.

5 tbsp ketchup : 1tsp mustard : 2 tbsp of treacle or maple syrup : 2tsp Worcestershire sauce : 1 tsp of smoked paprika (for that lovely smokie flavour) and 1 tsp of salt. Stir all the ingredients together, can also be used for dipping.

TOMATO, MOZZARELLA & BASIL SALAD

4oz (110g) of mozzarella cheese, sliced. : approx 24 fresh basil leaves : 1lb  (450g) of tomatoes : 2 tbsp of Italian extra virgin oil : salt and freshly milled pepper.

Firstly put the tomatoes in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave them for 1 minute, then drain and slip the skins off using a cloth to protect your hands if necessary. Then slice the tomatoes thinly.

Arrange the slices of mozzarella and tomato in layers, either in rows or concentric circles, on a serving-dish. Scatter the whole basil leaves over them, then, just before serving, sprinkle with plenty salt and freshly milled pepper and drizzle the olive oil all over. Serve with some ciabatta bread, warmed a little in the oven to the crispy stage.

SOY SAUCE & STAR ANISE CHICKEN :

4 skinless chicken breast fillets : 2 whole star anise : 30ml / 2 tbsp soy sauce : 45ml / 3tbsp olive oil and ground black pepper.

Put the chicken breast fillets in a shallow, non-metallic dish and add the star anise. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and the soy sauce and season with black pepper to make a marinade. Pour the marinade over the chicken and stir to coat each breast fillet all over. Cover the dish with cling film and chill for up to 8 hours. Prepare a barbecue. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade and cook for 8 – 10 minutes on each side, spooning over the marinade from time to time, until the chicken is cooked through. Serve immediately.

GINGER & SOY MARINADE :

This marinade is perfect for use with chicken and beef. Peel and grate a 2.5cm / 1 inch piece of fresh root ginger and peel and finely chop a large garlic clove. In a small bowl whisk together 60 ml / 4tbsp of olive oil with 75ml / 5tbsp dark soy sauce. Season with freshly ground black pepper and stir in the ginger and garlic. Most ingredients should be left to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

RED WINE & BAY MARINADE :

This marinade is ideal for red meat, particularly tougher cuts. Whisk together 150ml / ¼ of a pint or 2/3 of a cup of red wine with 1 chopped garlic clove, 2 torn fresh bay leaves and 45ml / 3tbsp olive oil. Season with black pepper.

Marinades containing red wine are particularly good for tenderizing tougher cuts of meat such as stewing steak.

**And finally sliced Barbecued haggis is becoming ever-more popular, I would opt for Free Range Haggis that has been grazing in the glens during the “summer months”. However some of these unfortunate haggis wandered into human gardens where a large TV screen was erected. Sadly the haggis we’re left all shook up and stressed after viewing the opening match from Euro 2024. The haggis in question have all been given therapy and will soon be back to their old selves !! **

Let’s pray we get some BBQ weather for August / September!  

ALL THE BEST