First barbeque!! Eeek, any suggestions?!
First barbeque!! Eeek, any suggestions?
So here's the thing. I have just into my new house and am doing a barbeque for a few friends. I have never done one before but I'm guessing its not difficult.
I really want to do something other than sausages and beef burgers but have no idea. Fish is not an option due to allergies. Does anyone have any ideas? Nothing too posh but still needs to be different!
Thanks!
Answers:
Try some skewered meat with vegetables.
I did this for mother's day, buy chuck steaks (a cheap cut of meat but fine when marinated), cube them into pieces, marinate them overnight in Zesty Italian dressing and some Cajun spice seasoning. Marinate some cubed zucchini, red onion, mushrooms, and peppers in the Italian dressing as well, but only for a couple of hours. Thread the meat and veggies on metal or wooden (soaked in water first) skewers.
Make a pasta or potato salad. Or both if you like.
I did an orzo salad with grilled asparagus, grape tomatoes, feta, and lemon basil vinaigrette.
Also, made potato salad with baby (or new) potatoes, and a dressing of mayo, dijon & whole grain mustards, diced celery, onion, fresh dill & salt and pepper.
I made grilled shrimp in a garlic marinade too, but since you said fish is out....maybe do some chicken in teriyaki sauce.
If none of this appeals to you, maybe do a theme...Think of what you might like in way of flavors...
You could do Greek - sort of my meal idea, minus the teriyaki.
Mexican - grill up some flank steak or chicken breasts rubbed with a mix of cumin, garlic, chili powder, paprika, salt & pepper. Do some grilled quesadilla's....any flavors are great, I like caramelized onions and smoked gouda. A corn salad with red peppers, some green chilis a little olive oil and vinegar.
Italian - grilled Italian sausages with grilled peppers and onions and a pasta salad with veggies and Italian dressing.
P.S. Don't stress, relax & have fun......that's what a BBQ is all about!
Chicken breasts dipped in some sort of sauce ?
Simple Country Ribs
INGREDIENTS
* 2 1/2 pounds pork spareribs
* 2 (18 ounce) bottles barbeque sauce
* 1 onion, quartered
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. Place spareribs in a large stock pot with barbeque sauce, onion, salt, and pepper. Pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a low boil, and cook approximately 40 minutes.
2. Preheat grill for high heat.
3. Lightly oil grate. Remove spareribs from the stock pot, and place on the prepared grill. Use the barbeque sauce in the saucepan to baste ribs while cooking. Grill ribs, basting and turning frequently, for 20 minutes, or until nicely browned.
Barbecue? Expect rain! BBQd chicken is always good,
Chicken legs. Ribs.
Get plenty of potato salad and coleslaw. That always runs out quickly.
I am sure you are going have a great time. : )
I always make Pasta with tuna, mayo, sweetcorn and peppers to put on the table as well. If you want to leave out the tuna, then simply mix in peppers, onions (cold as will the pasta be by then) and sweetcorn, just one option for the table, if people do not want meat.
Chicken brochettes - Souvlaki. You can serve with rice or pita, and vegetable brochettes or green salad and tzaziki
I've cheated before and just put the marinade on chicken tenders instead of cubing the meat and putting on brochettes.
This marinade is also great on pork
4 chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2-1 teaspoon pepper
1 lemon, juice of
vegetable oil, same amount to match the lemon juice
1. Place the chicken in a bowl and add oregano, garlic powder, seasoning salt and pepper.
2. Toss to coat.
3. Marinate in fridge for at least 30 minutes -the longer the better.
4. In the meantime, if you are going to use wooden skewers, soak them for 30 minutes. This prevents them from burning on the BBQ.
5. Squeeze the lemon and then add an equal amount of vegetable oil.
6. Skewer chicken onto wooden or metal skewers.
7. BBQ chicken skewers until done.
8. Mix the oil and lemon mixture until "creamy" and drizzle over the hot chicken - do this as soon as they come off the grill.
9. Serve and enjoy!
people dont want posh lol, they want MEAT =)
if you do chicken, microwave it 1st to stop it being raw in the middle
dont overcook everything because of stupid tv adverts, with the right heat stuff will cook fine, bbqs are hotter than ovens
dont cook over flames, cook over embers
when the heat is on early its greater so put the grill up high (6inches), lower it as heat dies down
keep raw meat seperate and dont use the same tongs for putting raw on as taking cooked off
fried onions are a must, you can never have enough and will always run out lol, do them in a pan on your hob at lowish heat and when theyre cooked and floppy put them on the side of the barbie
buy a bottle of hotsauce of some sort for the adventurous ones
Chicken portions, lamb chops, Corn on the cob are all nice.
For desert, wrap bananas in foil and drop these into the ashes - cooked in no time and taste fantastic with some ice cream.
Chicken breasts (make sure they're cooked properly)
Pork strips
Corn on the cob
Do some salad to go with it all too
Dessert (the kids love this): slit open some bananas, and put pieces of chocolate into them. Close them back up as best as possible and wrap them in foil. Leave on the barbecue for a while, and then serve them, still in the foil, to be eaten with a tea spoon. You can do this with chocolate and/or marshmallow, although the marshmallow option didn't go down that well at a barbecue I had recently.
I hope this helps you with some ideas
The most important thing to remember is to let the flames die down before cooking, otherwise the food will be burnt outside and raw inside which is not good! If they look like they are cooking too fast either put a little splash of water on the coals to kill any flames, or move the rack a bit higher.
Chicken breasts in a tandoori marinade is good on a BBQ (tandoori powder from the supermarket mixed with yogurt), or how about some lamb steaks for something a bit different. Any cut of meat can be made a bit more interesting with some marinade on it.
Also, side dishes are good - have a good bowl of mixed salad, breads (pitta bread or rolls are good), perhaps some sort of cous cous or rice dish, home made coleslaw and potato salad, and lots of condiments such as tomato ketchup, relish, salad dressing and mustard!
Here is a great recipe for kebabs. I tried them a few weeks ago and they were lovely...
http://www.barbecue-online.co.uk/bbq_beg...
A good vegetable dish for BBQs is green pepper salad. Basically cook some tomatoes and green and red ball peppers under the grill until the flesh is soft and the skin is peeling. Peel of the skins. Chop the tomatoes into quarters and the peppers into strips. Place in a bowl and marinade liberally with olive oil and vinegar and some thinly sliced onion (red is best) leave to chill in the fridge for a few hours.
Hope it goes well!
Chicken and steak
Do kebabs - nice and easy if you want to make them yourself or you can even buy ready made ones in lots of the larger supermarkets (you can also do a mix of meat or veggie versions too). Do nice crusty bread, make some potato salad and perhaps some green salad and have lots of sauces available. You could also do chicken drumsticks - always go down well and I really like the skinny belly pork strips you can buy. How about baking a cheese on the BBQ (Camberet is good one - one in the wooden box - damp the box down and cook on the BBQ - for an extra flavour, slice garlic and poke into the cheese before cooking). You can buy marinades in supermarkets too if you want to marinade any of the meat. Go with the flow basically, try not to get too stressed and get someone to help you. Good luck!
Well, bbq meat is bbq meat. If you really want something different, why not try a brisket. Of course it won't have that yummy smoked taste that you get at the bbq joint, but you can still make it good. Wrap the brisket loosely in tin foil, top it with a pack of lipton onion soup mix and a 1/2 a bottle of beer. Let this cook on the grill on on the top of the grill on the lowest setting for three hours. DO NOT OPEN THE FOIL PAPER FOR ANY REASON!! Mix together bbq sauce and the rest of the beer. After three hours pour this mixture over the brisket, reseal the foil paper. Let this cook for another three hours. Then crank your heat up to meduim high and take the brisket out and put it directly on the grill. At this point the brisket is basically done, you just will be basting it with bbq sauce and letting it get crispy on the outside. It should take about 1/2 hour.
Brisket can tend to be a little expensive, so I would pair this with chicken. I am generally somewhat of a meat snob, but I am telling you getting the frozen chicken in the bag that is injected with some type of solution is the best chicken to use. It stays juicy nomatter how long you cook it. I know, I know it sounds nasty, but I promise it's really good. Let the chicken thaw out, dry it off and coat it with a dry grill rub. Let the chicken marinate for about 2 hours. Then pop it on the grill. I like it like this, but you can add bbq sauce to it when it's done.
Grilled corn tends to be a staple lately, and I am a huge fan. If am having a party I like to make some flavored butter options as well. A half of chipotle pepper and chilantro, parsley, parm and garlic powder, garlic and oregano. You get the point i'm sure.
I also like to grill zucchini that I have hollowed out and stuffed with stewed italian tomatoes and topped with mozz cheese. One key thing to these it to salt and pepper the zucchini before they are filled. The slice them into appetizer size pieces.
I really also like the basics - potato salad, pasta salad (just because I don't like two mayo based salads at one meal), and baked beans. If you make the baked beans dress them up. For a lasagna sized pan of baked beans you will need 4 large cans of baked beans, I like b&m, but whatever your favorite is will be fine. Add 1 medium finely diced yellow onion (I put this in the food processor just to save time), 1/4 c. each ketchup and brown sugar, 2 tbsp. mustard and about 6 slices of crispy cooked bacon. I generally buy the already cooked bacon because I am scared of the spitting grease. Mix this all together and bake it in the oven for about 2 hours on 300 degrees. Then turn up the heat to 450 and put more slices of bacon on the top.
One of my favorite sides is grilled pineapple. Just skewer the pineapple and pop in on a medium grill until you have grill marks! YUM!
all i can say is have fun i'm no top chef but i love experimenting. a big bowl of salad is always good a a start with a nice dressing. some differnent breads and cold meats. try chopping up chicken breast into cubes and marinating in olive oil, wholegrain mustard, honey and some crushed garlic for a couple of hours then thread oto kebab skewers (soaked first) with peppers, mushrooms and red onion. don't forget to let the flames die down first so food cooks thoroughly. do normal burgers and stuff but make them look posher by adding pretty salad leaves and different bread. try things like minted lamb cutlets another way of jazzing up chicken is cookm the breast and about 5 mins to the end add a couple of sprinklings of a jar of swartz seasonong chargrilled chicken. it is yummy and people will really enjoy it. add a huge bowl of punch and you will be fine!
chicken, pork chops pre cook just put em on bbq to keep warm and look good, but keep your eye on it wouldnt want anything to burn. good luck!!!!!