Barbecue Blog

It’s fair to say that as a nation, we Brits are pretty crazy about cooking outdoors, whether it’s on a gas barbeque or over coals. The humble barbeque, however, has acquired a reputation as being a meat-eater’s paradise; there is a common misconception that vegetarians have to stick to salad or go hungry. It’s time to put this fallacy to bed; just because you don’t eat meat doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a barbeque; and with many vegetarian recipes available it’s time to get cooking.

Here are some old favourites and instant classics:

Barbecued corn on the cob

This needn’t be a boring side dish; with a little bit of work you can make your corn the talk of the town. The secret to perfect corn on the cob is to cook it on a sheet of tinfoil for the first 20 minutes, before cooking directly on the barbeque for the final 10. Don’t forget to lightly brush your corn with oil and butter and season with a good barbeque spice blend before cooking. Easy!

Tikka skewers

For this dish (which will make 12 skewers), put 250g of small new potatoes in a pan of salted water and boil for seven minutes. While the potatoes are boiling, take a large bowl and mix together three tablespoons of tikka paste with around 250g of yogurt, two tablespoons of cumin seeds, a thumb size piece of fresh root ginger (finely grated) and seasoning.

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and tip into your tikka mixture, adding 300g of paneer cheese (cut into chunks). Gently cover the cheese and potatoes with the marinade before leaving to chill for two hours.

To assemble, simply alternate marinated potatoes and paneer on the skewers with slices of onions and peppers. The finished kebabs will take 10 to 15 minutes to cook on a barbeque.

Carrot and sesame burgers

It’s just not a barbeque without burgers! To make these simple vegetarian ones you will need the following ingredients:

Start by blending a third of the grated carrot in a food processor with the chickpeas, onion, tahini paste, cumin and egg; you’re looking for the point at which it becomes a thick paste.

Next, heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add the remaining carrot; cook for around eight to 10 minutes. Add the cooked carrot to your bowl of blended ingredients with the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and sesame seeds. Mix this well with your hands and add seasoning.

Divide the resulting mixture and shape into six burgers, chill until cooking. To make a sauce for your burgers, mix the remaining tahini with the lemon juice and yogurt, adding a few drops of chilli sauce.

These burgers should take around five minutes to cook. Toast the buns and assemble with sauce, sliced avocado, rocket and onion.

Side dishes

No barbeque is complete without some delicious side dishes. For the perfect accompaniment to your vegetarian barbeque feast, why not create pasta salad? There are many pasta recipes available online. One example is this zesty lemon pasta salad. To make this salad, which will serve four people, follow these simple steps:

1. Cook 325g of pasta. While this is cooking, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and fry one red onion (cut into wedges).
2. Once you have cooked the onion for around five minutes (it should be lightly browned), add in one lemon (cut into thin slices) and sear for a few minutes until charred, then transfer into a large bowl. Drain the pasta and add this to the bowl.
3. To make the salad dressing, mix two tablespoons of lemon juice with two tablespoons of ground thyme, black pepper, a pinch of salt and four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
4. Drizzle the dressing over the pasta and onions and add in two red peppers (cut into wedges) and six spring onions (sliced).

There are, of course, many more online recipes for you to discover; so don’t let anyone tell you that vegetarians can’t enjoy a good barbeque just as much as their meat-eating friends.

Barbeques are a nation obsession in Australia and its getting that way in the UK. Now we don’t get a many sunny days as those lucky people down there in Oz but thousands of Brits do love to toss a few shrimps on the barbi most weekends during the summer months.

Choosing a barbeque is never an easy task and the first big question either do you choose either (a)  a gas barbeque or (b) a coal fired barbeque. This divides the nation with traditionalists loving the smokey flavours that old school  coal gives you and modernists plumping for the more simple ( and quicker ) gas powered units.

Next is the size you want ,  the biggest trend in barbeques of late has been portable barbeques with them now accounting for almost 30% of the market. People are getting more and more used to eating outside and taking their barbeques to the beach or the park. Modern potable units are very light , get up to cooking temperature quickly and dissipate the heat in no time meaning it can be carried or put in the back of a car without risk of fire.

If you want to buy a barbecue this year for yourself or are looking at gifts for a budding cook you should spend some time online and check out all the options.

With the onset of Global warming and our increased awareness of the damage the sun can do to your skin more and more people have seen the advantages of garden sail shades. The new products originally developed in New Zealand are the latest concept in creating shaded areas within your garden which are both practical and a great design feature for your outdoor areas.

They provide a cool area during the heat of the day whilst giving top quality protection from the sun’s most harmful UV rays. These Modern and uber cool Shade sails are available in a range of sizes and colours to suit every budget and application.

These new products are not only for personal use but have found  their way into many of the commercial sectors including schools and Kindergartens protecting the children when they are playing outside in the summer months. With the advent of the smoking ban in Europe many pubs, clubs and bars are utilizing them in the outdoor area to shade their customers allowing them to eat drink and be merry in cool comfort. And due to the nature of the product when the winter comes around they can be safely removed, rolled up and stored in readiness for the next season.

Whilst the product might differ slightly from one manufacturer to the next all garden sail shades are constructed from a heavy duty knitted cloth with up to 98.8% UV protection. The sails are edged with a super strong webbing inlaid with stainless steel eye holes to ensure the strength, and rigidity is long lasting. Indeed many manufacturers offer five year plus guarantees on their products.

Essential Points To consider When Choosing A Wood Burning Pizza Oven.

This summers must have garden accessories are sure to be outdoor ovens and Wood Burning Pizza Oven. The earthy taste created by these special ovens really is second to none. With time people have forgotten what it takes to cook properly with a outdoor oven or wood burning stove and what they should or could expect from it. Evolution of the human race has seen us rely more and more on convenience food.

One thing that often surprises people is just how quickly food cooks when cooked in a outdoor oven and that in just a few minutes you can have a delicious piping hot pizza ready to eat or a fully cooked loaf of bread in under 10 minutes. Rather than waiting for hours for your modern oven to cook them. Wood burning pizza ovens and outdoor ovens can reach temperatures far in excess to those of a domestic oven. Of course cooking times will and do depend heavily on how efficient the design of the outdoor oven or wood burning pizza oven is. Die to their increasing popularity the is a lot of choice available when it come to style. Temperatures in in outdoor ovens and woodburing pizza ovens can exceed 600 degrees.

While building a DIY Outdoor Oven or wood burning pizza oven is a possibility it is not advised to do this due to the extreme temperatures that they will have to withstand. The safer option is to only buy from a reputable supplier of wood burning pizza ovens and outdoor ovens.

Installing a wood burning pizza oven or outdoor oven is probably not going to increase the value of your home, however it may be a very useful selling point if and when you do decide to move house. However, not everyone shares this view, some may view an outdoor oven as an inconvenience or a waste of space. Of course if you get the same use as most people do from their outdoor oven or wood burning pizza oven, then the investment in time and money will repay itself many times over in both enjoyment and the great taste of foods that have been cooked in the great outdoors.

As I mentioned earlier its not just a case of choosing a wood burning pizza oven or outdoor oven, you must also choose wisely on where you get your oven from. With something sitting in your garden that is getting to those kind of temperatures you need to think a lot about the safety of it both for your family and animals that venture in to your garden.

3 Tips for Hosting the Perfect BBQ

Maybe it’s due to the weather getting warmer or people wanting to spend more time outdoors, either way the increase in cooking as our ancestors did outdoors and on charcoal has been nothing short of phenomenal. Of course using a Charcoal BBQ or Portable BBQ for those who aren’t familiar with a Charcoal BBQ or Portable BBQ can be awkward and give rise to many issues. Of course making sure you have the right Charcoal BBQ or Portable BBQ can put you on a strong footing.

While many people when choosing their charcoal BBQ or portable BBQ will head straight for the biggest and baddest that they can find, this for the majority is where they go wrong although they maybe impressive. Such a charcoal BBQ will not only take up a lot of space in your garden they can be over powering and unless you are used to the speed at which food cooks on a charcoal BBQ or Portable BBQ then you are heading for a lot of burnt and wasted food.

I often suggest to people, ask your self how many people will be at your average BBQ and choose either a Portable BBQ or a charcoal BBQ accordingly. With a bit of planning you can still manage to cook for more people when needed every now and then. After all, its about the whole experience, not who has the largest charcoal BBQ.

Regardless of what you decide, a charcoal BBQ or a portable BBQ, you will need to think about where you are going to place it for both cooking and storage. consider the surface you are placing the BBQ on, are you shielded from wind and rain?. Love thy neighbour – make sure smoke and noise are not going to cause your neighbour to be complaining about your BBQ. If we are honest here, beer can flow at BBQ’s, so the noise levels are not going to be at a whisper. Getting the balance for loacating the ideal place to put your charcoal bbq or portable bbq can be tricky, however you also need to consider access for guests and any kids that may be present.

The safety of guests, pets and wildlife is paramount, regardless of whether you have a portable BBQ or a Charcoal BBQ. Consider anything that could set on fire or things that could be affected by the smoke. Also make sure that your charcoal BBQ or portable BBQ is fit for it’s purpose and is constructed of strong enough materials and isn’t likely to collapse or tip over while you are using it.