Beginner’s Barbecue – meat

We love to barbecue and take every opportunity to do so – usually two or three times a week. You have to be careful though, food poisoning is a very dangerous situation and every precaution must be taken to prevent its occurrence.

We have been to many a barbecue where we have been served chicken legs which were charred black on the outside and raw and bloody on the inside – a perfect situation for food poisoning to establish itself. We have seen plates of raw meat standing in the sunshine beside the barbecue waiting to be cooked – in ideal breeding ground for all sorts of bacteria. We have even seen people putting cooked meat back onto the same plates as the raw meat was waiting for the barbecue.

All of these situations are recipes for disaster (pardon the pun). In Spain, if you cause food poisoning by your neglect or ignorance of food hygiene – you go to jail, because it’s a hot country and you should have known better. We give you a few tips in the following recipes, but if you are new to barbecue it is essential that you look at our articles in barbecue safety and food safety. You will find them all here :Bill & Sheila’s Barbecue

Always keep your uncooked food either in the fridge prior to cooking or in a cooler box out of the sun – never by the side of the barbecue in the open air.

Turkey with Cheesy Pockets

Wrapping bacon around the turkey adds extra flavour, and helps to keep the cheese enclosed in the pocket. This is a nice clean looking barbecue dish – no charring and perfectly cooked.

4 turkey breast pieces, about 225 g/8 oz each
4 portions full-fat cheese (such as Bel Paese), 15g/ 1/2 oz each
4 sage leaves or 1/2 tsp dried sage
8 rashers rindless streaky bacon
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper

To serve
garlic bread
salad leaves
cherry tomatoes

Carefully cut a pocket into the side of each turkey breast. Open out each breast a little and season inside with salt and pepper to taste. Place a portion of cheese into each pocket. Tuck a sage leaf into each pocket, or sprinkle with a little dried sage. Stretch the bacon with the back of a knife. Wrap 2 pieces around each turkey breast, covering the pocket.

Mix together the oil and lemon juice in a small bowl. Barbecue the turkey over medium-hot coals, 10 minutes each side, basting frequently with the lemon mixture.

Place the garlic bread at the side of the barbecue and toast lightly. Transfer the turkey to warm serving plates. Serve with the toasted garlic bread, salad leaves and cherry tomatoes.

Boozy Beef Steaks

A simple marinade gives plain barbecued steaks a fabulous flavour in return for very little effort in the kitchen. Every barbecue has a steak of one form or another. This is a nice simple recipe that will give you a perfectly cooked steak with the minimum of effort.

4 beef steaks
4 tbsp whisky or brandy
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
Pepper
fresh sprig of parsley, to garnish

To serve
garlic bread
slices of tomato

Make a few cuts in the edge of the fat on each steak. This will stop the meat curling as it cooks. Place the beef steaks in a shallow, non-metallic dish. Combine the whisky or brandy, soy sauce, sugar and pepper to taste in a bowl, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture over the steak. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours.

Barbecue the meat over hot coals, searing the meat over the hottest part of the barbecue for about 2 minutes on each side. Move the meat to an area with slightly less intense heat and cook for a further 4-10 minutes on each side, depending on how well done you like your steaks. Test the meat is cooked by inserting the tip of a knife — the juices will run from red when the meat is still rare, to
clear as it becomes well cooked.

Lightly barbecue the slices of tomato for 1-2 minutes. Transfer the meat and the tomatoes to warm plates. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and serve with garlic bread.

Sticky Chicken Drumsticks

These drumsticks are always popular at any barbecue. Provide plenty of napkins for wiping sticky fingers, or finger bowls with a slice of lemon.

10 chicken drumsticks
4 tbsp fine-cut orange marmalade
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
grated rind and juice of 1/2 orange
salt and pepper

To Serve
cherry tomatoes
salad leaves

Make 2-3 slashes in the flesh of each of the chicken drumsticks with a sharp knife. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and add the chicken drumsticks. Cover the pan, return to the boil and cook-for 5-10 minutes. Remove the chicken and drain thoroughly.

Meanwhile, make the baste. Place the orange marmalade, Worcestershire sauce, orange rind and juice and salt and pepper to taste in a small saucepan. Heat gently, stirring continuously, until the
marmalade melts and the ingredients are well combined. Brush the baste over the par-cooked
chicken drumsticks and transfer to the barbecue to finish cooking. Cook the drumsticks over hot coals for about 10 minutes, turning and basting the meat frequently with the remaining baste.

Carefully thread 3 cherry tomatoes on to a skewer per person and transfer to the barbecue for 1-2 minutes. Transfer the chicken drumsticks to serving plates. Serve with the cherry tomato skewers and a selection of fresh salad leaves.

COOK’S TIP: Par-cooking the chicken is an ideal way of making sure that it is cooked all the way through without becoming overcooked and burned on the outside.

Buttery Corn-on-the-cob

There are a number of ways of cooking corn-on-the-cob on a barbecue. Leaving on the husks protects the tender corn niblets. If we can’t get fresh corn, we use vacuum packed corn cobs from the supermarket. They are pre-soaked in butter and roast to a delicious sweet buttery texture.

4 sweetcorn cobs, with husks
100 g/3 ½ oz butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp chopped fresh chives
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
grated rind of1 lemon
salt and pepper

1 To prepare the cobs of sweetcorn, peel back the husks to the base and remove the silken hairs. Fold back the husks and secure them in place with string if necessary. Blanch the cobs in a large saucepan of boiling water for about 5 minutes. Remove with a perforated spoon and drain thoroughly.

4 Barbecue the cobs over medium hot coals for 20-30 minutes, turning frequently to cook evenly. Meanwhile, soften the butter and beat in the parsley, chives, thyme, lemon rind and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the cobs to serving plates, remove the string and pull back the husks. Serve with the herb butter.

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