5 of the best BBQ recipes you need to wow your guests
Can you hear that? It’s the sound of thousands of BBQs firing up all around the country! Blazing burgers, sizzling sausages, baked potatoes crackling in their foil; there are some BBQ staples that never go out of fashion. As years go by, they continue to find their way on to many a plate held underneath the summer sun.
If you’re the designated ‘barbecuer’ in your family or group of friends, there may come a time when you want to try something different to the common barbeque fare. Whether you like to have the standard food but want to jazz it up with a bevy of side dishes and desserts to tantalise guest’s taste buds, or you are interested in creating some seriously crowd-pleasing mains to amaze and delight, a new recipe or two will take you to the next level of your BBQ game.
To help you on your way, we’ve rounded up some of our chefs very best recipes for outdoor cooking. From spicy lamb burgers to fancy cocktails, here are five recipes that will really wow the crowd at your next BBQ.
Flat Iron Steaks with Olive Tapenade
Add a Mediterranean twist to a classic BBQ steak with this olive tapenade and flat iron steak recipe. Flat iron steaks are tender, succulent, and juicy and best-cooked medium rare or medium. The amount of time you rest the meat is crucial.
Recipe serves four.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time for flat iron steaks:
Rare -2 minutes on each side
Medium Rare – 3-4 minutes on each side
Medium – 5-7 minutes on each side
Ingredients
4 x 175g/6oz Lean flat iron steaks, Salt and freshly milled black pepper, 2 sprigs fresh thyme or rosemary leaves, roughly chopped, 20ml/4tsp rapeseed or olive oil
For the Tapenade:
50g/2oz kalamata black olives, stoned and drained, 1 garlic clove, peeled, 1-2 anchovies, drained, 25g/1oz capers in brine, drained, 10ml/2tsp fresh thyme leaves, 25g/1oz sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, Juice of ½ lemon
Method
To prepare the tapenade; place the olives, garlic, anchovy, capers, thyme and tomatoes and lemon juice in a processor or blender and process for 1-2 minutes to form a rough paste. Place the steaks on a chopping board, season and sprinkle with the herbs on and oil on both sides. Cook on the steaks on a prepared barbecue or under a preheated moderate grill according to your preference. Cover with foil and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes.
(Based on a 2cm/¾-in thick steak): Rare: 2½ minutes on each side, Medium: 4 minutes on each side, Well done: 6 minutes on each side
Note: Fancy something different? Replace the flat iron steaks with sirloin, rump or rib-eye steaks and cook according to your preference using the timings below.
Masala Lamb Burgers
Made with aromatic spices such as ginger, chilli, garlic, garam masala, this recipe adds a deliciously punchy kick to your standard burger.
Recipe serves four.
Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus chilling time
Cooking time: 12-16 minutes
Ingredients
450g/1lb Lamb mince, 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped or grated, 2 small garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped, 1 x 2.5cm/1inch piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped, 1 small green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped, Salt and freshly milled black pepper, 10ml/2tsp garam masala, 30ml/2tbsp freshly chopped coriander
Method
In a large bowl mix all the burger ingredients together. Using slightly damp hands shape the mixture into four 9cm/3½inch burgers. Cover and chill for 20 minutes. Cook the burgers under on a prepared barbecue for 6-8 minutes on each side until thoroughly cooked and meat juices run clear. Serve the burgers with a spoonful of relish, and mini naan bread or bread rolls of your choice.
Pulled Pork with BBQ
The ultimate summer BBQ sensation. If you have wood-fired BBQ, throw your pork on for a long and slow cooking time. It produces amazing results! Serve with pickle, garlic coleslaw, spicy wedges, barbeque dip with a lettuce wedge, and the all-important glass of super chilled Aspall’s Cyder.
Ingredients
For the Pork
2.5kg Bone-In Pork Shoulder, Coarse Sea Salt
For the Sauce
240ml Cider Vinegar, 50gm Dark Brown Sugar, 1 Tbsp Dried Red Chilies, 1 Tbsp Fish Sauce, Freshly Ground Black Pepper, ½ Tbsp Coarse Sea Salt
Method
Step 1: Prepare the Pork
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C / Gas Mark 7. Score the skin on the pork shoulder and rub in some salt. Place in a tray or earthenware pot in the lower-middle of the oven for approximately 10-12 minutes. Seal longer if necessary. Reduce heat to 110°C or Gas Mark ¼.
Step 2: Sort out your Sauce
Add all the sauce ingredients to a saucepan and heat to a simmer until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Pour half the sauce over the pork and cover over. Cook for 6-8 hours until the meat will ‘give’ and shred easily.
Step 3: Pull it!
Remove the pork from the oven, rest for 20 minutes, and remove the bone. Shred the meat and mix with all the cooking juices, add the remainder of the sauce if required, season and adjust to taste (e.g. sugar, salt, chilli etc).
BBQ Pineapple & Coconut Fritter
While only the pineapple is actually added to the BBQ, this is a knockout dessert to serve after an amazing al fresco dining experience. Best served with ice cream (mango and rum is amazing!)
For the Pineapple
Top and tail the pineapple then remove the outer skin and any “eyes”. Rub the pineapple in a mix of 4 shots (140ml) of dark rum and 4 tablespoons of dark brown sugar. Leave this for 4 hours to macerate, turn over in mix every 30 minutes. Roast on the BBQ with butter and finish with a blow torch. If you are accustomed to smoking foods then crack on! Once smoked/cooked allow to rest under cover – I suggest either a clingfilm container or tin-foiled container, as you will need the juices for the sauce.
For the Coconut Fritter
Ingredients
100g gram flour / chickpea flour, 100g gluten-free flour, 200ml coconut milk, 1 free-range egg beaten and passed, 110g caster sugar, 200g desiccated coconut
Method
Mix the flour in a bowl and whisk in the milk. Add egg gradually, mixing well. You should only need about half; the batter should be thick enough to pipe. Stir in 30g of sugar and give a final whisk. Leave to rest. Take half of the desiccated coconut and BBQ till golden. Mix this with the other half of the desiccated coconut and the rest of the caster sugar while the coconut is still warm. Take pieces of parchment about 4” by 4”, place mix in piping bag snip off a small hole then draw irregular shapes onto the parchment. Deep fry at 180°c till golden, drain and cover over with the coconut mix, leave till required.
Paton’s Pearl Cocktail
Conjured up by our Executive Head Chef Alan Paton and Hawkes Ginger Beer founder, Simon Wright, the Paton’s Pearl cocktail is a refreshingly fancy combo perfect for alfresco dining. Be careful though, this is one of those drinks that sneaks up on you!
Serves 8 (ish)
Ingredients
1 bottle of chilled bubbles (Champagne, cava or Prosecco works well),1 bottle of Aspall’s Cyder, 1 bottle of Hawkes alcoholic ginger beer, Splash of lemonade
Method
Take 6 champagne flutes. Fill just below half glass with champagne. Fill the next quarter with Aspall’s. Complete next quarter with Hawkes. Finish with a splash of lemonade. Repeat till all bottles finished. Enjoy!