Page 47 - Phonebox Magazine May 2016

With the evenings becoming lighter, now is the time to dust off your tongs, get your
barbecue fired up, and prepare to dine alfresco! Not sure where to start or feeling like a barbecue novice? Keep reading for some guidance, tips and tricks to hosting the perfect BBQ.
Choosing the right fuel is your first step to mastering barbecue cooking. It has been said by various chefs and cooks that lump-wood charcoal is the best type for barbecuing, as it will give your food the best flavour and leave a subtle smoky taste. Moreover, adding oak wood chips to your charcoal can give a rich, tasty flavour to meat, or mixing apple wood with the charcoal will give a sweeter taste. Getting the temperature right is a key way of ensuring your food will cook through properly without being burnt on the outside and raw inside. It will take some patience because, once you’ve lit your barbecue, you will need to wait for the flames to die down and for the charcoal to turn white and glowing. If you put your food on while there are flames, you’ll end up with singed sausages and scorched peppers! A good trick is to push all of your charcoal to one side of the barbecue so that you have a controlled, high-heat side and a cooler side which you can use to keep your cooked food warm while waiting for other meats to cook on the hot side.
Marinating your food often sounds difficult and time-consuming but can, in fact, be very easy and transform your meat from dull to delicious! This can be a bit challenging when barbecuing the marinated meat as the barbecue flavour can override the marinade taste. The way to combat this issue is to marinate your meat for at least 6 hours to ensure it is fully flavoured and ready for the grill. Alternatively, if you’re in a rush, the ready- made sachets of glaze will work well too. Remember, never use olive oil if you’re making a homemade marinade; it will just smoke and burn when you put it on the barbecue.
Making vegetable skewers is super easy and they look very effective on a plate of barbecued food. Next to meats, which often have beige and brown tones, it’s great to present your guests with colourful vegetable skewers, which are also several of their five-a-day. Alternately thread red, green and yellow peppers, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and corn on the cob onto your skewers, pop onto your BBQ griddle for a few minutes, and you’re on your way to becoming a barbecuing expert!
Resting your meat before serving, even
for just a couple of minutes, can be really beneficial to the taste because it will give the flavours time to mature while allowing the meat juices to soak up back into the meat rather than spilling out when you go to cut it up. For smaller cuts of meat, just 4-5 minutes of resting time will allow the flavours to develop, while, for bigger pieces of meat, up to 10-15 minutes can be beneficial. If you try to cut a steak the second it has come off the BBQ, you’ll end up with meat juices everywhere and it would be too tough to eat. The best way to rest meat is on a warmed plate covered loosely with tin foil.
Adding some sides can be a way of making your barbecue memorable and unique while keeping it healthy and appetising! Think about sides such as three bean salads, Bombay potatoes, asparagus and rice salads, homemade coleslaw, tomato and feta pasta dishes, and quinoa salads. Lots of local shops and delis stock food items for these types of sides and salads so don’t be afraid to ask!
National BBQ Week this year is from 30th May to 5th June; it is considered the perfect week to start eating alfresco and practicing your BBQ skills.
May 2016 | Phonebox Magazine 47