Barbecue!

So, finally the great British weather relented long enough (only just) to let me put the new gas BBQ to the test. It didn't disappoint.

First up, home-made burgers. I've covered making my own burgers on this blog before here
http://blokeinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/06/home-made-burger-and-chips.html. I still do them the same way except l no longer add an egg. I don't think it's needed.

Another thing I often do is put some grated cheddar in the middle of the burger. This melts wonderfully when grilling and gives a great flavour throughout.

The burgers grilled a treat on the barbie, the control of being able to crank the heat up or down instantly is amazing, not to mention having instant fire at the twist of a knob. The fat dripping down into the burners and smoking more than makes up for the lack of charcoal in my humble opinion.

After the burgers came some chicken legs which I'd simply marinaded in olive oil, crushed garlic, lemon juice, chilli and salt and pepper. I'd also cooked these in the oven at 180 degrees (gas mark 4) for 20 minutes to make sure I wasn't poisoning my friends and family.

Next up, a sheet of bacon ribs I'd bought earlier in the day from the wonderful Scotch Beef Shop in Woolton, Liverpool (where I'd also bought the minced beef for the aforementioned burgers as well as some sausages, which I'll come on to later). These ribs deserved a decent marinade so I had a root through my store cupboard and came up with the following:

BBQ Marinade Recipe

4 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
4 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of paprika
Ground black pepper

Mix the lot together, smother your meat of choice and leave to marinade for a couple of hours.

The ribs were followed up by the obligatory bangers. No ordinary bangers here though, oh no. These are hand-made affairs from the butchers mentioned above, pork and pepper and Slimming World approved too so not too much damage on the waistline. The have a whole range of interesting sausages and the shop is worth a visit for these alone.

To counter the meat-fest there was a lot of nice fresh salad doing the rounds, as well as some halloumi griddled on the barbie's side burner all washed down with a jug of Pimms and some Stella Artois Cidre.

Well, now our 2 days of summer appear to be over and the rain has returned so the cover's back on the barbecue, probably until this time next year.

Salud!