Barbecue and Bank Holidays

Our guest blogger Mark Hartstone from La Fosse at Cranborne in Dorset, shares some great barbecue recipes and tips. National Barbecue Week also runs from 30th May through to 5th June, so grab your tongs and fire up your barbecue. Talking barbecue summers and alfresco dining is usually the death of a warm dry sunny spell. Yet I think everyone has, or should have, a barbecue. The last 12 months has seen an explosion of all types of fantastic outside wood fired or charcoal ovens, smokers or grills or a combination of all three. You can easily spend into 4 figures, however the same effect can be had by a simple, well made Bodum barbecue with a lid and with the addition of a small pizza stone it can be operated as an oven too. Barbecue flavours and fun cooking doesn't have to be all alfresco and weather dependent. Smokers are a great way of imparting that barbecue flavour and can be used on your usual stove top too. Most smokers are fairly similar and look like a metal box mess tin. The Nordic Ware smoker does vary from this as not only looking great, you can smoke larger joints or birds in it too. This summer I am wanting to try out the infamous beer can chicken in my smoker. It works very well in an enclosed barbecue so will work the same in the smoker. Just add extra wood chips throughout smoking.

Beer Can Chicken

Firstly open your can of beer and drink the contents or pour into a glass for refreshment whilst cooking. Using an expensive beer is a waste as the spices and barbecue flavour covers up the beer steam flavour. It is the moisture from the can that keeps the meat from drying out. So 1/2 fill the can with tap water instead! Rub the skin of your bird with barbecue spices - 'From Dorset With Love' make my favourite blend. If it is a skinny bird without much fat, ie pheasant in the Autumn, squishing garlic butter between the skin and flesh helps to keep it moist. Season the outside as well as the cavity too. If cooking on a barbecue pull the embers to the side so you get a radiant heat and less likely to get an inferno from the cooking fats. Place the can in the bird's cavity then put both in the middle of the grill. Cook for approx 1.5 hours give or take 15 minutes. Like all meats, leave the meat to rest prior to eating, wrap in foil so as not to cool, this gives you time to refresh the drinks, or grill your accompanying veggies.

Char-grilled Chicken

Fear of undercooked drumsticks on the barbecue can be eliminated also by this quick and simple dish. Remove the skin and wing bone from the breast and butterfly, batting out with a meat tenderiserto get a uniform thickness all over. Rub in oil, seasoning and spices of your choice,  I usually use lemon zest, juice and Mediterranean herbs at our Restaurant. To get those lovely char-grilled lines on the poultry do not  keep moving it, just leave for 8 minutes on each side. If the flesh starts to flake when pulled apart rather than stretching it is cooked, any sign of pink cook more.  

What to accompany with poultry on the Barbecue

Blanched vegetables work well, I especially like corn on the cob or asparagus that has been cooked over coals or in a smoker. To blanch the vegetables, immerse them into salted boiling water for 1-2 minutes then refresh in iced water. They are then ready to go in the smoker or barbecue very quickly.

Cooking tips

Escaping asparagus or rolling sausages is always the fear, and a simple way to avoid this collateral damage is to use 2 or 3 skewers creating a veggie or meat raft. Another bonus of this is to allow all the items to be turned over in 1 hit, creating more time to socialise. Salt and pepper mills by the barbecue is a must too, just because you are cooking outside does not mean you should forget the basics such as seasoning.  Your massive wooden pride and joy pepper mill should stay indoors though. Outside it is bound to get knocked over on to the patio. Get some bright fun new grinders for alfresco dining. A pot of Olive oil or Cold Pressed Oil Company's Rapeseed Oil with a silicone brush is also a handy addition to your barbecue set up, or a small branch of rosemary can also work as a brush, looking good and also adds to the aromas and flavours! Cooking over coals is no longer just the reserve for the householders' back garden in the summer.  Now La Fosse at Cranborne has a Barbecue Hut built by Wimborne's Living Outside, it means we are now able to offer year-round barbecues, thus those new implements now no longer have to collect dust in the garage over the winter!