There’s nothing better than a BBQ in the sun. I am partial to an absolutely cremated sausage in a shite white hot dog bun with lashings of ketchup and mustard but of course when it’s something as special as Zoe’s birthday, we will be going all out with lots of marinated meats (Zoe’s secret recipe, all 10/10), salads from the garden and seemingly endless bottles of champagne. This is the life!
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A few recipes, that are barely recipes because we just made them up as we went along, but that’s all part of the fun.
Burnt aubergines
A good two in one recipe if you’re already BBQ’ing, and inspired by the ever loved Ottolenghi - I’m sure he has essentially the same recipe in one of his books.
Burn the aubergines in the coals until completely collapsed and blackened. Let them rest in a bowl until cool enough to handle.
For the base, mix some grated garlic and salt into greek yoghurt and spread on a big serving plate.
For the butter, add some unsalted butter to a small pan with chilli flakes and aleppo chilli as well as salt and let it bubble for a few minutes before taking it off the heat.
Rip aubergine apart on the yoghurt, then pour over the butter and scatter over toasted pine nuts.
Tomato and melon salad
Summer in a bowl - I had this recently at Primeur with tomatoes, melon and bottarga which was also a treat but the one we made last weekend was particularly summery and fresh.
Roughly chop tomatoes (Isle of Wight are great atm), salt and set aside.
Chop up your ripest melon into cubes or into balls and set aside.
Drain some of the liquid off the tomatoes, add some extra virgin olive oil (I love citizens of soil) and mix melons in. Salt generously!
We picked some nasturtium leaves in the garden to garnish.
Potato salad
Every good BBQ has a potato salad on the table, this was no exception. Thought we’d keep it lighter by incorporating yoghurt into the dressing, but creme fraiche also works super well here!
Boil some baby potatoes, something like jersey royal works well here, in heavily salted water for 15-20 minutes until tender.
In the last few minutes, add some green beans.
Drain and let cool while you make the dressing: kewpie mayo, yoghurt, dijon mustard, English mustard, salt, pepper and lemon.
We made some quick pickled shallots by slicing them thinly then adding red wine vinegar and salt and letting them sit for 10 minutes.
Slightly crush the potatoes and mix with the green beans and dressing then top with pickled shallots and mint.
The boys were on meat duty, where we had big steaks; chicken thighs; chicken wings (my fave) and pork neck. Perfect!
All guzzled down with champagne and finished the meal with the birthday girls request of chocolate guinness cake (Nigella forever).
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