#114 - Firing Up The Barbecue

Hi Feeder gang!

Although I have cooked professionally for 10 years this year, I still don’t consider myself to be an expert in much. I can make a decent lasagne, sure, but I would not proclaim to be an expert. The nature of the job is that for the sake of recipe variety so that I don’t bore the pants off you, I cook lots of different types of food on any given week, and meal repetition is rare. Whilst this means I don’t get bored eating, I also don’t get the expertise that comes from cooking meals again and again and again. Lots of recipes online proclaim to be THE BEST version of something, and I have also been guilty of using this hyperbole. How do you know something is the best unless you have eaten and tried to cook all other versions? I’m not sure anyone can be an expert to this level, myself included.

So, here is me admitting that my food may not be THE BEST version of something (because I can’t possibly know that it is) and I am not an expert in anything, and whilst I know I can cook well, I’m trying to get better at cooking lots of things that I have allowed to be my blind spots. I like to cook in an intuitive, relaxed way, tweaking as I go along and going with the flow. I don’t cooked much that requires a lot of technique because it doesn’t allow as much room for free-styling. On the flip side, it means that I don’t cook things that I don’t feel confident in often, which creates gaps in my knowledge.

I am guilty of deferring tasks I’m not confident I can do properly to somebody else. Getting the power drill out? Not my job. Filleting a load of really fiddly fish? No thanks. Lighting the barbecue? Certainly not my job! Truthfully, I have not been willing to put the hours in to get really, really good at something specific. I resigned myself to being a Jack-of-all-trades, and pig headedly refused to challenge myself.

After 32 years of this, I am trying to push myself a little. I want to change, and be good at new things! Recently, I decided I wanted to get really good at making omelettes, so I ate them at least once a day for weeks. I realised I had never cooked myself a steak that I truly loved, so I cooked steak at home until I did. The next area I’m turning to is the barbecue, because whilst I have barbecued for years, truthfully I have always paid more attention to the sides, and just let the sausages sizzle in a corner. I am a real city wimp, and the thought of lighting a fire always made me feel quite panicked and ineffectual, to the point where I simply never did it. This summer, I endeavor to become a Barbecue Dad, kitted out in socks and sandals, sipping a beer, fanning the flames and judiciously turning things on the grill.

My basic understanding is that you want a hot side of the barbecue and a cold side of the barbecue. The hot side you use to get good colour and char on your food, but food that takes longer to cook (like chicken or whole onions, for example) you may want to spend some time on the cooler side, so that they can cook through without burning to a crisp. The timings in this newsletter will be loose, and I encourage you to use your instinct with cooking these recipes. If you think food needs more colour, move it to the hot side. If you think it is looking perfect but isn’t quite cooked through, transfer it over to the cool side.

If you also find the barbecue a bit scary but would like to practice not being scared of it, give these recipes a pop! I am not yet an expert (you don’t want to know how long it took me to get the coals lit), but I am an enthusiast, and this is what I have cooked on it this week. We have sausages with charred onions, peppers, chickpeas and ricotta; some spiced chicken skewers with burnt aubergine yoghurt and herb salad; grilled sweet potatoes with charred spring onion salsa and creme fraiche. I have enjoyed eating them all massively, and I think you will too.

Enjoy!

Sophie x

In a move that will surprise literally nobody, I have written another sausage recipe. It was a no-brainer to christen my new barbecue with sausages, and this recipe is exactly what we made. The charred onions and peppers certainly lend themselves to a more Turkish style barbecue, but I kept things Italian instead by dressing them up with ricotta and lots of basil.

This with some focaccia to swoop through the oniony, peppery juices and an ice cold beer is what happiness feels like. I’ve said this recipe serves 2, but there pepper and onion salad is very plentiful, and tastes sensational after a day hanging out in the fridge, so you get leftovers too.

Serves 2 (with leftovers!)

2 red peppers

1 green pepper

2 medium sized onions

6 sausages

560g jarred chickpeas

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

125g ricotta

10g basil leaves

focaccia or other good bread, to serve

Salt, pepper and olive oil

1. Get your barbecue lit with coals.

2. Halve your peppers and remove any pith and seeds. Halve the onions and peel them. Add all the veg to a bowl, and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt.

3. Once the flames of the barbecue have died down and most of the coals are white and glowing, carefully shimmy the coals over to one side of the barbecue.

4. Arrange the peppers and sausages over the cooler side and the onions over the coals, skin-side down. Close the lid and cook for about 5 minutes - you want the skin side of the onion to have a good char on them, and the peppers and sausages to be slightly cooked.

5. Flip the onions over and transfer them to the cooler side to finish cooking. Bring the peppers and sausages over to the hot side and cook for 10 to 15 more minutes, turning frequently until the peppers are lightly charred and soft, and the sausages are tender and golden.

6. Once the peppers and onions are soft and charred, remove them from the barbecue and allow to cool slightly. Peel the onion skins off, then chop off the end to separate the petals. Halve the peppers lengthways, and get them both in a bowl.

7. Drain the chickpeas and rinse with cold water, then tip these in with the veg. Add the red wine vinegar and 3 tbsp olive oil, as well as a good pinch of salt. Give it a good mix.

8. Tip the veg onto a platter. Top with big blobs of ricotta, and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Serve it up with a side plate of sausages and focaccia

Barbecued chicken is a particular kind of bliss. The gnarly, smokiness of the texture on the outside with the tender middles is one of my favourite things to eat off the grills. For the marinade here, I’ve done with a kind of North African vibe, loaded up with ras el hanout that I brought back from Marrakech, and a good dollop of yoghurt, which really helps to tenderise the chicken. The marinade, herb salad and burnt aubergine combo works in other settings too. I’ve done it with half a side of salmon before, and it worked beautifully (grilled skin side down for 7 minutes -yum).

I am Team Metal Skewers for this, and do think they are worth buying. Metal skewers conduct heat and help the chicken to cook from the inside out, but by all means use soaked wooden skewers if that is what you have to hand.

Serves 4

For the chicken: