Eight Basic Barbecue Recipes for a Scorching Summer

Summer in the UK – have you pulled your barbecue out yet?

So it seems that summer has finally got underway in the UK.  The weather is scorching and England are doing OK in the first few matches of the footie…..   ( I don’t want to tempt fate, by the time you read this…….)

If that isn’t an excuse for pulling out the barbie and scorching the heck out of some unsuspecting slabs of meat, then I don’t know what is.

I will be honest and say that barbecue is not my very strong point. When we do cook outside, I generally content myself with getting some decent burgers and sausages, chucking them on the barbie, and then squishing  them into a bread roll with a shop-bought squeezy sauce of choice.  But whenever we get invited to a barbecue, I always marvel at some of the things that people come up with, and somewhere deep within, I dream of doing better with my barbecue…..

I also woud like to reduce my reliance on shop bought, pre-prepared stuff, as you never know how much sugar it will contain, nor what other chemicals. There is some sugar in some of these recipes – barbecuse sauce wouldn’t be the same without it, but at least you can know exactly how much, and you can use a brown unrefined sugar.

So I thought I would gather some inspiration, so that next time the planets and weather line up in perfect harmony, and I don’t have to ferry the kids to five different events each day in the weekend, I could maybe put together an amazing barbecue feast for my family, and bag myself some extra supermummy points.

1: Barbecue Sauce

Let’s start off with a homemade BBQ sauce.  My son would worship me forever if I manage to perfect this one…..  Chef Jason Hill of www.CookingSessions.com shares his homemade barbecue sauce recipe in this episode of “Chef Tips.”  The full recipe can be found on the You Tube page https://youtu.be/RgcePSoF80A

2: The Perfect Burger

In my opinion, no barbecue is complete without a decent burger, so here is a fabulous burger recipe from Gordon Ramsay, which he demonstrated on Good Morning America

3: Pulled Pork

Pulled pork is another of my BBQ favourites – so here is a recipe from Laura in the Kitchen.  You can find the full recipe for this at her website http://www.laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/bbq-pulled-pork/

4: Prawn Tikka Skewers

This prawn tikka recipe looks just yummy – if you make your tikka sauce from first principles, you know exactly what’s in it and you can also adjust the heat to suit your own preferences.

5: Kind and Gentle Barbecue Chicken

If you are a meat eater, you are probably going to want some chicken pieces on your barbie, so here is a lovely simple BBQ chicken recipe  from Foodwishes.

Don’t just scorch it to death, cook it gently!  You can find the full recipe here https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2009/08/kinder-and-gentler-barbecue-chicken.html

6: Skewered Filipino Pork

This caught my eye just because it sounds delicious and I always like ‘street food’.  Skewered Filipino Pork  is marinated pork, as sold on street corners in the Philippines. You can find the full recipe for this at https://panlasangpinoy.com/2015/07/11/filipino-skewered-pork-bbq/

7: Barbecue Tofu

Here is a delicious recipe if you find yourself with some vegetarians at your barbecue, or if you just fancy an alternative to meat This tofu is meaty, crispy, and delicious. It makes the perfect side dish for almost any meal. Here is the link to the written instructions for this recipe: – http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63571.asp

8: Barbecued Pineapple

So there you have it. 8 stonking barbecue recipes, which I am certainly going to refer to next time barbecue frenzy comes over our family.  Do you barbecue with your family? Once or twice a year, or do you eat out all summer?  Please let me know your favourite dishes, hints and tips in the comments, and feel free to leave links to the recipes.