We kick off with ‘Things on Sticks’ instead of a starter section, because they’re a colourful, easy dish to prepare ahead, marinate, and stick on the barbecue as soon as your guests arrive. The main chapters (Ribs, Chicken, Whole Veg, Fish, Burgers, Steaks & Slow Cooking) are traditionally the stars of the show, and you can mix and match these, along with the tasty salsas and salads, depending on the occasion and how many you’re feeding! If you’re still hungry after the main event, the dessert section has some very easy but delicious recipes for barbecued fruit and indulgent s’mores.
Whether you’re barbecuing in your back garden, or packing bits and pieces into a coolbox to take to the beach or park, this book has mix and match options that should keep you going all summer, and well into the autumn too. Head here for menu plan ideas to curate the perfect barbecue party table, with something to suit everyone. For tips on gas vs. charcoal and essential kit, see overleaf.
CHARCOAL
Purists prefer charcoal for the smoky flavour, and I personally love that you can chuck rosemary, thyme, bay, sage or oregano on to the coals for a wonderful herbal scent as you cook. A kettle or lidded barbecue is really helpful for cooking your food evenly – if you’re just using a very simple open grill or disposable barbecue, a really large inverted metal bowl will do at a pinch.
You will need: firelighters and long matches, or a long-handled lighter, as well as the charcoal. Set a couple of firelighters or plenty of scrunched-up paper under the coal, light them, then let the coal burn (20–25 minutes for lumpwood, up to 40 for briquettes) until they’re evenly glowing and chalky grey – then you’re good to start putting the food on.
Quick-cook items can be done over the coals (like things on sticks or steak). If you’re cooking items for longer, like a whole chicken or thighs and drumsticks, you’ll want to carefully move the coals to one side, and cook over the indirect heat on the other side of the barbecue.
Bear in mind, if you’re barbecuing for a long time, you will want to have another load of hot coals ready to tip onto the barbecue for when your first lot has died down – this is easy to get going in an inexpensive chimney starter.
GAS
For ease and convenience, gas is incredibly helpful. You certainly get a slightly different, less smoky finish on your food, but with the lid down the barbecue will heat up in under 10 minutes, and you can regulate the intensity of the flame just by turning the dial – very hassle-free. You may find, depending on your model, that there are hot and cold spots, so, using something fairly inexpensive like grilled vegetables, do a little test moving your food around to see where the hot and cool spots are.
Other than a barbecue, there’s very little kit that you need, so I’d start with:
TONGS: Now, a key consideration with barbecuing is cross-contamination. If you put your raw chicken on the barbecue with your tongs, flip it over halfway, then take it off, all with the same tongs without washing in between, you’ve just potentially contaminated the cooked chicken with salmonella. Get two sets of long-handled tongs, one for raw meat and one for cooked, and don’t confuse them.
FLIPPER: A long-handled flipper is helpful for burgers – again, you should use two: one for raw and one for cooked meat.
TRAYS: The same goes with trays or dishes – use one to take your raw, marinated food out to the barbecue, and once it’s cooked, transfer the food on to a clean, fresh tray or plate.
OTHER: You do tend to get other bits of kit in a barbecue set – long-handled forks and such, but I tend to stick to the tongs and the flipper, as they’ll pick up and turn most things. A very stiff wire brush is helpful for cleaning the grill.
Note on the recipes: When the recipe instructs you to add the meat, fish or veg to the barbecue, your barbecue should already be hot and ready to cook on, whether using gas or coals – see here.
I love food on sticks – it’s both a practical and a decorative way to cook a variety of meat, vegetables or fish quickly, and a great way to kick off a barbecue, as you’ll have prepared everything in advance. There’s good culinary precedent for it – it makes me think of eating proper satay at the roadside in Asia, where incredibly delicious marinated meat skewers are barbecued on open grills. It’s easy to make vegetarian or vegan versions – try the options below for paneer, halloumi or tofu with a variety of vegetables.
This chapter includes suggestions for things you can put on sticks, the quantities you might need, and, in the pages that follow, the simple marinades that you can use for any of the below.
A note on skewers: the metal ones are really the best, as they will heat up and help to cook your food from the inside. If using bamboo or wooden ones, soak them in water for 30 minutes or so before you start cooking.
With beef, pork or lamb, you want cuts that will stay tender when cooked quickly.
WHAT TYPE?
BEEF: rump steak, or sirloin if you’re splashing out.
PORK: go for tenderloin, pork steaks or chops.
LAMB: try lamb rump or lamb steaks.
CHORIZO: use mini cooking chorizo sausages, or cut 1cm rounds from a larger chorizo sausage.
With beef, pork or lamb, you can cut the meat into roughly 2.5cm cubes, but I prefer to cut the meat into long strips, about 1.5cm wide and deep, then thread the strips back and forward on to skewers in an S shape, push them down, and continue – that way you get the maximum surface area to nicely char on the barbecue, and only have to flip the skewer on two sides rather than four.
HOW MUCH?
Allow about 100g of meat per person as a starter. You can intersperse vegetables from the veg section and chorizo along with the meat if you wish, or make them up as separate skewers.
Pick a marinade from the suggestions on the following pages, make it up in a large shallow bowl (rectangular glass Pyrex dishes are good for this), then stir through the strips of meat.
Thread the meat on to the skewers, then cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours to overnight.
Barbecue