Boo To Boring BBQs

La Manga Club in the South East of Spain has, on average, 315 days of sunshine every year.  Of course, one of those unusual rainy days had to occur on my wedding-eve, creating short-lived panic and a thankfully unnecessary Plan B for the beach ceremony followed by garden reception.

The reason for this meteorological detour is to set out the Casson-family credentials when it comes to BBQing - of which we have done much in our many days of Spanish sunshine!  Standard fare includes salchicas blancas (white sausages), fatty pork ribs marinated in ketchup, mustard and beer, and citrus chicken wings, all served with mixed salad and rice with mushrooms and pineapple.  So, tasty and filling but not too complicated - you want to leave yourself time to chat with your friends!

There is a place for the basic British BBQ of supermarket sausages and burgers, plonked from packet onto grill, turned under cover of an umbrella.  But for every other occasion I would urge everyone to make the most of the handful of days sunny enough to break out the barbie and put the same love and care into your BBQ as you would with any other meal prepared for friends.

I would most certainly recommend pinchos, which you will remember from 'Meatballs: Albondigas, Almondegas and Koftas'.  My friends actually keep the marinated pork cubes in the freezer ready to whip out and thread onto skewers at the first sign of nice weather.

And there is no harm in marinading your chicken drumsticks and wings.  For example, toss them in lemon juice, thyme, garlic, honey and a little cumin.  I bake my chicken in the oven first and then finish them off on the BBQ to ensure they're properly cooked but get that smokey taste.  If you're feeling a little more adventurous, you could try my Mum's marinade recipe:

Orange and Honey Marinade

1 Orange
100ml White Wine
50ml Orange Juice
1tsp Honey
Pinch of Ground Gloves
1/4tsp Chilli Flakes
Salt & Pepper

1. Peel the zest of the orange and cut into thin strips.  Remove the pith and then roughly chop the orange.
2. Put the zest and orange into a pan with the white wine and orange juice.  Simmer until the orange is soft and the wine is reduced.
3. Remove from the heat and cool.  Take out the orange pieces, chop them up more finely then return to the pan.
4. Add the honey, ground cloves and chilli flakes.  Season to taste.

As part of my challenge, for a recent BBQ I had a flick through 'Barbecues: Over 80 Recipes for Alfresco Eating' to try something new.  It has lots of ideas for marinades, salads, meat and fish, but also desserts, which are almost always a little bit of an after thought for me.

That said, I make a mean barbecued pineapple.  Cut a pineapple into big chunks, keeping the skin on.  Marinate overnight (if possible) in rum and brown sugar, then caramelise on the BBQ.  Careful, they will be hot!

In this book, I found a great recipe for Veal Escalopes with Artichoke Paste that I never got to try on the BBQ.  The rain came down and all cooking was moved to the kitchen.

Instead of veal (which I couldn't find in Asda but know I could have got in Waitrose) I used pork steaks.  You batter these flat and then fill with mozzarella, prosciutto and a paste made from bottled artichokes and sun dried tomatoes.  Roll them up, secure with toothpicks and then whack on the BBQ (or in the oven).  I can also attest that this goes really well with pasta and a little tomato, onion and garlic sauce.

There are lots of other great recipes I want to try in this book, such as grilled thyme-marinated goat's cheese with walnut bread (wrapped in vine leaves), spiced swordfish with fennel and mint salad, and steak and feta burgers with sun-dried tomatoes.  But that will all have to wait until next year when the sun peeks out again!