Whether you’re a natural born griller or your BBQs go up in smoke, Wee Buns Cookery School recipes will take your BBQ efforts from basic to brilliant.
Humans have used meat and later meat and vegetables over open fires for over 1,000,000 years and BBQ remains a huge family favourite to this day. There’s something about cooking outside around a fire which builds a sense of closeness and community and maybe that’s the reason aside from its delicious taste, why we continue to reach for the charcoal when the sun appears.
In celebration of BBQ season, Mary Anne Mackle from Wee Buns Cookery School has shared some of her favourite sweet and savoury treats which you and the family can easily make and enjoy.
For the meat:
Sweet Paprika & Turmeric Marinade- suitable for lamb or chicken
A lovely lightly spiced marinade suitable for lamb or chicken. Provides enough marinade for 6 – 8 chicken pieces or about 6 lamb chops or equivalent.
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons turmeric
2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
Juice of ½ lemon
4 tablespoons olive oil
Ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients and marinade the meat for anything from 15 minutes to overnight.
Classic Garlic & Herb Marinade- Suitable for lamb, chicken or beef.
4 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 whole garlic bulb, cut in half
Good bunch of thyme, rosemary or marjoram, roughly chopped
Black pepper
Put the meat in a bowl and add enough oil to coat, break up the garlic roughly and add this with the herbs, pepper and lemon juice.
Rub into the meat. Leave to marinade for a few hours or overnight.
For the vegetables and vegetarians:
Sweet potatoes are now a staple in many homes and the good news is, they can also go on the BBQ and are much quicker to cook than regular potatoes.
Wrap them individually in foil and leave for 30 mins-1 hour, depending on size of sweet potato.
Place a whole sweetcorn straight on the BBQ and turn regularly until charred on the outside. Serve with butter and sprinkle with parsley to garnish.
Old favourites vegetable kebabs can be given a modern twist by brushing with olive oil and sweet chilli sauce before putting on the BBQ. Cut red and yellow peppers, courgette and red onions into chunky pieces and put on a long bbq skewer. Place them on the edges of the bbq until charred and tender.
For the sweet toothed:
This banana based dessert is easy to make and one where children can enjoy being a (supervised) part of the BBQ experience.
Serves 4
4 ripe bananas
A handful of mini marshmallows
A handful of milk chocolate chopped into chips
Score each banana through the skin ( don’t cut right through ) and stuff some chocolate chips into the banana flesh and the push some marshmallows on top .
Set each banana on some tin foil and fold over the edges to make a parcel. Set the stuffed bananas on the bbq for 15minutes or until the chocolate and marshmallows are melted .
Serve the banana, chocolate-y, marshmallow-y deliciousness with vanilla ice cream!
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