Unique Serving Platter

My favorite thing about summer is being able to fire up the barbecue and enjoy good food outdoors with family and friends. It’s the best way to have a party and the food always tastes great. For me, BBQ recipes should be cooked on charcoal barbecues. No gas fuel cookers for me. The charcoal should be good quality too, either lumpwood charcoal or briquettes. If you grow fruit trees, the dried cuttings also make an excellent fuel.

A barbecue feast should smell, look and taste good. Be careful not to undercook anything as that can be harmful, but there’s no need to set everything on fire either. Good cooking outside comes with practice. Just do the basics to begin with and then confidence will come with experience. Then you can experiment with different BBQ recipes.

Barbecues don’t have to be just sausages, chicken drumsticks and burgers, although there should always be some of those, as people expect them! Even these can be spiced up with marinades and sauces etc. There are traditional, classic sauces such as aioli sauce. This is the basis of mayonnaise and consists of garlic, egg yolks, olive oil, lemon and seasoning. A tasty barbecue sauce can be made with garlic, salt, paprika, clear honey, tomato puree, orange juice, white or red wine vinegar and soy sauce. You can also make Japanese marinades that use sake and Indian marinades that use cumin and coriander. The use of herbs and butters also adds to the flavor of BBQ recipes. You can have accompanying butters with foods such as lobster, shrimp or anchovy.

There are lots of BBQ ideas for meat dishes to satisfy the carnivores. One of my favorite BBQ recipes is fillet steak with blue cheese. I also like lamb chops with tarragon and pork chops with fennel. Poultry can include less common items such as pheasant, quail or guinea fowl. Fish lovers will also enjoy barbecues and there are certain types of fish that are suited to being grilled. Bass, mackerel, swordfish, cod, bream and sardines are just some examples of tasty BBQ recipes using fish. Vegetarians and lovers of vegetables generally should also enjoy going to barbecues. There’s nothing more full of flavor than grilled sweet corn or aubergines. Mushrooms are also very tasty, cooked in garlic butter.

People tend to forget pudding at barbecues. I have come across some imaginative BBQ recipes for fruit deserts, including caramelized bananas and apple kebabs. If you prefer cheese as a last course, there’s nothing finer than barbecued goat cheeses.

The humble potato is probably the most versatile food in the world and is relatively easy to grow. It can be boiled, sautéed, roasted, baked and sliced for fries. It’s also the main ingredient of potato chips. Potatoes are used in many countries and there are hundreds of potato recipes. It can go into soups, stews, pies and casseroles. Simple mashed potato with lots of cream and butter is delicious without any additions.

Soup, when potato is an ingredient, has a chunky texture. The classic French creation, Vichyssoise is normally served cold with some crusty bread. It also contains onions, leeks, cream and chicken stock. Potato and cabbage Soup is popular in some countries, like Albania. Potato and caraway soup is also tasty, containing caraway seeds, milk or stock and seasoning.

Dauphinoise potatoes are commonly seen as potato recipes in cook books. The potatoes are sliced and baked in the oven with milk, onion, nutmeg and seasoning. Haggerty is a similar dish but with grated cheddar cheese. The addition of garlic or mustard to mashed potato adds a bit of spiciness. Some people like to fry potato slices in butter and add some cayenne pepper. Grated potato is sometimes added to pancake batter to make a tasty savory pancake.

Different cultures have developed recipes around the world. The United States has always included a lot of potatoes in their diet and there are many potato recipes in various regions. A dish known to many Americans is baked potato with cheddar cheese or sour cream and chives. Mashed potatoes in New England often have the peel mixed in.

The harsh climate of Northern Europe has created a fondness for the potato. Scandinavian countries have a tradition of serving pickled herring with the first of the season’s new potatoes with dill. In Italy, the popular Gnocchi dumplings are made from either semolina or potatoes. Britain too has its classic potato recipes, one of the favorites being Shepherd’s Pie. This is a dish of minced beef, onions and vegetables topped with mashed potatoes and baked in the oven until the topping is golden and crispy. Sometimes, grated cheese is sprinkled on top. Another dish is one, which is ideal for using up leftovers. Bubble and Squeak, as it is known, uses slices of fried potato, strips of cabbage and diced bacon. It’s all fried up with a dash of Worcestershire Sauce. There’s no need to ever waste a potato!