Rainbow Fruit Kebabs

It's been a sunny weekend here and we have started thinking about Easter food; something that will be good for a barbecue if the weather's sunny over the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend.  Talking ideas through with Sous Chef J we decided that a fruit kebab, to balance out any chocolate egg-eating overload, would be a tempting and simple end to an Easter-time meal al fresco.

With sunny days in mind, we bought a selection of fruits which would look appealing and taste great. We also spotted some Easter Floral crockery in Sainsbury's that was decorated with bright, springlike flowers and decided a couple of pieces would be just the way to serve our kebabs.

Having bought pineapple, bananas, kiwi fruit, nectarines, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, mangoes and plums we started preparing the fruit for 'spearing' on bamboo skewers.

It was a lovely sunny day, so we decided to make the most of the weather and took everything we needed into the garden and began preparing the fruit...  this was a simple task of peeling (where necessary) and chopping into suitably sized pieces. 

Once the fruit was prepared and laid out in colour order, threading onto the bamboo skewers began. 

Choosing the order of strawberries, mango, nectarine, kiwi fruit or green grape, plums and blueberries... Sous Chef J worked through all the prepared fruit to get the Rainbow Fruit Kebabs ready.

Our Rainbow Fruit Kebabs were served just as prepared but they could be eaten with a melted chocolate (perhaps made from excess Easter eggs?) dip or, if barbecuing, a melted marshmallow drizzle.  YUM!

Alternative Burger 'Buns'...

Sous Chef J is a big fan of finger food and has a problem with dexterity so we like to make 'easy to eat' things.  Burgers fall into this category but Gluten Free bread/buns seems to be something that we still can't find with enough reliability to factor into our meal-making.

We saw these mushrooms when we were in the shop last week and thought they looked just perfect to be used as burger 'buns'.   So, we gave it a go!

Making our own burgers, using beef mince, an egg and onions, we chopped the onions and fried them on a low heat until they went transparent.  Setting them aside for a few minutes to cool slightly, we added the beaten egg to the mince and mixed well.  We then incorporated the cooled, cooked onions.

Next, we used a couple of dessertspoons to form the burgers into patties and fried them in a little sunflower oil over a medium heat.

Then it was time to gather all the 'putting together' ingredients - we used iceberg lettuce leaves, sliced tomatoes, sliced baby brie and portabella mushrooms.  Also tomato ketchup and other sauces...

Sous Chef J layered his burger on a lettuce leaf, added a slice of tomato and folded the leaf into a parcel to enclose the burger.

The mushrooms were quickly heated in the frying pan, stalk side down, for a couple of minutes.

They were then ready for use as 'buns'... and to make a cheeseburger we used slices of mini brie as well as the burger, lettuce and tomato slice.

Here's a cross section through our mushroom-bun-cheeseburger ....

... yumminess on a plate.   Sous Chef J had seconds and thirds although prefers the lettuce wrapped burgers as they contain the deliciousness better for him!

Warm Potato Salad

This recipe is another we've made for years...it's a different take on potato salad.  We serve it year round but it was first made as a barbecue dish.

The ingredients required are -
For the dressing
1 Tablespoon (15ml) grainy mustard
75ml Red wine vinegar
75ml Olive oil
For the salad
3 spring onions, sliced
Potatoes - boiled or steamed (we used about 5 medium sized, skin on and quartered)
One pack (about 90g) Pancetta or cubed bacon, fried

This serves 3 people, although the dressing can be stored in a fridge and will be too much for a small quantity of potatoes - how long it lasts will depend on how large a salad you make!

Place dressing ingredients in a jar, attach lid securely, and shake well.  The mustard will act as an emulsifier which allows the vinegar and oil to combine.

The spring onions were sliced whilst the bacon bits were fried until crispy.

Having steamed the potato pieces, skin on, they were placed in a bowl and the bacon bits and spring onions were added.  Next, whilst the potatoes and bacon were still warm, some of the dressing was poured over (the amount of dressing made will be enough for 2 or 3 salads - but, as mentioned earlier, this depends on the quantity of potatoes used) and combined.  Aim to coat the potato mix in the dressing - less is more to start with, add more if you need to.

We love serving this warm salad with barbecued or griddled meat.

Slow Cooker Breast of Lamb

We needed an easy meal to be ready for us after J's sports club session at the weekend and decided 'something in the slow cooker' would be a good idea.  As we had a piece of breast of lamb in the fridge, we decided to make use of that.  Also, before Christmas, we were sent some Sweet Mandarin Gluten Free sauces to try so thought we would make use of the, not so seasonal, barbecue one.  (For info - it's called a dipping sauce, but as regular readers of this blog will know, we are not ones to stick to what a label or recipe tell us to).  So we thought a slow cooker BBQ meal in January was called for.  Here's what we did.

The breast of lamb was cut into manageable sized pieces.  It was then placed in a pan of water to which a dash of vinegar was added and it was brought to the boil, covered and simmered for about 25 minutes.

This was done to start to break down the fat within this very fatty cut of meat.  At this point, the meat was drained using a sieve over a bowl (this is to catch the water - you will NEED to do this or your drains will get clogged with lamb fat... you have been warned!).  Set the bowl with the water to one side and allow the water to cool, this means the fat will solidify on the surface and then you can throw it away without risking the need for a call out from Dyno Rod...

The warm lamb breast meat was placed in the slow cooker and some of the barbecue sauce was drizzled over.  Next the meat and sauce was mixed through. 

Having placed the lid on the slow cooker, the meat was left on low to cook whilst we went out.

On arrival home, the smell that greeted us was amazing and very welcome.  Some rice and peas were cooked and the meal was served up.  We declared it the best "not home made" barbecue sauce we've tried... and we still have half a bottle left to use.

We look forward to trying the other two sauces over the coming weeks - they are Sweet Chilli and Sweet and Sour. 

Disclosure - we were sent a set of the Sweet Mandarins Gluten Free sauces by @SainsburysPR. All opinions are our own.

Salmon in a parcel

This is a speedy salmon recipe which can be baked in the oven on cooler days or cooked on a barbecue if it's summery weather.

Simple, as ever, needing just salmon (either a piece or fillets - up to you), some English mustard powder, demerara sugar, lemon juice and black pepper.

We lined a baking tray with a large piece of aluminium foil - overlapping the ends well (this needs to be used this to enclose the salmon before cooking.)

Next the salmon fillets were placed on the foil and some mustard powder was sprinkled on the fish (about half a teaspoon per fillet), we followed this with the sugar (about 1 teaspoon a fillet) and then added a good amount of lemon juice (we used half a lemon for 4 fillets).  Finally, the salmon was topped with a good grind of  freshly ground black pepper.


Then the foil was folded over the fish and scrunched up to make a sealed parcel. 

The parcel was placed in a pre-heated oven (180C) on baking tray for about 20 minutes.  If cooking on a barbecue, place the foil parcel directly on the grill once the coals are hot and cook for 15-20 minutes.

After cooking, we opened the foil parcel and served.  The mustard, sugar and lemon juice had made a lovely sauce to accompany the fish.

BBQ Sauce-y Bits

Those of you that have been following this blog for a while may be familiar with the 'rustic' nature of the recipes we use. This one is no different! It's simple, uses just four ingredients for the sauce, and comes from a scrawled note (the recipe) that's been in my recipe folder for years. So, here is the recipe.You will note that the recipe refers to ribs... and the sauce does work well on pork ribs but the accepted family use of the sauce is now as part of Sauce-y Bits... where the 'bits' are actually pork shoulder. 450g of pork shoulder will usually need half of the quantity of sauce stated in the recipe... but we like it to be a sticky coating to the meat rather than a runny gravy type sauce. Just adjust amounts to suit your own likes/needs.

Having found all four sauce ingredients, sous chef J moved onto the next stage..... and mixed the ingredients together in a bowl.







Then the shoulder of pork was chopped into approx one inch cubes which were fried off in a frying pan. Once the meat was starting to brown, the BBQ sauce was poured into the pan and the whole lot was mixed well. It was then left to caramelise on a medium heat for about ten minutes (or longer) - remember to stir occasionally. This is the result! Serve with salad, broccoli or peas... green vegs look good with it as the colour contrast is appealing (or so sous chef J says).