Simple marinades for summer barbecues
Taking the kitchen into the garden and cooking on the barbecue over the summer takes just a little forward planning. However once you have developed a bit of a routine – summer barbecues whether you are just cooking for the family or entertaining friends becomes a great way to make even simple meals just that little bit more special and sociable.
Planning tips for summer barbecues
- Decide on your menu before hand
- Prepare salads ahead and keep in the fridge.
- Jacket potatoes – pre cook and finish on the barbecue wrapped in tin foil.
- Cook baby new potatoes, season with butter or olive oil. Garnish with parsley or chives.
- Decide where you are going to eat. Prepare the table, condiments and how you are going to dish up
- Cook meat long and slow and keep away from direct heat or flames
- Check meat is cooked by cutting a piece of meat in half
- If you are a barbecue novice, keep it simple and read though these Jamie Oliver’s top ten barbecue tips
Assembling marinades for summer barbecues
Making a marinade for the Barbecue is simple and really takes no time at all. Mix up the marinade. Put the meat of your choice into the marinade, mix together and pour the meat and marinade into a storage bag.
Leave overnight in the fridge or allow to marinade for at least one hour. The result is delicious succulent meat.
Try using storage bags rather than a storage box as they take up less space in the fridge. Also if plans or the weather changes and your barbecue is put on hold for a few days, you can then just pop your fresh meat straight into the freezer in the same storage bag.
Yogurt Marinade.
This marinade makes meat and poultry of all kinds tasty, succulent and tender .
It is also delicious with white fish and as an aromatic dipping sauce to serve with sticks of raw vegetables or pitta bread. Make sure you do not use it as a dipping sauce after you have used it as a marinade. Probably safest to make a separate batch of this marinade for dipping.
- 430ml (3/4 pint) plain unsweetened yogurt
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice
- 1 small onion , peeled and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon of freshly ground white pepper
Piquant Marinade
The combination of the treacle and spices makes this sweet hot marinade particularly good with pork, chicken or turkey
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of black treacle
- 2 tablespoons of tomato puree
- 2 tablespoons of boiling water
- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground fenugreek
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- fresh ground black pepper.
Measure the olive oil tablespoon by tablespoon into a bowl and then use the oiled measuring spoon to add the treacle. The oil on the spoon will enable the treacle to slide off easily. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix together and chill in the fridge for a short while before adding your meat to the marinade. For more barbecue recipes take a look at Jamie’s Food Tube: The BBQ Book (Jamie Olivers Food Tube)
