• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • about Dom in the Kitchen
  • contact me
  • pr & demo’s
  • Private Dining

Dom in the Kitchen Homepage

Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

  • Home
  • Chicken Thighs
  • Bread
  • Cakes
  • Eggs
  • Vegetarian
  • Everything else

the mini bbq

23 May 2010 by Dominic Franks

Hot hot hot hot hot hot hot! Mark this day, Sunday 23rd May 2010, that the UK officially had it’s summer…just this day mind you… not doubt tomorrow we’ll be back under a rain cloud.

Well, it had to happen… first barbie of the year and I thought we’d start with something simple to kick it off.  It’s funny how we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to ‘do’ a bbq, marinate the meats, make the salads, invite friends round… all lovely, but quite stressful with the lighting of the coals, burning the flesh but not cooking the chicken.

I think, especially here in the UK, that the moment the sun even peeps out we feel we should all be outdoors enjoying the sunshine and this means barbecue… and for some reason that means a lot of fuss.

It should all be so much simpler… it’s just a grill outdoors after all.  Those coals are actually quite easy to light, if you know what you’re doing and you’re going to cook that chicken anyway, so why not do it al fresco?

Since we’ve had our log burning stove i’ve become a dab hand at setting things alight… and those things staying alight and staying hot.  I’ve now applied this to lighting the barbecue and taking the attitude that it should be hassle free and as simple as turning on the grill.

We’ve got a tiny little barbecue anyway, it’s one of those cast iron open bowls and it always cooks everything up a treat, as long as you treat it and the food well.  I roll up some newspaper and lay it in the bottom of the bowl, then pile the charcoal on top into a pyramid.  This keeps a heat underneath it and really gets it going… you also have to be brave and let the coals turn white with an inner glow before you start cooking… remember: there’s no rush… it’s an grill not a microwave!

So, inspired by delicious. my new favourite food magazine and with The Viking burning his skin in the sun at the British Superbikes down the road at the stunning Cadwell Park racetrack, I planned dinner…  I marinated some chicken in a thrown-together marinade of olive oil, sesame oil, spring onions, coriander, ketchup, honey and balsamic vinegar.  I did the same for The Big V with some Quorn chicken style pieces (these are a great alternative for those veggies who really do miss their barbecued meats… you’ve just got to do something with them and I say treat them the same as the chicken!) I also grilled some courgettes, which I love on the barbie…cut into chunks, then brush with oil and lots of salt and pepper.  I roasted some sweet potatoes for half an hour in the oven and we ate it with a simple green salad.

That was it…not thousands of sausages or a million meats, just something for me and something for The V.

eat and of course, enjoy!

Share this post:

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on E-mail

Filed Under: Everything else

Previous Post: « bean, mozzarella and roasted tomato salad
Next Post: A tale of two birthdays »

Reader Interactions

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Comments

  1. Dominic Franks says

    24 May 2010 at 9:24 pm

    love this

  2. EstherW says

    26 May 2010 at 6:35 am

    Great post! That is so my thinking about barbequeing too. I mean, all those barbeques we used to have with the cheapest burgers we could possibly find and white white burger buns that were mostly sugar, slathered in ketchup – perfectly okay but not very…. modern.

    I keep it relatively quiet who my husband is in day-to-day posting so no you're not slow on the uptake! xxxx

Primary Sidebar

About Dom In The Kitchen

My name is Dominic, I am a cook, food writer and creative event producer. I write the food blog Dom In The Kitchen and also write a monthly recipe column for Lincolnshire Life Magazine and Good Taste Magazine. I also run creative event production company The Persuaders, producing global events for brands since 1997. I am based both in the small village of Belleau in Lincolnshire and the smaller village of London! Read More…

Subscribe

Get new posts by email:
Powered by follow.it
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Archives

Tweets by @DomInTheKitchen

as featured in Lincolnshire Life Magazine

Lincolnshire Life

creatively managed by

The Persuagers
Belleau Cottage

Footer

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

&copy 2010 - 2021 | All rights reserved | Website by Peckish Digital