The Barbecue Bash.

So I thought I would take full advantage of the hot weather and embrace it with the classic, but always, enjoyable BBQ. Chilling out in the cool of the evening with close friends and enjoying good food; what could be better than that? Well it all sounded great... until I remembered that with dinner parties, comes great responsibility (cooking and entertaining that is). Thanks to my fantastic mother (who has been pressing for a mention on the blog for ages) it was all possible. She did a great job on the 'organising and decorating', making it a perfect setting for the mexican inspired BBQ. So that just left me with all the preparing and cooking, thus I decided less was more. I focused on prawn and chicken kebabs and pork chops for the meat dishes and a few salads and dips for the sides, but boy was it enough! 

So fresh and so green.....

Oh Hey 

As you can see above my mum did a fantastic job on the table!

And those food nets, what a bloody fantastic idea, saves you the dreaded insect annoyance when eating alfresco. 

The Ultimate Mexican Salad.

 This lovely Mexican salad was inspired by a great show Mexican Food Made Simple (always showing on the food network), the only thing really to say about it is that its just a joy to eat. 

Ingredients:

Serves 5 

1 large squash 

1 tin chickpeas 

2 big handfuls of spinach 

10/12 Cherry tomatoes 

3 garlic cloves

1 red onion 

1 pack fresh chorizo sausages 

1 bunch coriander 

olive oil 

2 tsp chilli flakes 

Salt & pepper for seasoning 

a few shavings of pecorino cheese 

Method: 

1. Firstly chop the onion into long strips and place on the bottom of a large baking tray. 

2. Cut the squash into chunks and place on top of the onions along with the garlic cloves and cherry tomatoes.  

3. Sprinkle with chilli flakes and drizzle with olive oil. Place in an oven for 30mins at about 200 degrees. 

4. Now chop the coriander finely and place in a pestle and mortar along with a good pinch of salt. Work it together until you get a paste, at this point add a decent glug of olive oil and then mix together until you have a dressing. Then set aside. 

5. After the squash has been in the oven for about 20mins you need to start cooking the chorizo. Butterfly the sausages then place them into a hot griddle pan for 5 mins either side. 

6. Lay the spinach on the bottom for your serving bowl, then place the squash, tomatoes and chorizo on top. 

7.  Drain a can of chickpeas and and scatter on the salad. 

8. Lastly drizzle your coriander oil and place the shavings of cheese on top.  

 The Salsa. 

Ingredients: 

8 large tomatoes 

1 large chilli

1 red onion 

2 cloves of garlic 

1 bunch coriander 

1 lime 

olive oil 

Salt and pepper 

Method: 

1. Chop the onions and tomatoes in half and place in a hot frying pan along with the whole chilli and garlic cloves. 

2. Cook until browned and soft then blitz in a food processor. Don't over blend, you want to retain a chunky texture. Then add chopped coriander and the juice of the lime. 

3. Finally add a pinch of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.  

Guacamole. 

Ingredients: 

3 ripe avocados 

1 large tomato 

2 spring onions 

1 bunch coriander 

2 limes 

1 green chilli 

salt & pepper 

Method: 

1. Chop the avocados and tomato and place in a large bowl. 

2. Finely chop the spring onions and chilli. Then add to bowl and combine while mashing slightly with a fork. 

3. Add the juice of  2 limes and roughly chopped coriander. Finally, season with salt and pepper to taste and combine thoroughly.  

Meat ( with halloumi for my veggie friends) !

 

So I thought I would just share the marinade recipes as I reckoned you all know how to BBQ. I should also add the longer you leave the meat to marinade the better. 

Chicken /Pork Marinade 

                     

 Juice of one lemon 

a good pinch of salt and pepper 

a good pinch of oregano 

olive oil 

chilli flakes 

Finely chopped clove of garlic  

Prawns 

1 finely chopped green chilli 

a small knob of fresh ginger  

Juice of 1 lime 

pinch of salt.