Caitríona Redmond: How to grill with confidence — and my ginger and garlic grilled chicken
“I’m cooking a barbecue” is always a welcome morning announcement in our house. Picture: iStock
If my kids haven’t asked what is for dinner by the time they prepare their breakfast, I know to reach for the thermometer. It’s a sign that something is indeed very wrong with them. Meal planning occurs from a very early age around here.
“I’m cooking a barbecue” is always a welcome morning announcement in our house.
The back garden has been in a state for a year or so as work and other commitments took over household responsibilities.
Now that it’s the summer holidays, we are all chipping in to set the small space to rights, with the reward being that the teen can host a barbecue for his friends when it is done.
It mainly involves cutting and pulling weeds and then liberally applying paint to areas that have gone dull and brown. We’ve opted for many shades of blue on the woodwork; it’s taken on a nautical theme, but blue is my favourite colour.
I expect we will be finished this weekend, and I’ll teach the boys about my favourite barbecue tool — the meat thermometer.
If I’m cooking for a large crowd, I pre-cook sausages and burgers in the oven before finishing them on the grill. That way, I know for certain that these items are cooked through, and I can easily serve up to the masses without standing in front of a hot barbecue.
When I’m cooking for the family only, though, that’s when the thermometer comes into its own. I’m not a fan of overly-charged meats or vegetables. I don’t know too many people who are. Okay, if it’s well charred, it might be cooked through, but it’s also probably inedible!
When cooking outdoors, I rarely use high heat, which induces charring on food. Instead, I use medium or very low heat for a long time. I triple-check the meat before lifting it from the grill. “75°C to stay alive” is a handy saying that SafeFood uses, and I use it, also.
Buying the digital probe was a small investment which has paid off in spades. I am guaranteed that the food is properly cooked, neither undercooked nor overcooked.
My second favourite barbecue tool is a metal vegetable basket. Once I harvest seasonal vegetables from the allotment, everything gets chopped into bitesize pieces and popped into the basket with some seasoning. This is a great cooking method for vegetables that might get mushy on the grill but taste so much better for cooking outdoors. For example, I’m using the basket to cook courgettes and tomatoes with onions and peppers.
These two tools allow me to cook with confidence on the barbecue. The grill is no longer for sausages, burgers, and steaks (although lovely); it’s a tool for cooking delectable Summer meals for the weeks ahead.
With vibrant flavours, this grilled chicken dish is a lighter barbecue meal. Cooking on the barbecue shouldn’t be just about burgers or steaks! Servings Preparation Time Cooking Time Total Time Course Ingredients 6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs 1 tablespoon sunflower oil 4 garlic cloves, crushed 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon white pepper ½ teaspoon paprika Juice of 1 lime to finish. Method Place all the ingredients into a large bowl and stir well until combined. I have suggested 4 crushed garlic cloves in the recipe list, but if you like garlic, feel free to add more! Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for at least one hour. I recommend preparing the meat about 2-3 hours before you want to fire up the barbecue. When the barbecue is at medium heat, remove the bowl from the fridge and grill the chicken thighs for 5 minutes on each side or until cooked. Remember, high heat is rarely useful on the barbecue for anything other than charring food, and you will need a medium heat to cook the chicken without it being burnt. Once cooked through, remove the chicken from the grill and squeeze over plenty of lime juice. Serve on a bed of steamed rice with salsa or my cucumber and yoghurt salad. Recipe note: If you don’t have access to a barbecue (or the weather is too bad), cook the chicken under the grill or in the air fryer.Ginger & Garlic Grilled Chicken
This is a creamy salad that’s simple to prepare. Best assembled about 30 minutes before eating, it’s the perfect counterpart to spicy barbecue food. Servings Preparation Time Total Time Course Ingredients 1 large cucumber ¼ teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons natural greek yoghurt 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 minced cloves of garlic Juice of a lemon Handful of fresh mint Method Slice the cucumber lengthways and use a teaspoon to remove the watery centre containing the seeds. You can use this flesh to make cucumber ice cubes for summery drinks, so don’t discard it. Once the centre has been removed, slice the cucumber into chunky pieces or thin slices, whichever you prefer. Put the sliced cucumber into a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Stir so the cucumber has been coated in salt, and wait 5 minutes. Strain away any excess water in the bottom of the bowl after 5 minutes. On top of the cucumber, spoon the yoghurt, oil, garlic, and juice of a lemon and stir so the slices are well coated. Taste and add more salt and garlic if the salad needs it. Tear or chop mint leaves on top of the mixture to garnish and add an additional layer of flavour. If you don’t have mint, you could use dill instead.Cucumber and Yoghurt Salad
Barbecue feasts involve sausages, burgers, and at least one other meat. Then there are the grilled vegetables and possibly halloumi, which is top tier for barbecue meals according to the teenager. It’s a lot. If I were to go out and buy each of the meats individually, I’d be cooking far too much. Sausages generally are best value by the half kilo (or pound in old money), burgers come in six packs, and I wouldn’t be interested in eating a whole one.
If, like me, you don’t like food waste but do like having a range of grilling options, there is a way around the ‘eyes bigger than stomach’ dilemma. That’s making frozen barbecue packs. If I buy a pound of sausages and six burgers, then that’s two meals rather than lashing the lot onto the grill at once.
Once I get home from the supermarket, I set time aside to divide each meat purchase so that I have half to cook with and half to put into a barbecue bag for the freezer. Each pack contains sausages, burgers, some chicken drumsticks and a chunk of halloumi. I take it out of the freezer on the morning of a barbecue day and allow the bag to defrost naturally before cooking on the grill that evening.
This halves the cost of cooking a barbecue at home and reduces food waste — a simple but effective solution to cooking on the grill with a tight budget.
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