Gourmet BBQ Menu ideas

Respect and Understand your Food Ingredients

Why so many people would buy a beautiful prime cut of meat or buy top quality vegetables and mushrooms and then burn them beyond recognition so that they lose their character and quality is a major mystery. People assume that if they have the Rolls Royce BBQ with all the bells and whistles and buy top quality ingredients assumimg their barbecue foods will be magnificent. Nothing is further from the truth. The key is how you treat your ingredients, understand what's required to cook them well. Begin by showing respect for the ingredients.

It is a big mistake to get the steaks from the fridge just before cooking them and put them straight onto the barbecue. The meat needs to be brought to room temperature, seasoned appropriately, and excess marinade removed and lightly coated with olive oil just prior to cooking.

Make sure you thoroughly clean the cooking surface of the BBQ every time. Nothing ruins a lovely piece if meat quicker than cooking it on a dirty hotplate or grill. The worst offender is the marinade. Always remember to shake off any excess marinade so that it doesn't create flames and burn the outside of the steak. Consider rinsing the marinade off before cooking. You can add marinade to the food once it is cooked, but NEVER reuse liquid used to marinade the meat as it may be contaminated with bacteria. Set aside a small quantity of fresh marinade for this purpose.

Flames look Good but are a Bad Idea

Cooking with flames may looks fancy and professional as is done by the professional Celebrity chefs on TV to add flavor. Doing it at home on the BBQ is too hard to control and will generally burn the meat. Cooking on hot coals, not flames, create the magical taste for meat cooked over a wood or charcoal fire. Timing when the flames have just died down on a wood fire is critical to stop the fire flaring up when you add the meat and the fat drips down to fire up the flame