Side dishes are a really simple way to add something extra to your BBQ. One of our favourites is the Tzatziki (tsatziki). Most people buy these ready made from the supermarket but there is really no need as it is very simple to make.

So here you go, a step by step guide to making your own brilliant BBQ Side Dish, Tzatziki…

Tzatziki is best served with Lamb BBQ dishes…

Ingredients to Serve 4-6

1 Cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped into small-ish chunks

300ml Natural Greek Yoghurt, stirred well to make smooth

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

7 Spring Onions finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

Handful of mint leaves, chopped up

Step by Step Guide to Making Tzatziki BBQ Side Dish

1. Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together well

2. Place in serving dish, cover, refridgerate

3. Done, it really is that simple!

Popularity: 2% [?]

We love Chinese flavoured BBQ Ribs. It all started with some pre-prepared Ribs from the local butcher that we loved so much he gave us his recipe (Butchers in Huntley, Deepest Darkest Gloucestershire – They don’t have a website or I would give them some link love).

So, we want to share the recipe and a step by step guide.

Ingredients For 4-6 people…

1.5kg of pork ribs, can be in chunks or seperated (go wild)

2cm piece of ginger, grated

6tbsp soy sauce (darker variety)

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

3tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

4tbsp brown sugar

Good glug of oil (not olive, go for sunflower)

Step By Step Guide

1. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl (apart from the meat)

2. Place the ribs in a food bag, or in a ceramic/glass dish

3. Pour the marinade over and coat the meat

4. Ideally leave over night to marinade or if you are pressed for time, a few hours should do it

5. Remove from marinade dish and place on medium to hot BBQ (we use baskets to cook ribs, makes the turning easier)

6. Keep turning until cooked (probably about 30 mins on medium heat BBQ) and spoon on surplus marinade as you go

7. Eat

Popularity: 5% [?]

So here we are again, the start of the BBQ season… well, it could be a few weeks early but judging by the sudden spike in traffic and BBQ recipe related questions coming in, some of you are already firing up your grills. Kudos!

Just a quick post to say “hi” as this is a family site, not a big corporate and as such I am keen to say thanks to everyone who has got in touch over the winter months with BBQ Recipe questions.

I will be trying out some of the recipe ideas sent in over the coming weeks and months.

What did we learn from the 2010 BBQ Season? Well, none of us were very keen on the venison BBQ Recipe that we grilled. The meat flavour was too strong and no amount of marinade was going to save it. I think everyone was in agreement that we won’t be trying that again.

We also discovered a great Chinese Chicken BBQ Recipe marinade that we will be detailing and trying again this year.

Probably the biggest continued BBQ success were the pizza’s. As our and our friends families grow it was important that we found kiddie friendly BBQ recipes and all the family can make the toppings for the BBQ Pizza’s.

What can you expect from iLoveMyBBQ.com this year?

Our neighbours had their first animals on their smallholding last year and have kindly given us a whole pig which has been butchered and I quite fancy cooking some of the belly pork on the BBQ. Should be a fun BBQ recipe.

We have also got to know a South African and they give the Australians a run for their money when it comes to grilling all forms of animal so I am excited to see what new meats we can try.

I am personally hoping that we can try some crocodile this year. We ordered some last year but the shop was a bit unreliable and the goods did not appear. Nightmare.

Anyway, enough from me. Remember though, if you have a fun BBQ Recipe idea or question, or want to share a tip or bonza piece of equipment, just get in touch,

Andy

Popularity: unranked [?]

The lovely people from Young’s brewery have been kind enough to share a great BBQ recipe with us that incorporates one of their range of Bitters.

The recipe is BBQ Spatchcocked Poussin and it not only tastes great but is also brilliantly easy to make. For those not familiar with how to spatchcock a chicken or poussin, we have done a handy spatchcock guide here.

To read more about Young’s range of bitters and where you can find your local supplier, visit their funky website.

Moving on, here is the recipe for BBQ Spatchcocked Poussin Recipe

Ingredients:
Serves 4

4 poussin (buy ready spatchcocked if preferred)

Marinade:
1 bottle Young’s Bitter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp clear honey
1 tsp paprika
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 star anise, crushed
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp cornflour

To Prepare

place a poussin breast side down, on a board for raw meat use. Using poultry shears or strong kitchen scissors, cut along each side of the backbone and remove it. Either snip the wishbone with the shears, or push down on the wishbone to snap it. Snip of any excess bits of skin, the wing tips and any other ragged bits.

To keep them in shape insert wooden or short metal skewers through the bird, diagonally in a criss-cross shape. Place in a large glass or china dish.

For the marinade, pour the Young’s beer into a large jug, once it has settled, add the rest of the ingredients and whisk together. Pour half of the marinade over the poussin reserving the rest for the sauce. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Bring the poussin out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking. Pour the marinade into a pan, boil rapidly until reduced to about 100ml, this will be used to baste the poussin while cooking.

To finish the sauce, strain the reserved marinade into a clean pan, add the tomato ketchup and sugar, bring to the boil. Blend the cornflour with a little water, stir into the sauce and simmer to thicken.

Prepare the barbecue, lightly oil the rack and place the poussin bone side down first. Grill for 5 minutes, turning every 3-4 minutes and brushing with the baste. Time to cook through will depend on size of the birds and intensity of the heat from the barbecue, should be approximately 15-20 minutes. Test by inserting the point of a small knife. Transfer to a serving platter.

Reheat the sauce before serving.

Have you tried this recipe? If so, why not share your thoughts below?

Popularity: unranked [?]

Anyone who BBQ’s will know the importance of the “dips and chips” at the start. Weak people go for crudités (a range of chopped veg for dipping in sauces) but real BBQ’ers have to go for some serious crisps and nothing does the job better than Kettle Chips.

For us Kettle Chips are the Number One BBQ Crisp brand and we cannot recommend them enough… but enough of our love!

There is exciting news on the Kettle Chips front as they have enhanced a number of their existing flavours; Sweet Chilli, Sour Cream & Onion and Smoky Barbecue and also announced the launch of Sweet Red Pepper Salsa flavour that hit the shelves in mid April.

To help mark the launch of the new flavour of Kettle Chips the company has also come up a with a few cracking recipes for BBQ dips and we have been lucky enough to been sent them.

The first is Tomato and Red Pepper Dip

Ingredients:
1 Red Pepper
2 Plum Tomatoes
1 Small Red Onion
1 Red Chilli
Small Bunch of Chives
Pinch of Salt & Milled Black Pepper

How to make the Tomato & Red Pepper Dip

Rough cut the red onion and place in blender. De-seed the red chilli, rough cut and place in blender. Blend together till fine.

De-seed the red peppers, rough cut and add to blender. Quarter the plum tomatoes and add to blender. Blend altogether keeping the peppers and tomatoes fairly chunky.

Place into a small bowl, season with salt and milled black pepper, place in refrigerator.

When ready to serve snip a quantity of the chives into the mix, blend together.

Place in serving dish , snip a few pieces of chive on top, serve with a bowl of Sweet Red Pepper Salsa Kettle Chips.

Sour Cream and Sweet Chilli Dip:

Ingredients:
375g Jar of Pepperdew Sweet Peppers
2 Plum Tomatoes
2 Red Chillies
200g Sour Cream
200g Creme Fraiche
Salt & Milled Black Pepper

How to Make the Sour Cream and Chilli Dip:
De-seed the red chillies, rough cut. Quarter the plum tomatoes.

Drain the Pepperdew Sweet Peppers. Place the peppers, chillies and tomato in a blender and blend till fine. Place in a bowl, add the sour cream and crème fraiche and fold in together.

Season with salt and milled black pepper. Place in refrigerator.

Serve with a bowl of Sweet Red Pepper Salsa Kettle Chips.

For more information visit www.kettlechips.co.uk

Popularity: unranked [?]

This is an adaptation of a recipe a friend introduced me to last year using traditional cooking methods that we have finally been able to try on our own kettle BBQ.

This a really easy BBQ recipe and once again, it gives you a dish that not only tastes nice but also looks good, especially if you serve it on a a bed of salad leaves and alongside something like cous-cous.

It is best to use cooking baskets to cook these on the grill as you can more easily turn the thinly sliced salmon.

Tikka Masala BBQ Salmon Recipe – Ingredients for 4 People;
4 x Salmon fillets
1 jar tikka masala paste (we use Patak’s)
Bag of mixed salad
Flavoured cous cous
4 x Naan Bread

Step by Step Guide to BBQ Tikka Masala Salmon
1. Slice each fillet into three, length ways. This is a bit tricky, make sure you use a sharp knife
2. Smear 1/2 tbsp of the tikka masala paste onto each of the salmon fillets, make sure you do both side (1/2 tbsp each side!)
3. Leave to marinate for a few hours
4. About 5 mins before you are ready to BBQ your Barbecue Salmon Recipe, wrap the Naans in separate tin-foil parcels and place on the grill (we splash water on ours first to keep them soft and nice)
5. Place the Salmon in the BBQ Basket on a medium heat and cook for around 2 mins per side.
6. Serve on top of a bed of the salad leaves

These can be quite spicy and are best served with a nice chilled lager. At the minute we are loving Victoria Bitter (better known as VB) which is £24.00 from Majestic Wines.

Tried this recipe? What did you think? Post your comments about this or your own BBQ recipe below.

Popularity: unranked [?]

We have been making Garlic Bread on our BBQ now for years but I only realised this weekend that we don’t have our recipe on here, so here goes.

This Barbecue Recipe is for four people.

Ingredients:

1 x Baguette (ready baked)
3 x cloves of garlic (2 if you have a meeting the next day)
Handful of parsley, finely chopped
175g of butter (marge does not work so well with this recipe)
1 x deseeded, finely chopped red chilli (optional, for an extra kick)
Tin foil to wrap the baguette

Step by step recipe guide to making Garlic Bread on the BBQ:

1. Soften the bread (15secs in microwave should do the trick)
2. Add all the other ingredients to the butter and mix together well
3. Slice your baguette taking care not to cut all the way through
4. Use a butter knife to smear the butter between the slices, really go to town and use all the butter
5. Wrap the baguette in tin foil
6. Place onto a medium to hot grill and leave for 15 minutes – make sure the bread is hot throughout and the butter has melted
7. Tuck in!

Popularity: unranked [?]

This is a simple barbecue recipe we have been looking forward to trying out on the BBQ all winter. It has just the right amount of tang to become a real BBQ Recipe classic.

As ever, we start with the ingredients and then go through the step by step guide. Our ingredients are catering for 4 people.

1.25kg of boneless leg of Lamb

For the Marinate:
2 x 400g canned tomatoes
1 x onion, chopped
2 x cloves of garlic, finely sliced
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp Worcester sauce
1/2 tsp of Tabasco sauce
1 x stick of celery
4 tbsp brown sugar

Step By Step Guide to Making Sweet Tomato BBQ Lamb

1. Place all of your ingredients into a saucepan (apart from the Lamb), stir and bring to the boil
2. Leave to simmer on a low heat for 45 minutes
3. Leave to cool
4. Either in a blender, or by pressing with the back of a serving spoon, blend the sauce
5. Pour over the Lamb and leave to marinate ideally overnight, or for at least 1hr

Cook over a medium to hot grill for approx 1hr & 45mins to 2hrs.

Tuck in and enjoy…

NOTE: for recipes that need a longer cooking time like this you will need to top up your coals half way through to make sure they are keeping the meat at the right cooking temperature.

To make this more simple, you will need a Kettle Charcoal Starter. You can light your bag of charcoal in one of these about 10-15 mins before you need the charcoal and then just pour the hot and ready coal onto your BBQ.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Well, how was your winter? We had a manic one, what with the new addition to the family but hey, the new BBQ 2010 Season is nearly upon us and I am sure you are just as excited as we are.

This year we are planning to really take the site to new heights, largely because of the unprecedented success of last year. During the peak BBQ months of July, Aug and Sept we got over 1 million people coming to the site looking for the latest BBQ Tips, BBQ Tools, BBQ Recipes and basically, some BBQ fun.

We have spent much of the close season finding new and exciting BBQ recipes and BBQ gadgets and even found some really funky new meat providers who do a wide range of exotic meats…. but more of that to come.

This year we want to hear more about what you are getting up to with your BBQ’s, what BBQ recipes are your favourites and what BBQ tools are your favourites.

There are a few ways you can get in touch, hello@iLoveMyBBQ.com or http://twitter.com/ilovemybbq (@iLoveMyBBQ)

So come on, let us know what you want to see and how we can make the site (that has become the UK’s largest Independent BBQ site – meaning we can say what we want and are not tied to promoting any company!) even better.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Now this may a bit basic for some of you more experience BBQ grillers but I found a really funky basic cookery course that I wanted to give a little plug to.

One of the things that has really helped me get to grips with some of the more tricky BBQ recipes is the fact that I did a basica catering course and trained for several months under a really awesome grill chef.

When thinking about how this site can help people I thought it would be a good idea to try and find some funky basic cooking courses, not necessarily about BBQ’ing, but some of the general things you should know about food prep and recipes etc.

My favourite, and the UK’s best gift experience site, IntoTheBlue.co.uk has a load of cooking courses worth trying out but the Cooking for Fun Course in Suffolk looks a real bargain and a great laugh.

Here is the write up from the site:

These Cooking for Fun courses take place in a renowned cookery school in Hadleigh, near the Essex border of Suffolk and you’ll be learning from the owner and chef, Mark David.

Mark David has exceptionally wide experience, including hotel and outside catering and corporate events. He spent three years as an Egon Ronay inspector and a further year as restaurant manager at Robert Carrier’s acclaimed Hintlesham Hall hotel. He now runs his own cookery school and is a regular author and broadcaster on all matters culinary. His light-hearted, unpretentious approach has earned the description of being a cross between Tommy Cooper and Geoff Capes – but of course with much greater cooking skills than both those two characters combined!

At just £149.00 it represents a reallygood day.

Popularity: unranked [?]