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?

We were lucky enough to be sent a selection of Encona BBQ Sauces recently and also a few BBQ recipe ideas that we could try out and the first we went for was the BBQ Encona Hot and Fruit Chicken Kebab Skewer Recipe.

Ingredients needed for this BBQ Recipe Idea that serves 4:

For the Kebab -

6 chicken thighs, meat cut into 2.5cm pieces

2 red peppers cut into chunks

1 large sweet potato, peeled and boiled for 5 minutes cooled and cut into 2.5cm pieces

8 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 10 mins

5 tbsp Encona West Indian Papaya Hot Pepper Sauce

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp coriander, chopped

For the fruity salsa -

Encona Sauces

1 mango, cut into small pieces

1 papaya, cut into small pieces

1/2 tbsp Encona West Indian Papaya Hot Pepper Sauce

1 tsp chopped fresh coriander

1/4 cucumber, peeled and finely chopped (not the core)

Step by Step Guide to Making the BBQ Encona Hot and Fruity Chicken Skewers

Step One - pre-heat the BBQ

Step Two - thread the chicken onto the wooden skewers alternatively with the sweet potato and the red peppers and place the kebabs on a tray or plate

Step Three - Mix the Encona West Indian Papaya Hot Pepper Sauce with the honey and coriander and brush all over the kebabs

Step Four - Cook on the barbecue for around 15 minutes, turning every so often and brushing with any remaining marinade

Step Five - Mix all the salsa ingredients into a small bowl and then serve with the kebabs

Encona has a range of 11 sauces including, West Indian Original Pepper Sauce, Indian Swet Mango Chilli Sauce, West Indian Smooth Papaya How Pepper Sauce, Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, Louisiana Cajun Hot Sauce, Barbados Creole Pepper Sauce, Jamaican Jerk BBQ Sauce, Thai Chilli and Giner Sauce, Thai Chilli and Garlic Sauce, Texan Chilli BBQ Sauce and American Chilli Kethcup (loads!).

Encona Sauces are available from all good supermarkets and prices start at 99p and go up to £1.89, depending on the sauce you choose.

Have you tried Encona sauces, if so, why not post your thoughts below in the comments box?

What an amazing weekend… not only with the weather but also the fact that this website recieved more hits over the weekend than at any time before! Thanks so much to everyone who sends in emails and pictures of what you have been up to.

We have loads of new features and competitions lined up for the rest of the summer and if you have a question, idea or some funky BBQ pics, please send them in to andy@petoba.com.

Moving on to this mornings iLoveMyBBQ.com blog we had another lovely side dish this weekend which was Chunky Potato Salad and so we decided to write up the recipe as it is soo easy to make.

You will need (to feed 5/6)

Small bag of new potatoes (if in doubt, around 25 of the little fella’s)

Mayonnaise (we go for healthy option cos Cairo is expecting)

Spring Onions (bunch of)

Chives (pack of from tesco, or a load from your garden)

Bunch of Mint (say, 10 large leaves)

How to make:

1. Pop a large pan of water on the cooker to boil and once the pan is boiling, add the spuds and cook for roughly 15-20 mins (don’t peel - just wash the spuds before)

2. Whilst your spuds are boiling, finely chop your mint, chives and spring onions and place in the bowl you will be serving the dish in and mix them all up.

3. Once the spuds are cooked drain and refresh them (refresh is just a posh way of saying let the cold tap run over them until the spuds are cold). If you are unsure that the spuds are cold in the middle, why not eat one, chef’s perks and all that.

4. Once the spuds are cold, chop the bigger ones into chunky pieces and then put them all into your mixing bowl.

5. Pour on some Mayo. It is difficult to say how much, it depends on your taste. We like enough to just have a little coating on, but some like it really creamy.

6. Mix everything together and then leave in the fridge for 30 mins (at least) to cool.

When you get it out of the fridge you will immediately be hit with the smell of the mint, fricking awesome!

Why not send in pictures of your own potato salad? Send them to andy@petoba.com

Levi Roots, the maker of the Reggae Reggae Sauce that took the fire out of the Dragon’s Den mouths has only gone and given iLoveMyBBQ.com a few of his favourite BBQ recipes.

Mr Roots currently has a new Ketchup out called, Levi Roots’ Brand New Reggae Reggae Tomato Ketchup. We recently had chance to try it and it is funkin awesome! It is a unique style of Caribbean ketchup mixed with some of those fiery hot Scotch Bonnet Chilli’s along with herbs and allspice.

The Reggae Reggae tomato ketchup is available from all good supermarkets.

Anywho, putting our love for the new Ketchup to one side for a minute, here are the recipes Levi Roots sent over:

BBQ Glazed Chicken with Reggae Reggae Tomato Ketchup
Serves 4
You will need:
2 Skinless Chicken Breasts
4 large Crusty Rolls
¼ Iceberg Lettuce - Shredded
2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1 squeezy bottle Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Tomato Ketchup
• Add 2 tbsp Reggae Reggae Tomato Ketchup sauce to the mayonnaise, mix well and refrigerate
• Add the rest of the sauce to a mixing bowl/ dish and add the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour
• After 1 hour shake off the excess sauce and place the chicken on a greased barbecue, turning and basting throughout
• Once chicken is cooked thoroughly, approx 25 minutes, place on a board to rest
• Meanwhile slice the crusty rolls and top with the shredded lettuce and a dollop of the spicy mayonnaise
• Slice or tear the cooked chicken and place a generous portion on top of the lettuce & mayonnaise, replace the top and enjoy with a portion of French Fries
Tip: Take care to remove excess sauce before adding the chicken to the grill or it will burn but remember to baste throughout to ensure a moist sticky chicken breast.

Having heard loads about how much better a whole chicken tastes if you flatten, or spatchcock it 0 as it is also known, I wanted to give it a try.

We covered ours in the BBQ Cajun Marinade Rub and it tasted incredibly moist and very nice indeed, well worth you giving it a try. The other benefit is that, similar to the BBQ Beer Can Up the Bum Chicken recipe, it is a great visual conversational point for your BBQ as well.

For this recipe you will need the following:

2 Wooden skewers

1 Medium to large chicken (depending on how many you are feeding)

1 Pair of sturdy kitchen scissors

Here is the Step-By-Step guide to flattening, (spatchcock) a whole chicken ready for your BBQ.

Step One - Wash Your hands

Step Two - Remove the chicken from the packaging, cut off the string binding it all together and lay on a chopping board (see pic below)

Step Three - Turn the chicken over, so it is resting on the breasts and so the big hole is facing you and with some sturdy scissors, begin cutting alongside the backbone (in the imge below I have started by cutting on the right of the backbone). You will need to crunch through some of the bones, gruesome but worth it!

Picture Three A, below, shows one side of the chicken backbone having been cut.

Step Four - Start cutting down the left hand side of the backbone, as you did on step three (but the other side!).

Step Five - Remove the backbone, which you have now cut out.

Step Six - Turn the chicken over, so the breast is now facing you (upwards). Then, using the heel of your palm, press down firnly on the chicken breast to flatten the chicken. You will hear the ribs of the chicken breaking, don’t worry, it is supposed to make this noise!

Step Seven - Now the chicken is flattened you need to secure it. Get some wooden skewers and push diagonally through the breast into the drumstick and out the other side. As shown in the picture below.

Step Eight - Once the skewers are in you are done. The chicken is now ready to be covered in your favourite marinade.

To cook the Spatchcock chicken place it on the grill of your BBQ on a moderate heat for roughly (based on the size of your bird) 15-20 mins per side.

There is no doubting it, the Guinness BBQ Marinade is the hit of the 2009 BarBeCue season so far. We have had it at every BBQ so far and everyone has raved about it!

We have had so many BBQ’s I have struggled to keep up on here but the last few have involved friends coming round and having a choice of meats.

This weekend we had two BBQ’s and on Saturday night gave the option of the Guinness Marinade Chicken Marinade or the Coca Cole BBQ Steaks Marinade.

Both were an absolute hit but the chicken BBQ recipe got massive praise because it was so tender, juicy and tasty!

I am itching to do the Chicken Beer Can up the Bum BBQ Recipe again soon but word is spreading about the Guinness marinade so it is in hot demand.

The Guinness BBQ Marinade (mainly aimed at Red Meats) is available from Drunkstuff for £4.98

Just stumbled across a great Rainbow Trout BBQ Marinade Recipe that I wanted to share. We tried it the other day and I forgot to write about it on here, apologies

It is White Wine based, making it a White Wine BBQ Rainbow Trout Marinade - quite a mouthful!

The ingredients are:

5 large tablespoons of olive oil

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 handful of fresh Rosemary

2/3 sprigs of coriander, chopped

1 Bay Leaf

1 teaspoon of salt

1 small onion finely chopped

2 cloves of Garlic, sliced

1 Good shake of ground black pepper

Glass of White Wine

Basically, all you need to do is mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then use as a Marinade on your BBQ Ready Rainbow Trout.

The easiest way to marinade is to use a food bag and once you have placed the fish in there, pout the mix over and leave for a few hours and then cook as normal.

Best not to leave it overnight as the acid in the wine will negatively impact on the fish.

There you have it, BBQ Rainbow Trout Marinade Recipe, let us know how you do.

I will try and dig out some other Trout recipes as I have had loads of requests for them already this year.

Some time ago we tried a recipe I had read loads about on American based BBQ websites called, “Beer can up the bum chicken”, ok, it sounds a little odd but it is actually really good fun, a great talking point for any big social occasion you are planning a BBQ for and best of all, tastes funking awesome!

You WILL need a Kettle Style BBQ for this.

All you will need for this is (based on catering for 6)

2 x medium sized chickens

1 xWeber Charcoal Chimney Starter

1 x Weber Large Drip Pan

Plenty of charcoal

2 x Cans of Lager (I think the stronger it is the more flavour it adds to the chicken - but we used Fosters)

4 x Tbsp of Cajun Rub (optional)

The Plan:

1. Light your charcoal and let it get itself to temperature

2. Rub the Cajun Rub over your chickens

3. Take a swig out of the cans of lager/beer. Just one swig from each mind, and no monster gulps either!

4. After making sure there is nothing in the carcass of th chicken, place the can into the hole (on both chickens)

5. Go back to your coals and if at the right temperature (white hot and glowing), push to edges of Kettle BBQ (see pictures to see how we did it).

6. In the middle of the BBQ (0n the same level as the coals, place your Weber drip trays to catch the fat and juices)

7. Place your grill above the coals as normal and then balance your chicken (with can up the bum) on the grill

8. Close the lid, cook for 2 hours for large chickens or a bit less for smaller ones. Your coals will cool after about an hour and you will need new ones so use the Chimney to prepare some new coals and then place in the Kettle BBQ after an hour of cooking.

9.  To check if the Can of Beer up the Bum Chickens are cooked, prod a knife into the thickest part of the chicken and it clear fluid comes out it is done.

10. Tuck in!

Why not let us know how you get on with your Beer Can up the Bum Chicken BBQ Recipe? Maybe had a great variation on this or did something to make it a bit different? let us know by leaving a comment (no need to register or any of that).

What a lovely evening…

Despite it only being April it has been really really warm. So warm in fact that we decided to fire up the BBQ. On the way home from the office we dove into the supermarket of choice and grabbed some Seabass and some Trout, a load of citrus fruits, salad ingredients and the all important Biere D’Or (case of 42 bottles)!

Got in, fired up the Barbecue and went off to prep the Seabass.

For the recipe I just cut up a load of slices of lime, lemon and oranges and packed them inside the filleted Seabass.

I then popped them into the BBQ Fish baskets and bunge them into the kettle BBQ.

Shut the lid and gave them about 10-12 mins each side and hey presto done!

Cairo made a nice Pine Nut salad, we cracked open the Sauvignon Blanc and gotted merrily toasted whilst sitting on the decking.

If the weather holds up we will have Game 3 of Season 9 tomorrow, complete with trout!

Woooo.

The dark mornings and even darker nights can lead to doom and gloom as very few barbecues can take place.

At ILoveMyBBQ.com we see it as a great time to do a bit research into new Barbecue recipes and rubs along with trying to develop more BBQ Smoking Woodchip flavours.

Fear not, the BBQ season is now nearly upon us and we will have even more recipes for you to test and try.