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When I think of my favourite things about Summer, my mind instantly leaps to one thing: barbecuing in the sunshine, holding a cold beer while the children play in the garden. So when this challenge came up, I wanted to cook as much as possible outside on the grill. Aside from the aperitif, which is a true British Summer classic, every course involves cooking over charcoal… Aperitif: Summer Cup Soup: Gazpacho Starter: Halloumi on a roasted vegetable tian Fish: Salmon, asparagus and fennel purée Palate cleanser: Pineapple mint julep Entrée: Beef with roast potatoes and corn salsa Dessert: Peach Eton mess Normally, when I barbecue, I get things onto the table as they are cooked, and let everyone help themselves. This time, I decided to see if I could make things look fancy. So I warned my friends that they would be my guinea pigs, and they traipsed all the way from North London down to our side of the river, and we had a lovely afternoon of feasting. A lot of the prep work was done in advance, so on the day itself I got to spend a lot of time with my friends and making faces at their one-year-old…  It started with a drink: Aperitif: Summer Cup  250g sugar Cucumber Lemongrass Mint 300ml gin 200ml red vermouth 100ml triple sec 1 tbsp Aperol (Campari works better, but it was out of stock) 4 lemons 170g honey Begin by making the syrup: mix 250g sugar with 250ml water, simmer with cucumber, smashed lemongrass and mint for 5m  Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for 2h Strain and decant into a bottle, and put in the fridge until you need it  Mix together the booze and syrup with some sliced strawberries, cucumber and mint and set aside  While everything is infusing, make lemonade: mix the honey and lemon and add fizzy water  You want about 1 part liquor to 2 parts lemonade I made three Summer cups, and three lemonades with fruit in them for my kids and the pregnant guest  These were phenomenal. Just incredibly delicious and refreshing and a perfect way to start the meal. Ideally, we should have been drinking them by the river, while eights rowed past shouting at each other, but my back garden was a close second. Suitably lubricated, we moved to a bit of soup. Now, a hot Summer’s day is not the time for piping hot soup, so instead we had gazpacho. Soup: Gazpacho  1kg tomatoes, halved 1 cucumber, deseeded 1 onion, peeled and halved 2 cloves of garlic, minced 30ml extra virgin olive oil Juice of 1 lime Juice of 1 lemon A handful of basil Time to light the fire! When barbecuing, it is often tempting to accelerate things with firelighters or lighter fluid, but do not do this. Your food will taste worse for it. Barbecuing should be a slow process, it should be a treat, the process is part of the fun. I get the kids to gather dry twigs from the garden, and build a little pyramid of twigs over the tinder.  Once lit, the twigs catch and the fire gets going  There is a scary moment when doing this, when you worry that you’re putting the fire out by putting too much charcoal on it, but if you fan the flames and have faith, it will work  Now, because we were cooking for the whole day, we wanted lots of coals  Once the coals were ashed over, it was ready to go I left the tomatoes and cucumber on the barbecue for a reasonable length of time to get a decent char on everything  Once everything was cooked, I blended it up and pushed it through a sieve  I put the soup in the freezer to get it cold, and then moved it the fridge before it became a sorbet (which I wish I had thought of as a course)  I got my lovely fancy teacups out, and because I only have five and there were six diners, my daughter had to have one from her toy tea set  Once the soup is in the cups, a little garnish of finely diced cucumber and tomato   Again, this was amazing. Delicious, refreshing, perfect on a hot summer day. I have always felt faintly dubious about chilled soup, and then when I have it, I remember why I love it. The basil flavour really came through, and I had enough leftover to have a pint of it for lunch. Done with our soup, we moved to the starter. Starter: Halloumi on a roasted vegetable tian  Courgettes Aubergines Red peppers Mushrooms Sweet potato I used to think that a barbecue should only consist of meat, and I have relatively recently started doing more vegetables than meat. And most guest sort of sneer at first, and then once we sit down to eat, they are converted! I started by roasting all the vegetables. I tossed everything in a little oil and herbes de provence, except the mushrooms, which I smeared with garlic butter   Once everything was roasted, I started layering the vegetables into a dish Peppers first  Then, aubergines  Followed by courgettes  And the sweet potatoes  Finishing with the mushrooms  At this stage, this layered vegetable dish would probably be quite nice, but remember, we are trying to elevate I grabbed a book about chickens, which I wrapped in foil  I put a layer of foil down on top of the tian, and then the book. Then another book.  Finally, I put down the biggest, heaviest set of books I have  This pressed out lots of liquid and compressed the vegetables. Every so often, I would drain off the liquid, and put the books back on Once it was done, I turned it out onto a chopping board   I trimmed the edges off the tian and saved the scraps for pasta sauce  I looked up to my kitchen window and spotted the basil  What an idea!  Basil Olive oil Salt Pepper Garlic  I ground up the ingredients with a pestle and mortar, and then mixed with the oil Finally, I grilled the halloumi  Once done, I began plating by smearing a little basil oil onto the plates  Then a small cube of tian  Then a piece of grilled halloumi   Another great dish. The vegetables were really amazing, and everyone loves halloumi. The basil oil was really punchy, and worked well with the other flavours. My children liked taking the layers apart and finding each vegetable individually, but I preferred to put everything on a fork and shovel into my gaping maw.  Even the one year old liked it! We were starting to get a bit full at this point, but the kids love salmon, so demanded I push on Fish: Salmon, asparagus and fennel purée I started out by making the fennel purée  4 fennel bulbs 1 onion 2 cloves of garlic A small glug of vermouth 150ml double cream Juice of 1 lemon 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil I cut the fennel in half and roasted on the barbecue  Once it was roasted, I chucked it into a bowl with the roasted onion and other ingredients  Here was the first snag: when I started blending this, I discovered that I had nowhere near enough liquid. So I had to add a lot more liquid, and simmered for a while in a large pan in the oven until the fennel softened a bit more and would actually blend. Eventually, I got there and we had a thick purée Once done, I salted and oiled six salmon fillets  I barbecued the salmon along with the asparagus, until the skin was crispy and delicious  I also made hollandaise  4 egg yolks, from my lovely chickens 1 tbsp white wine vinegar 140g butter, melted and cooled 2 tbsp lemon juice Tarragon Capers Hollandaise can be a bit tricky, but there is a foolproof method to get it right every time. SOUS VIDE I whisked the butter, lemon juice, vinegar and egg yolks together and transferred to a ziplock bag, which I then vacuum sealed  This then went into my jury-rigged sous vide set up at 75C for about 45m (anywhere between 30 and 60m is fine)  The first time I tried this, the next step made me really sad, I was convinced it had gone wrong and that my temperatures were off, because it comes out looking really bad   However, when you whisk this mixture, it starts to smooth out  I put this in the fridge for a bit, and then whisked again, and stirred in the tarragon and capers I started off by putting a dollop of fennel on the plate, with some asparagus spears  Then a smear of hollandaise, and the salmon  And finally, a sprinkle of the fennel fronds saved from earlier  Another great course. The salmon was perfectly cooked, flaky but firm, it went great with the fennel, and the hollandaise was beautiful. I regularly cook salmon on the barbecue, and it’s always wonderful At this point, the kids were full, and went off to play, so we had a little palate cleanser Palate cleanser: Pineapple mint julep  A medium pineapple Bourbon Mint 100g sugar Peel and slice the pineapple, and roast on the barbecue until charred  I chopped the roasted pineapple into chunks, and put into a pan with the sugar and 120ml of water, which I simmered until the sugar had dissolved, took off the heat and left to infuse for 2h Once the syrup was cool, I chucked it into a big jar, with huge quantities of mint leaves and the bourbon, saving the pineapple chunks for a garnish  This was left for a few days to infuse What you are supposed to do is fill your julep cups with crushed ice. Unfortunately for me, the children had decided to use most of the ice in drinks without checking whether I needed it, so I didn’t have enough ice  I added a sprig of mint and a couple of chunks of grilled pineapple  Now, this was not quite as successful as the other elements of the meal. It was VERY strong, and the flavour of the pineapple was very subtle to the point of being difficult to detect. Once the ice had melted a little bit in the sun, it was a lot better, and the flavour of the pineapple started to come through, but this was not as good as juleps I’ve made in the past… Palates cleansed, we move to the main course! Entrée: Beef with roast potatoes and corn salsa  Beef top rump Garlic powder Smoked paprika Cumin Salt Pepper I mixed the spices and rubbed into the beef  This was vacuum sealed, and put in the sous vide at 52C for 3h Meanwhile, I made some salsa  Corn Tomatoes Spring onions Garlic Lime Coriander I roasted the corn on the barbecue (at the same time as I was roasting some peaches for later)    Once the corn had charred a little, I took a sharp knife and got the corn off the cobs  I deseeded all the tomatoes, which was a massive pain in the arse  And mixed with the other chopped ingredients. At this stage, I didn’t add the corn, because my long-suffering wife doesn’t like corn (my first ICSA being Battle: Corn was a real test of our marriage), so I could plate hers with regular salsa and then stir in the corn I also parboiled some new potatoes for 5m and tossed in cumin seeds and oil, and put into a little foil package  I also put some great thick tranches of onion on skewers so I could roast them This now became a real test of heat management: I had three elements that were being barbecued at the same time, the beef needed screaming heat, the onions needed a bit of a char and the potatoes needed constant but medium heat. So I banked the coals to one side of the barbecue to make one side mega hot, and the other side indirectly heated only  The foil package of potatoes went directly into the barbecue, and while the onions cooked, I turned the beef every so often to get it nice and mallarded  Once good and browned, it was time to slice it up  I plated by putting on the potatoes first  Then a little crescent of salsa  The onions went on the potatoes, and the beef onto the salsa   Delicious! The corn salsa worked amazingly well with the beef, sweet and acid against the rich and spicy beef, the potatoes were nice and the onion complemented the whole dish. If I were doing this again, I might use a different cut of beef, the top rump has a blade of tough fat running through it that required a little bit of work from my guest to cut through, and although it tasted really nice, you don’t really want that. But otherwise, a very successful course. Strangely, my kids were not too full for the next course. Dessert: Peach Eton mess  Peaches Lemon juice 600ml double cream 4 egg whites, from my lovely chickens 200g sugar First, I made meringue. I love making meringue, it appeals to the scientist in me, the completely transformative way that proteins work… I digress. Beat the whites into soft peaks  Then, whisking slowly, add the sugar a tablespoon at a time until the mixture is silky smooth  This was then spooned out onto baking trays lined with paper, and baked at 140C for 1h  The trick with meringue is to let it cool in the oven: once the time is up, just turn the oven off and let the meringues cool down gradually. This gives them that slightly chewy centre which is just great  Remember these peaches from earlier? Once they were done, I put them into a large bowl with a tight lid, so that the heat and steam would loosen the skins  I removed the biggest bits of skin and some of the char, you want a little bit of it, but you don’t want the whole flavour to be off ashes and dust Then I cut the peach halves into chunks and put into martini glasses  I whipped the cream and crumbled a little of the meringue into it, and then added this  I then topped each one with a meringue   My daughter decided that she wanted a little umbrella in hers  And then out they went!  This was great. I make this all the time: a few years ago, I was trying to work out what pudding to make when we had barbecues, and we tried quite a few different things. Grilled pineapple was good, grilled melon was not, but eventually we tried grilled peaches and I made eton mess. It was so popular with the kids that they now refuse to countenance any other pudding when we barbecue, and even go so far as to refuse barbecued peach pavlova (which, to my mind, is essentially a layered eton mess). Anyway, it was really good, and putting the whole meringue on top made it extra fun, because everyone crumbled it up themselves and it became a bit interactive, which is something I do like to do every so often… The verdict from my guests was that this whole meal was a triumph. They did agree that the mint julep could have been better, but other than that, we were all well fed and very satisfied. And slightly drunk, which made us all the more glad that London has such good public transport... Aperitif: Summer Cup Soup: Gazpacho Starter: Halloumi on a roasted vegetable tian Fish: Salmon, asparagus and fennel purée Palate cleanser: Pineapple mint julep Entrée: Beef with roast potatoes and corn salsa Dessert: Peach Eton mess And once the guests had gone, the children were in bed and the house was tidied, my wife and I indulged in a summer cup royale, made with prosecco instead of lemonade.  And it was ridiculously drinkable.
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Aug 8, 2022 21:33
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| # ? May 5, 2024 22:05 |
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Looks great sci! Managing multiple elements requiring different heat on the same grill is always a challenge and it looks like you nailed it.
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Aug 8, 2022 21:56
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A wonderful entry as usual, I love the thought and technique you put into your meal. The note on veggies is especially interesting, I'm from the classic American bbq tradition that is pretty much just meat with a grudging admission of bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms in a kebab, so I could stand to use more as well. That summer cup has intrigued me, I may have to make it for some friends. I usually do planter's punch (dark rum, cane syrup, fresh lime juice, and a couple dashes of aromatic or orange bitters served over ice) for a summer apertif. Liquid Communism fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Aug 10, 2022 |
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Aug 10, 2022 06:07
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Show us the chickens!
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Aug 16, 2022 12:35
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Here they are trying to come into the house From top to bottom Norbert Nugget the 2nd, my son’s Sussex legbar, who lays medium white eggs Falcon Chicken, my daughter’s brahma, who mostly broods and honks, occasionally laying large tan eggs Sarah M’shell Gellar, our warren, who lays quite small brown eggs Scientastic fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Aug 16, 2022 |
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Aug 16, 2022 13:16
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| # ? May 5, 2024 22:05 |
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Your posts always rule. Gonna have to attempt a tian sooner than later. And get more booze.
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Aug 16, 2022 18:23
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