And yes ... Barbeque day , the love of a chef's life , and my outmost challenge so far :D !
Since most of my time was spent at the farm , i've basically did not have the luxury to cook on a stove , but had the privilege in learning a few tricks about barbecuing , and since everyday was a clear sunny day i've taken every opportunity to cook on a barbeque grill .
It is trully divine , i mean from my point of view a chef's dream and relaxation point .
The smell of the coal , wood ... it is pure gold !
Barbecuing is quite tricky and you need a bit of time to learn how to barbeque properly and the most important aspect is ... Controlling the Fire !!
I've had a lot of trouble at the beggining with that but thanks to Jamie and his book : '' At Home With Jamie '' , and also to the countless fails i've had :D , i've sort of captured a bit of the controlling part .
Of course i still need to learn loads , but truthfully i felt this was a good start !
So on the menu today ?
Grilled musrooms with grilled chicken drumsticks and skewers of course .
The ingredients for the skewers are :
- mushrooms
- chillis
- red peppers
- pork meat
- onions
And the ingredients for the drumsticks are : - 12 drumsticks ( marinade )
- pepperoncino
- 2 table spoons of honey
- 7 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 4 to 5 cloves of garlic , depending on your prefference
- 4 table spoons of paprika
- 4 cloves
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- mushrooms
- lemon
- parsley
So let us begin . The first thing you need to do is obviously start the fire and here comes the tricky part .
In order to control , maintain a steady fire you need to first have a solid base and a well built fire that will heaten up the cole and also insure you that you will benefit from this fire untill your food is cooked and ready to serve ,
The technique i've used to start the fire was arranging the wood as a piramid ( this will make sure the flames will go up and not sideways and also it will make it easier for you to distribute the fire ) .
After that you place the coles on the fire and wait for them to heat up .
Use a plank or a board , something flat to make a bit of wind so the coles heat up faster .
If the heat seems a bit too high just sprinkle a bit of water ( not 2 much though ) . Also be sure to rub some pork fat over the grill so the meat won't stick .
I've marinated my drumsticks in paprika , olive oil aprox 6 table spoons , garlic , thyme about 7 sprigs , 4 cloves , 2 table spoons of honey , lemon zest , pepperoncino for about 3 hours . Also i've used a bit of the marinade juices on the mushrooms .
As for the skewers just place them on the stick : pork meat , mushrooms , chillis , red peppers , onions and the only secret to it is to start on the stick with meat and end with meat .
That way all the ingredients are secured and won't fall off the skewer stick . Add some salt and pepper and add it to the grill !!
It is important to control the fire , for example if you see little sparks of flame rise up to the meat just splash some water over them otherwise your meat will burn .
After you are done with the skewers add the marinated drumsticks and mushrooms .
When the meat is finally cooked just sprinkle some lemon juice on it and let it rest a bit so the natural juices travel thru it .
Plate it up and serve !
Here are the skewers plated and ready to be eaten :X
And as for the drumsticks just plate them up with a bit of mushrooms and sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley over them .
Spicy barbeque drumsticks , with muhrooms , parsley , lemon ... it's an amazing combination . And to be sure you finished the job properly you can always add a beer and will defenetly change your world !
Great summer flavours exploding in your mouth !
Well anyway i'm done , have fun and barbeque your summer while you can . See you guys in my next post !
Bon Appetit !
