Ben’s Spiced Lamb Kebab Wraps

Another recipe from one of the ‘BBQ Kids’ upcoming grill masters and this ones an inspiration to us all.

Ben’s only 6 and has impaired function in his left arm  so sometimes needs a bit of help, but he’s super determined and always tries to do everything himself!
Ben was very excited to try out this new recipe and share it with you! 🙂

Ben’s Spiced Lamb Kebab Wraps

  • Prep Time15 min
  • Cook Time15 min
  • Total Time30 min
  • YieldAround 7 Kebabs

Ingredients

  • About 1kg Lamb, trimmed and cubed (we used a half leg of lamb)
  • 2 Bell Peppers cut into similar sized cubes (we used one red and one yellow)
  • 500g Greek yoghurt
  • 2tsp Garam Masala
  • 2tsp Ground Cumin
  • 2 Lemons
  • 1 Red Onion
  • 2 Limes
  • 1tsp Sugar
  • Fresh Mint
  • Flat Breads (we used Aldi’s naan wraps, they were delicious!)
  • Sliced cucumber and mixed salad leaves to serve

Method

1

We started off by making a marinade for the lamb by mixing half the yoghurt with the spices and the juice of 1 lemon, along with a bit of salt and pepper. Then my dad trimmed and cut up the lamb into bite-sized cubes, and I mixed it up in the marinade – getting my hands dirty is the best part! Once it was all mixed, we covered it up and put it in the fridge for a few hours to marinate.

2

Next, we made some pickled pink onions – Dad finely sliced the red onion into a little bowl, then we squeezed the juice from 2 limes over the onion and added the sugar and a good pinch of salt. We put that aside but kept mixing it every now and then to make sure all the onions had their share of pickling – that was my job.

3

Then we made a delicious minty yoghurt drizzling sauce by mixing the remaining yoghurt with some finely chopped mint, the juice of 1 lemon and some more salt and pepper. We put that in the fridge next to the lamb (Dad says lamb and mint are best buddies, so I knew they were happy!) and then we just had to wait for the marinade to do its work.

4

After what seemed like forever (we waited about 5 hours but it felt like 500!) we finally got the lamb out of the fridge and threaded it onto some skewers, alternating with the bell pepper pieces – remember to soak the skewers first if you’re using wooden ones so they don’t burn!

5

Dad made sure the bbq was nice and hot (he grew up in South Africa though, so he calls it a ‘braai’) and I helped him put all the kebabs onto the grill – he lets me borrow his special gloves when we bbq so i don’t burn myself. We turned the kebabs every few minutes until they were nicely browned and cooked through, then we took them off and quickly put the flat breads on the grill for a few minutes, just to warm them through.

6

Finally it was time to eat! I put a few baby salad leaves onto my flat bread first (baby spinach is my favourite), then some cucumber, and then the delicious lamb and bell pepper from the kebab – Mum had to help me get it off the skewer because Dad was already too busy eating his! Lastly I drizzled some of the minty yoghurt sauce over it all – no onions for me as I don’t like them but Mum and Dad say they’re the best part – and then I tucked in!

It was super messy and super yummy – I hope everyone gives this recipe a try and enjoys it as much as we did!

Angus and Oink Cuban Rub

After watching the 2014 film Chef, which is the story about Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) quitting his job at a major LA restaurant and launching a street food truck with the help of his son, I just knew I wanted to make a Cubano Sandwich.

Here’s were the helpful boys and girls at Angus and Oink came into their own. They have a cuban rub which has lots of citrus flavour, balanced with cumin, smoked paprika oregano and a light chilli hit. Exactly the flavour I was looking for.

I bought some shoulder steaks from the butcher which had already been tenderised. I added the rub to olive oil and lemon juice to make a paste
rubbed it onto the shoulder steaks and left for about an hour before grilling on the bbq. My recipe has been uploaded to the UK BBQ Web site if you want to take a look http://ukbbqweek.com/pork/cubanos/

I will definitely cook this again and already have my thinking hat on to use it in a few more recipes, possibly a chilli, grilled chicken or a few taco’s.

The thing I like about Angus and Oink rubs is the huge range they do and not just generic American BBQ flavours. Check out the range if you haven’t tried them  https://angusandoink.com/collections/bbq-rubs-injections

Lexie’s Gooey Chocolate Puddings

Lexie is Nic Williams Niece. Nic is on Instagram as @meatsmokefire and he does live cooks every Saturday. Lexie has obviously picked up lots of tips

Lexie’s Gooey Chocolate Puddings

  • Prep Time10 min
  • Cook Time30 min
  • Total Time40 min
  • Yield6 Servings

Ingredients

  • 100g good quality dark chocolate
  • 100g Dairy Milk chocolate
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 115g sugar
  • 2 tbsp plain flour

Method

1

Preheat your BBQ to 200°C with it setup for baking. Place the baking stone on top of the stainless grid, on top of your ConvEGGtor feet up. Allow 20 mins at this temperature for the baking stone to heat up.

2

Over a pan of simmering water, place a bowl containing your butter and chocolate. As this heats up, stir it frequently until the butter and chocolate has melted together.

3

In another bowl, whisk together your eggs, sugar and flour

4

Once the chocolate mixture has melted, gradually mix it into the egg mixture.

5

Once it is all combined, spoon it into ramekins. You can pre grease these but to be honest, it’s not necessary if you’re going to eat them out of the ramekins.

6

Place the ramekins on a baking tray, leaving a gap between them, and put into the BBQ. and cook for 15-20 minutes until the sides of the mixture have set but the middle is still wobbly

7

Take them from the BBQ and allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes

8

You can either serve them with some cream or crème fraîche, or just garnish with a raspberry and some mint.

ProQ Digital Probe Thermometer

If you are in the market for an instant read thermometer then there is a new option to consider from the team at ProQ. Speak to most people in the BBQ world and they will say a thermometer is one piece of equipment they would recommend again and again. And forget the old school analogue ones your parents may have used to check a turkey once a year, these are the new school digital versions giving you an accurate read out in seconds. So, whether you are grilling steaks and looking for that pink perfection or smoking a brisket and looking for that finishing temperature as well as probe tenderness, the ProQ digital probe thermometer may well be the tool you need.

Coming in at a price point of £25.99, the ProQ model lands itself in a very competitive place in the market for this type of device. Especially considering the 2 year limited warranty they are offering too.

I have been using my ProQ model for the last few months before writing this review and have to say, for the cost of the unit I have been very impressed. Straight off the top, the feature I like most is being able to easily switch between Celsius and Fahrenheit on the display by simply holding down a button. Being from an age where I learnt all my recipes and cooks from American BBQ books, I am more familiar with Fahrenheit as a measurement than Celsius. But I appreciate that some people are the opposite way so it’s easy on this unit to switch between both. The actual probe section you use for checking temperatures folds away into the handheld section, keeping it safe and out of the way; and the very tip of the of the probe narrows, meaning the holes left in your food, when checking temps, can be kept to a minimum. The thin, tip end also means the unit reads temperatures very quickly, giving you an accurate reading in around 3-5 seconds; meaning the food does not have to be kept out of the cooker any longer than necessary when making those checks. Handily, the device is also IPX5 waterproof which certainly helps with the always changing UK weather, wiping it clean or spills from cooks etc. The screen is backlit, so can be used at night or in darker places too. And another handy feature is a USB charge cable is supplied in the box, so you can always keep it topped up as it has a lithium-ion. And finally, the unit has a magnet on the back to help you keep it somewhere safe, just not somewhere hot!

At this price, the unit is definitely worth a look and will help you to know exactly what the temps are, of whatever you are cooking, meaning you know you are at a safe temperature; so you don’t need to overcook food and dry it out, and overall you will be making more enjoyable meals.

I was gifted this unit to test, but am entitled to write my own opinions on the device. The link to the product on the ProQ website is noted below.

If you have used and have any feedback on one of these units or have any questions, let us know in the comments.

https://proqsmokers.co.uk/products/proq-instant-read-thermometer

Sosij Sausages

Think you know your way round a decent sausage on the BBQ? It may be time to have a re-think. If you aren’t familiar with the name Sosij it may be worth looking them up. Whether that be because you fancy something a little different, or you want to see their collaborations sausages they have been coming up with of late.

Hailing out of Bristol, Ali is the sausage handling mastermind behind the company, and after 15 years of cheffing and running kitchens he turned his hand to street food and then making sausages. That turned out to be a very good move on his part as his products seemed to be an overnight social media success. He was selling out as word got around about the weird and wonderful flavours coming from the Sosij stable. The flavours kept coming and then Sosij bombs were born. Sausagemeat balls wrapped in bacon. Look them up.

After sitting back for a while, I saw a post pop up on Instagram saying there was a selection of the Sosij range available as a one off, so I decided it was time to part with some money and give them a go. The pack I bought included some of Sosij’s Irish Black butter pork and apple sausages, some Cajun peach pork sausages, some smokey bacon pork sausages, some cheddar jalapeno pork sausages and Texas hot links beef and pork sausages. Quite the collection.

Needless to say it hasn’t taken me long to get stuck in over the last few weeks cooking them in a variety of different ways from super low and slow smoking for a long time, to fast grilling, then back to normal smoking as part of a BBQ platter. Each time I have been impressed with what I have eaten and it leaves me wanting to cook the next pack. The first thing you notice is how plump these sausages are, not your usual banger by any means. The packaging catches the eye as do the variety of flavours. These sausages cook up so well and retain a good snap and the ones I have cooked to date always stay nice and juicy too. Favourites for me so far being the hot links as a part of a BBQ platter and the Irish black butter ones in a breakfast sandwich.

Then, only one week after placing my order Ali announces his latest idea, subscription boxes. So, having just had my order arrive should I be re-ordering so soon? Well when I heard the limited-edition flavours in the first box, I knew I had to try them. Birria beef cheek taco sausages??? Then Brazilian linguiça sausages? I am yet to try both of these so can’t comment but the feedback I have heard has been all good. In each subscription box you also get a pack from the range, a surprise pack, the box I had included some breakfast patties which were really good, I built a monster breakfast muffin with mine, and then this pack had a sauce in from the Upton Cheney chilli company and a big pack of rub. Delivered fresh and safely to your door for the princely sum of £45. There has been a second subscription box since where Sosij collaborated with Chef Thom Bateman from The Flintolock. It sounded amazing so I really can’t wait to see what the future boxes hold.

If you want to try some of the Sosij products you can find them being sold online by Village Butchers or wholesale by Longcroft and Old. The subscription boxes go straight onto the Sosij website as noted below. When you try them, let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Website – https://www.sosij.uk/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sosij_uk/?hl=en
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/sosijuk/

Cubanos

After watching the film chef and getting some Angus and Oink Cuban Rub, this was a must cook.

Cubanos

  • Prep Time15 min
  • Cook Time10 min
  • Total Time25 min
  • Yield2 Servings

Ingredients

  • 150gms left over pork shoulder, thinly sliced. (We bbqed around 500gms of tenderised pork shoulder marinated with Angus and Oink cuban rub, olive oil and lemon juice)
  • 2 white bread rolls or soft baguettes, split in half horizontally
  • 2 tsp American mustard
  • 4 slices roast ham
  • 4 slices gruyere
  • 1–2 gherkins, thinly sliced
  • knob of butter

Method

1

Let pork rest until cool enough to handle and thinly slice.

2

Cut baguettes approximately 9″ long.

3

Butter inside of baguette or roll and then toast until golden brown.

4

From bottom up, layer:
• Pork
• Ham
• Swiss cheese
• pickles

5

Slather mustard from edge to edge on top bun. Close sandwich.

6

Generously brush melted butter on top and bottom of bread.

7

Place on heated plancha, we used the Weber GBS griddle pan and press until golden brown and the cheese is melted

Recipe from Chillin N Grillin NI. Check us out on Facebook: Chillin N Grillin NI or Twitter @grillin_ni With thanks to Angus & Oink

Will Woolnough – Son of a Brisket

Meat Matters son Will Woolnough shows how easy cooking brisket can be. Follow Will on Instagram @bbqkids

Will Woolnough – Son of a Brisket

  • Prep Time20 min
  • Total Time16 hr
  • Yield4 Servings

Ingredients

  • Brisket Point
  • Rub of choice, (Marcus Bawden Moca Rub)

Method

1

Dad let me borrow his KJ 2 as my junior was FAR too small for this dinosaur! ?

I got my BBQ stool and dad helped fill the BBQ with charcoal. We then set it with the deflectors (indirect cooking) and a pan underneath to catch drippy beefy fat stuff and we added some water to help the bbq hold its temperature.

I trimmed all the hard fat off from the top and bottom. Being careful using my new knife!

I then rubbed Dad calls it his ‘stash’ of Marcus Bawdon’s Mocha rub on it! It smells SOO good!

At 10pm! We waited until the BBQ was at about 110c ish and placed the brisket carefully on the grates, closed the lid and went to bed!

I couldn’t wait to see how it was going, so we checked it at 5.30am and it was at 78c and the BBQ was still at about 115c, checked there was enough charcoal and there was LOADS so went for a swim in the sea and stuff.

Came back at 2pm and the internal temp was rising but we wanted it for dinner so with dads help wrapped in butcher paper for the last few hours to get it hurrying as the smell was driving me CRAAZZY!!!

4pm we checked and the temp was right on at 93/94 all over but dad likes to prod the beef and I LOVE testing it! I just KNEW this was done as it was jiggly and felt like lava underneath!!!

We let it rest in the Yeti wrapped in tons of mums tea towels but shes doesn’t know yet!

I was able to help carve but because the brisket was so big we had to use a MASSIVE knife!!!

Dad has promised short ribs next!!

Rotisserie

We were really pleased when Outback 365 lent us the Rottiserie attachment for the Monolith. Alan just loves Roast Chicken on the BBQ. Rubbed with some oil and a seasoning of your choice and stuffed with half a lemon and some butter, the chicken self bastes as it spins.

The good thing about the Monolith Rotisserie is that it is battery operated so there is no need to drag the extension lead into the garden either. The Rotisserie is well made and with 4 prongs it holds the chicken securely with no slipping as it turns.

We have also used a basket we bought to make wings on the rotisserie, Recipe can be found here and a porcetta that we bought from Lidl. The porcetta was moist with some perfect crackling. For it as it was a denser piece of meat than a chicken we set up half a basket of coal and put it to one side of the meat.

This ensure that it was cooked through without burning.

Below are some pictures of the cooks, what is really good about the rotisserie and bbq-ing at this time of year is you put the lid down and forget about it.
Both the chicken and the porcetta cooked in just over an hour. For some reason roasts on the bbq seem to taste much better than in the dry heat of an oven

Ozpig BBQ

For those of you who know Alan and I you will know that BBQ for us is not just Sausages and Burgers, we have a lot of different bits of kit, including Kettle BBQ’s Ceramic BBQ’s a pizza oven, an acusa parilla, even a paella burner
We were really pleased when Ozpig UK asked us did we want to test drive the Ozpig series 2.

With its smaller more compact size than the Big Pig, the S2 is easy to pack up and take with you to the beach or camping. It comes with a carry bag.

The Ozpig can be used as a patio heater or to cook on. It is so much better than the terracotta patio heaters.
Its well made and the adjustable door allows air flow whilst stopping the embers falling out.

The range of accessories means that when it comes to cooking it is very versitile. You can burn logs or there is a charcoal basket.
Everything we have cooked so far has been over wood. In my opinion real wood just brings a great flavour. We get silver birch logs from our local stove supplier. but they do offer a starter box with wood, charcoal, and wool starters too.

We have cooked quite a bit on the Ozpig, everything from rotisserie chicken, to Chicken Stew, to planked salmon to T-Bone Steak, even beef in oyster sauce with a wok and lets not forget the Smores.

We were also given the smoker attachment to try, the pulled pork was so good. We had to keep an eye on the logs, throwing another on every hour or so but that’s part of the fun and a good excuse to have a beer.

We have a few more cooks planned including Taco Al Pastor and as the autumn comes in Chicken Paprikash and Goulash in the dutch oven.

All in all, the ozpig is well made and if you want to enjoy cooking over live fire, and keeping warm when the evenings start to get cool I can definitely recommend the Ozpig.

I have added a few pictures to this review to allow you to see for yourself.

BBQ Meatloaf

Who doesn’t like meatloaf? Here’s one that is so easy to do on your BBQ.
This recipe is based on one from DJ BBQ’s aka Christian Stevenson. It was passed down to him by his Grandma.
If you have a chance I would watch some of his videos on You Tube. He has some great ideas and a huge personality.
He currently has three books in print and we can recommend them all. Some cracking recipes in there.

BBQ Meatloaf

  • Prep Time15 min
  • Cook Time1 hr
  • Total Time1 hr 15 min
  • Yield6 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion finely diced
  • 1 pepper diced
  • 1 medium carrot peeled and diced
  • 800gms mince (we used half beef, half pork)
  • 1 clove garlic peeled and crushed
  • 1 teaspoon bbq rub
  • 2tbs worcestershire sauce
  • 100gms stale bread crumbs
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 150gms cheese
  • 100mls bbq sauce, we used texas chipolte this time from our freinds at red dog

Method

1

Put all the ingredients (only half the cheese) in a bowl and mix well together.

2

Shape into a rectangle and place in a disposable roasting tin.

3

Use the handle of a wooden spoon to make some diagonal indents into the top of the meat loaf.

4

Pour over half the sauce.

5

Set the bbq for indirect and get the temp up to around 180°C

6

Cook for an hour or so, checking the internal temp of the meatloaf hits 74°C.

7

Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese and cook until it’s is melted.

8

Slice it up and serve with the remainder of the sauce

9

We like to reheat this in a frying pan the next day by cooking some onions, adding some gravy and a little bbq sauce

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