Saturday, May 13, 2006

Summer BBQ Challenge

Lex Culinaria had a great idea for a one-off event - since summer is arriving for the other half of the world, why not celebrate the BBQ season by gathering ideas from around the blogosphere.

When barbecuing the focus is usually on the meat so I thought I'd offer up a vegetable item. One of the things I like to cook on the BBQ are potatoes, not just ordinary potatoes but baby potatoes. This really is an incredibly easy and quick idea and you get something that's a little bit different. I like to make Potato Skewers.

1-DSC_4412.jpg

I use metal skewers to make these - the metal helps conduct the heat into the centre of the potato and shorten the cooking time. If you are in a real hurry you can par-boil the potatoes.

Flavourings used are up to you - these are made with rosemary, sage and thyme that have been chopped finely, then mixed with a little oil. This mixture is painted over the potatoes before they are given the once over with a grinding of fresh pepper and salt. Other suggestions include caraway seed, fennel seed, cumin, chilli, or even bay leaves - I like to place a bay leaf between each potato.

At the end of each skewer I place a garlic clove - they are whole unpeeled cloves, the garlic will roast and soften and become wonderfully sweet. When done, you just squeeze the garlic which has become paste-like from it's skin and use it on bread, vegetables and meats as a flavour boost.

Once all the skewers are made they are placed in double thickness aluminium foil parcels.

1-DSC_4414.jpg

After closing each parcel, place them, on indirect heat, on the BBQ. The foil packages help trap the heat and quicken the cooking time. Turn the parcel over after half an hour.

1-DSC_4420.jpg

Once they are done, on opening up the package you'll be rewarded with a wonderful scent of the roasted garlic and herbs. Serve them as is on the skewers or piled high in a bowl.

Tagged with

7 comments

  1. AnonymousMay 14, 2006

    Hi,
    Your recipe simply makes my tongue drooling.Nice try recipe one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. These sound delicious, esp the whole garlic cloves

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Ramya!

    Thanks Ange - roasting garlic whole is always tasty and tends to turn those garlic haters into garlic lovers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Daave - i think these enter the rank of stupidly easy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 19, 2006

    Potatoes look wonderful and garlic is always beautiful. I've had really good luck giving my root veggies a little microwave shot (1 - 2 minutes) and then finishing them on the grill.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 20, 2006

    These are delicious! I made them as part of the barbecue wrap-up round up. I used sage leaves skewered between the potatoes, and sprinkled them with the fennel seeds you recommended. Check it out on my site, if you're interested. Thanks for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Tanna!

    Thanks Kat - that's a fabulous menu you created, love that use of fennel and sage, it all looks just too delicious!

    ReplyDelete

© Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once | All rights reserved.
BLOG TEMPLATE HANDCRAFTED BY pipdig