Barbecue falafel kebabs

By far the runaway most popular barbecue item of this year! Has falafel been on TV or something?

You have to serve them with hoummous to get the whole experience. We had to make extra for every barbecue we served because those naughty meat eaters wanted to eat them too! 

Used the Ottolenghi recipe from his Jerusalem book. I remember the first time we ever tried making them in 2007, and every attempt kept disintegrating in the deep dryer till we gave up in rage. The trick, as it turns out, is to keep pulverising the raw chickpeas in the food processor till they come together in a ball in your hands. When it's ready, you just know. You just have to keep practicing! It's worth it though - the homemade ones taste about 10 million times better than anything you can buy. 

Also nice with tatziki - who needs meat?!

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Country feast barbecue wedding catering with yurts near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire

Marquee weddings - all very nice, but if you're after a wow factor is has to be a yurt. This was a wedding we catered for back at the beginning of June - a whole lifetime ago, but only if you measure in terms of food.

Yurts came from Yurts for Life - the one above was a separate children's tent - with a couple of entertainers keeping the children happy while the adults grazed on canapés by the lake. They had their own much larger yurt (in the background below).

To help keep the budget down we brought along our own gazebo to turn into a field kitchen.

Scallops wrapped in pancetta the night before

Thai style fish and fishless cakes (cheese, onion and sage)

Barbecue with a view. Sausages from Home Farm about 2 miles away as the crow flies made from their Gloucester Old Spot/ Berkshire breed pigs. Trying to get everything cooked before the rain set in....... 

Herby Madgetts Farm chicken wrapped asparagus  - see recipe link here

Harissa marinaded Home Farm lamb steaks and burgers too - keeping it local with real food!

Salad of grilled butternut squash, rocket, pommegranate, orange and  toasted almonds

Nicoise salad

There was also cous cous. We served all this on platters/ bowls which the waitresses tiook to the tables for guests to serve themselves family style - a great way to get everyone talking & make a more informal atmosphere.

Tomatoes - local are best - grown about 6 miles away from the wedding

Eton mess served in learge bowls one per table. Strawberries grown in the next door county (Herefordshire)

We made the eton mess a larger version of the shotglass eton mess below served at a dinner party a few months ago - i.e. separate. Halved/ quartered strawberries with strawberry coulis at the bottom, whipped cream with vanilla piped on top and crushed meringue on top. Looks much better I think when you mix it yourself at the table as you eat.

We also made large lemon tarts - again for guests to share at the table. What a feast! 

And after all this? It was time for a late night hog roast with guests - which became quite welcome as guests sheltered from the rain which fell later on in the evening (lovely British summer......)

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Tarragon poached chicken, butterflied leg of lamb and prawn, monkfish and squid kebabs - catering for a barbecue wedding near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire

At last - a wedding where it didn't rain while we were loading & unloading - wahoo! 

The lake at Upper Court - makes a great backdrop to your wedding breakfast!

The previous week on Stow on the Wold cricket field we had been caked in mud, wet through and that was just in the first five minutes of arriving - pushing 2 vans (arriving and departing) through the mud was most.... er.... memorable. The next wedding the day after at Chavenage House we had fared slightly better because they had moved the siting of the marquee right next to the house. That was until it came to packing up in the evening and once again we were deluged. Always helps to have a good set of waterproofs and waterproof kitchen shoes. Good job we love it!

Tarragon poached chicken on the barbecue 

 This weekend just gone - perfect. The sun even came out as the guests arrived back from the church next door. Note the straw in the background though - soaking up the mud around the entrance - all the ground so waterlogged now - that'll be the great English summer.

Here is how the chicken started off the night before (below). We batted it out, filled it with chicken and tarragon mousse (chicken, egg white, cream, salt, pepper, tarragon), sprinkled on a bit more chopped tarragon for good luck and rolled it up,

Then skewered it to hold it in place and poached it in court bouillon with the tarragon stalks.

Once poached it was left to cool down, then one the day itself I just cut it into 3 and gave them a grilling on the barbecue.
The bride had said she wanted chicken, but it had to be moist - chicken can dry out easily on BBQ if you cook it too much. Poached like this you not only get a lot more flavour in there, but it also stays nice and moist.

Tiger prawn, monkfish and squid skewers marinaded in chilli, ginger, garlic, coriander, lemon, mint, turmeric and yogurt

What a revelation these were - maybe you can't see in pic above, but the turmeric gives them an amazing yellowy colour. A couple of minutes on each side with a dusting of flour to stop them sticking and they're cooked perfectly. And the monkfish is one of the best fish to barbecue because it is so meaty and doesn't fall apart like cod, and tiger prawns - well everyone loves those!

Butterflied leg of lamb marinaded in lemon, garlic and cumin yogurt (with a lone kebab tester)  

"Is there anything else we can do than lamb steaks?" asked the bride. We eventually rested on the idea of butterflied leg of lamb - which I then carved on the buffet as guests came along - the inside of the lamb perfectly pink (although there were a few well done bits for the guests who preferred it that way). Lamb as usual came from Home Farm - around 2 miles as the crow flies from the where we were serving it. 5 legs and every last bit went - very popular!

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Hire a barbecue chef for a wedding

Wow 3 weddings in a week? This feels like it was about 2 months ago, but apparently it was just 6 days ago. Everyone loves a Tuesday wedding (good excuse for a day off work) and what can be more relaxed than getting all your friends and family to a holiday cottage and cooking up a barbecue?

The bride for this wedding happened to work at M&S so provided all the food as well as organising the whole event herself - with help on the day before and on the day from an army of friends & family volunteers. So all that was left for us to do was turn up with the barbecue and get cooking!

Bouncy castle in the background for the kids - great idea. For the bigger 'kids' too.

Their own cupcakes being finished while we set up their salad buffet

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Barbecued herby chicken wrapped asparagus & barbecued pears with yogurt, honey and fresh coconut

Browsing a few new ideas a few months ago I came accross this one and loved it straight away. Think the hen party we served this for did too.

The barbecued poached pears were something I tried out last year for another hen party - that time making a large bowl they could serve at the table. This one was plated individually. As we had some fresh coconut from around I grated that over, and picked some sage flowers from the herb garden.

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70th birthday barbecue catering near Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire

2 barbecues on 2 consecutive days and both for 70th birthdays - must be barbecue season! Both also featured the blackened cod - must be my favourite. Marinated in a mix of soy, oyster sauce, thai fish sauce, chopped lemon grass, grated ginger and garlic, mirin, dark brown sugar, ground cumin and coriander & fresh coriander. Completely transforms it. It helps when you have a BBQ with a lid. This was one of the best barbecues I have ever used - a Weber. Managed to get the coals just the right temperature so food would cook rather than burn.

Barbecue with a view (house had a 180 degree view - stunning)

As there was one vegan guest for this one I made a few vegan items - grilled field mushroom with shallot curry (pre-cooked the curry while they had canapes then put in the raw mushroom and let it cook on the BBQ) and roasted pepper with chickpeas with chilli and garlic (he liked spicy food), and also black bean kofta with soy yogurt and mint in pitta.













Although we have tempting desserts you can cook on the barbecue they were interested in the assiette, but to have 3 rather than 5, so I made them slightly lager - muffin size tart cases for the chocolate tart and the creme brulee in the mini bread and butter dishes rather than the japanese spoons. And raspberry sorbet.

Sunset from the kitchen door while the guests ate dessert

'Did you leave anything for me?'

Then as we were clearing up...... pop. Out went the lights. The third time this year - I'm not kidding. After our experience in January though - this was a piece of cake. In January we had arrived at a venue to cook for 31 guests and found there was no power at all - the local substation had blown. We couldn't even get in though the electric gates - all our equipment and food had to be passed over the gates, and driven up to the house, and then of course, no lights too cook with, or set the table with, no electric hob or oven to cook with, no hot water, just an aga which was 1/5 of the power it should be. The hosts had decked the place in candles and hoped for the best. They got it too - it all went fine - I'll never forget all those pheasants, vegetables and potatoes in one aga. Amazing. Boiling water for washing up took 1 1/2 hours. Then in April we did a canape wedding in Gloucester and half way through proceedings, just as it was getting dark the fuse blew for the kitchen lights. Not the receptions rooms - were all the guests were - they were fine, just the kitchen for some reason. Try as they might each time it just kept tripping so in the end it was back to decking the kitchen out in candles again.

So this time at least we got to clear nearly everything from the table before we enetered darkness. It's all part of the fun/ challenge of cooking in people's homes.

Just as I had packed up the last thing in the van around 23:30 they had located the problem room. They had kept switching everything off/ on in various rooms of the house to see which room was causing the fuse box to go. Which room was it? The kitchen of course. It's always the ktichens' fault!

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Barbecue catering for 65 at Wellacres, Gloucestershire, happy 70th birthday!

Wellacres makes such a great venue for more relaxed functions. Unlike hired halls or venues you have sole use (no other parties coming in behind you), you don't have to finish your party at a certain time, and because it is surrounded by fields you feel just like it is yours (most people want to move in) - no neighbours worry about. And once the celebrations & meal are out of the way guests can relax and enjoy the 5 star features - jacuuzi & swimming pool, cinema style screen for football games etc. This group had even set up a cinema screen in the barn so they could relive their past with their guests with a slide show.

Live music

There's Anna from Party Angels taking care of front of 'house' so well, just last checks before guests sit down.

Blackened cod (on next door BBQ - if you close the lid it cooks the cod like an oven - but you get the smoky flavour in there too), Home Farm pork loin in honey and mustard, plum and brandy wine poached chicken wrapped in parma ham, Home Farm burgers and sausages for children (and some of the adults of course), garlic mushrooms, skewers of halloumi, aubergine, courgette, baby plum tomatoes, corn on the cob

Pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, passionfruit and mango in rosewater syrup in watermelon (less fruit is more). Also grapes, strawberries, pineapple, marshmallows etc to be dipped in chocolate fondue.

Barbecued bananas with sticky toffee sauce - so popular this is the second round.

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Barbecue catering for a hen party in Bisley (between Stroud and Cheltenham)

Make the most of the last of your freedom!
Well I've cooked in some amazing houses over the years but this definitely ranks as the most high. Bisley is one of those secret Cotswold villages - off the tourist track (and all the better for it) - maybe that's why Jilly Cooper lives there. I had been in the neighbouring villages but not this one - now I saw it have to go back.

When they said you go up a steep slope they weren't kidding. It's steep, and then goes up a bit more, a bit more and a bit more - like a mountain with a load of false summits. But look what awaits you when you get there - an 18th century wisteria clad beauty. The garden was bursting with life, and being so high you get a great view of the valley. Truly a stunning house.

While you can order the barbecue menu, sadly you can't order the weather - though I am working on it. This was the polar opposite of the week before. That had been the hottest day of the year - at 33 oC + hotter than Greece and the med and the wedding party had soaked it up. This week however, it rained all afternoon and the evening went cold. So it was a bit of indoor barbecuing instead, which is no bad thing. At the end of last year I purchased a large Le Creuset grill pan and fell instantly in love with it. It sure did the job on this occasion too.

Skewers of chorizo, bacon, halloumi & red onions
The hens had left choosing the menu to me so I did a couple of favourites and a couple of new things. A few days before I had been admiring Jan's chicken, bacon and halloumi skewers, and thought (& tweeted) how good halloumi and chorizo would be. @Cotswoldfood tweeted back '@MyCotswoldfood Did halloumi, pancetta and red onion the other night, excellent!' well that settled that then. And oh yes - this was such a meat fest! Sure I could eat chorizo for breakfast, lunch and dinner......

Barbecued beef stroganof
I cut up the finest Home Farm rib eye beef and marinaded it overnight in barbecue sauce. Then skewered with button mushrooms. Meanwhile my white wine and mushroom cream sauce was reducing away.
As the hens were eating inside there was limited serving space so we decided it would be easier to plate up the main items and for them to pass the salads around. So the stroganof sauce went over the skewers once plated. Classics are great aren't they?
I had first done this 4 years previously when I was cooking a series of barbecues for the same hosts and had to come up with varied options. It was about time to do it again. It's like a cross between barbecue and fondue - what could be better? [Those are grilled chilli-tiger prawns in the background by the way.]
Campari poached chicken wrapped in parma ham

This makes a great hen party dish - campari, well they like their cocktails. Because it is poached it is much moister. Wrapped in parma and barbecued (or grilled in this case), it just finishes it off.






Salads at the ready to be passed (spinach, cherry tomatoes, red onion & olive, potato salad and spiced pepper quinoa)
Desserts

Grilled pears with greek yogurt and honey
One for Ms Marmitelover - a dessert in a large bowl to help yourself. This was almost too good to serve. I had poached the pears with cinnamon, cardamon and cloves first.









Strawberry skewers with white chocolate dip
Well you can't have a barbecue without them can you? Especially a hen party barbecue.

So while we cleared up they got ready for their night out on the town (Cheltenham) - no point in doing things by halves.


Related posts

Other barbecues we have served

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