Barbecue treats

I may have missed the mark since the rain is coming in, but as you all know, the weather has been gorgeous in England for the past month. I have had a few barbecues, and although I don't have many photos, I thought I would share a quick chicken kebab recipe and some gorgeous melt in the middle beef burgers (both pictured above) - as well as some ideas for fun BBQ food :)

Chicken kebabs

Simply chop up your desired amount of red onion and any coloured pepper, and thread on a kebab stick with some diced chicken. Just drizzle with olive oil and you're good to barbecue! So simple but very delicious. If you prefer more flavour than marinade the chicken before hand.

Melt-in-the-middle goats cheese burgers

So yummy - you can replace the goats cheese with any cheese like cheddar or stilton or brie.

Makes 2:
- 250g beef mince
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- salt & pepper
- 1/2 beaten egg
- two thick slices of soft goats cheese

1. Mix together the mince, onion, parsley and seasoning in a mixing bowl.
2. Add in the beaten egg and mix until combined. If too wet, then add a bit of flour.
3. Shape into 4 small patties, and place the goats cheese on two of them.
4. Place the other two patties on top of the goats cheese, and shape around with your fingers to seal, until the perfect burger shape, and the cheese is covered.
5. Time to barbecue!

On my birthday this year, we had a lovely barbecue in the evening with so much food - standard burgers and sausages, along with corn on the cob (boil it first!), sweet chilli chicken, lamb marinated in mint, pineapple on the bbq, and lots of potato salad.

Hope this gives you some BBQ inspiration!

Enjoy :)

Lemon and parsley trout

There is really no attractive way to present cooked parsley... but don't let the picture put you off. I've posted this simple fish marinade before but with salmon, but I have recently discovered that I much prefer trout. It seems a lot more moist and I just generally prefer the flavour - it was also a bonus that the pack of two fillets was half price! This delicious, tangy marinade is great with fish so give it a try with three simple ingredients. Perfect served with vegetables and new potatoes, rice or even pasta.

Serves 2
- Two trout fillets
- knob of butter (about 25g)
- 1 lemon
- fresh parsley, chopped

1. Melt the butter in a dish, squeeze in as much of the lemon as you wish and stir in the parsley.
2. Rub the trout fillets in the marinade and leave in the fridge for 10-20 minutes.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and wrap the trout fillets in foil and place on a baking tray.
4. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until tender and flaky.

Enjoy :)

Lemon and parsley salmon

(Completely forgot to take a picture once cooked!)

This is a simple dressing/marinade for salmon that is guaranteed to produce wonderful flavours and moist fish. It's buttery and it's tangy mm mm. Perfect served with new potatoes also tossed in a buttery, lemon and parsley sauce.

- salmon fillet

- few knobs of butter

- handful of fresh parsley, chopped

- fresh lemon

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 / 180 degrees.

2. Simply place the salmon on foil, dot with the butter, sprinkle on the parsley, and squeeze over the lemon.

3. Wrap in the foil, place on a tray, and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes.

Enjoy :)

Marinated lamb with tomatoes and mozzarella

I had no idea what to do with these lamb steaks for dinner - after lots of thought I decided to just improvise and make a simple marinade and then roast in the oven with mozzarella on top. It was lovely; I served it with the bacon and rosemary potato rosti (check this post!) and savoy cabbage - it was a deliciously satisfying meal! The lamb was full of flavour and it was very simple to do.

Ingredients:
- Lamb steaks
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp very lazy garlic in white wine vinegar (or just garlic granules)
- handful of fresh or dried rosemary (I used dried)
- salt & pepper
- cherry tomatoes
- mozzarella, sliced

1. Pour the olive oil and balsamic into a dish, and spoon in the garlic.
2. Rub the lamb steaks in until they are covered with the oil and vinegar.
3. Sprinkle lots of rosemary and turn the steaks over until they are covered with the herbs.
4. Seasoned and cut up cherry tomatoes, placing them around the steaks. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge until cooking.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees/gas mark 5 and bake in the oven covered with foil (not cling film!) for about 15-30 minutes depending on how rare you like your meat. Halfway through this cooking time, place the mozzarella slices on the lamb so it has time to melt.

Enjoy :)