Nothing beats the taste of meat cooked on a fire out in the open .... On Sunday my (workaholic) husband took a break from the farm (i.e. was ‘torn away’ … ha ha) as it is a quiet time now between our planting and havesting seasons. When it is quiet like this, he usually takes Sunday’s off and I treasure these days we can spend together as family with no work interruptions.
It was an unusually hot and sunny day (considering we are entering our Winter season here) and my husband suggested that we have a barbecue - I thought that this was a great idea as it meant I could have a day off from cooking (not that I really mind it, but Sunday’s are usually my really lazy days). Well, it was not a complete break from the kitchen as I wanted to make some nice marinades and things.
First I took out a packet of pork sausages which I cut and threaded onto wooden kebab skewers with some onion, and then I basted these in a mixture of equal amounts of tomato sauce (ketchup) and Worcestershire sauce. We love cooking pork sausages on the barbecue, except they are often tricky and fall through the grill bars – so making ‘kebabs’ out of them is ideal.
My husband wanted a nice steak, and I happened to have some individually portioned Kenyan fillets so I took one of those out for him and my daughter, but left it plain. (We only eat imported Kenyan beef – I’ve mentioned before that the quality of our local Tanzanian fillet is terrible.) I rarely eat red meat and was happy to stick with chicken.
I took out a packet of chicken pieces which were skinless. I automatically remove the skin from all the chicken pieces before I portion and freeze them, but usually for a barbecue I would leave the skins on. I made a lovely lemon, thyme & garlic marinade for these which was quick and easy and even though they only had time to marinade for about an hour, they were still tender and tasty. (The recipe for that is below).
I then made some garlic rolls wrapped in foil to put on the fire, and a quick salad with lettuce, rocket, tomatoes, onions, cucumber and carrots …. and that was lunch !
My husband had one of his farm workers make us a barbecue in the workshop here a few years ago – just out of an old oil drum. It looks pretty professional, just like one you would buy in a shop …. it was all welded together and aside from a few modifications to the grill / grid (the gaps were large enough for all the meat to fall through into the fire !) it was perfect.
So, my husband cooked our meat in the garden (with all the dogs begging at his feet !) and my daughter splashed around in her paddling pool, and we ate at the dining table I have on the veranda. It was a really lovely day, and the only thing that would have made it even better, would’ve been if we’d had our extended families (parents, in laws, siblings, nieces and nephews) to join us !
Here is the easy marinade I made for the chicken pieces -:
Lemon, Thyme & Garlic Marinade for Chicken
5 Chicken Pieces (I used skinless)
Juice of 2 large lemons
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Handful of fresh Thyme, roughly chopped
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a glass dish. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat well. Leave to marinade for a couple of hours, or overnight in the fridge.
It was an unusually hot and sunny day (considering we are entering our Winter season here) and my husband suggested that we have a barbecue - I thought that this was a great idea as it meant I could have a day off from cooking (not that I really mind it, but Sunday’s are usually my really lazy days). Well, it was not a complete break from the kitchen as I wanted to make some nice marinades and things.
First I took out a packet of pork sausages which I cut and threaded onto wooden kebab skewers with some onion, and then I basted these in a mixture of equal amounts of tomato sauce (ketchup) and Worcestershire sauce. We love cooking pork sausages on the barbecue, except they are often tricky and fall through the grill bars – so making ‘kebabs’ out of them is ideal.
My husband wanted a nice steak, and I happened to have some individually portioned Kenyan fillets so I took one of those out for him and my daughter, but left it plain. (We only eat imported Kenyan beef – I’ve mentioned before that the quality of our local Tanzanian fillet is terrible.) I rarely eat red meat and was happy to stick with chicken.
I took out a packet of chicken pieces which were skinless. I automatically remove the skin from all the chicken pieces before I portion and freeze them, but usually for a barbecue I would leave the skins on. I made a lovely lemon, thyme & garlic marinade for these which was quick and easy and even though they only had time to marinade for about an hour, they were still tender and tasty. (The recipe for that is below).
I then made some garlic rolls wrapped in foil to put on the fire, and a quick salad with lettuce, rocket, tomatoes, onions, cucumber and carrots …. and that was lunch !
My husband had one of his farm workers make us a barbecue in the workshop here a few years ago – just out of an old oil drum. It looks pretty professional, just like one you would buy in a shop …. it was all welded together and aside from a few modifications to the grill / grid (the gaps were large enough for all the meat to fall through into the fire !) it was perfect.
So, my husband cooked our meat in the garden (with all the dogs begging at his feet !) and my daughter splashed around in her paddling pool, and we ate at the dining table I have on the veranda. It was a really lovely day, and the only thing that would have made it even better, would’ve been if we’d had our extended families (parents, in laws, siblings, nieces and nephews) to join us !
Here is the easy marinade I made for the chicken pieces -:
Lemon, Thyme & Garlic Marinade for Chicken
5 Chicken Pieces (I used skinless)
Juice of 2 large lemons
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Handful of fresh Thyme, roughly chopped
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a glass dish. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat well. Leave to marinade for a couple of hours, or overnight in the fridge.
