Summer camping barbecue recipes

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Barbecues and camping go together like fish and chips and with a little creativity the outdoor cooking menu can extend to more interesting fare than traditional bangers and burgers.

We've put together some of our favourite barbecue recipes, including delicious snacks, tasty dinners and sweet desserts.

The great thing is that you don't need a lot of cooking skills to create these dishes... they are simple to cook and easy to prepare but will taste amazing.

GOATS’ CHEESE STUFFED MUSHROOMS

• 12 - 16 medium sized mushrooms
• Olive oil
• Soft goats cheese
• Salt and pepper

Carefully remove the stalks from the mushrooms to leave a convenient ‘cup’ for the cheese.

Toss the mushrooms in a couple of tablespoonfuls of olive oil, so they are coated all over then season with salt and pepper.

Pop them flat side down on the barbecue and cook for around five minutes on a medium to hot setting. Once browned on the flat side, remove them from the heat and with a knife or spoon, work the goats’ cheese into the ‘cup’.

Return them to the heat and cook for another five minutes, rounded side down, until the mushrooms are well done and the cheese inside is nice and gooey. Also works well with mozzarella for a milder flavour or stilton for a really strong flavour.

BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB

• 3lb boned out leg of lamb
• 4 large cloves of garlic
• 6 stalks of thyme
• 4 sprigs of rosemary
• 3 tblsps of Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

This recipe works best on a kettle barbecue with a lid, but can also be cooked on a standard griddle barbecue as long as the meat isn’t too thick.

Ask your butcher for a boned out or ‘butterflied’ leg of lamb – although these are also increasingly available in the supermarkets.

Pick the leaves off the thyme and rosemary and crush the garlic cloves, then pop all three ingredients into a pestle and mortar with salt and pepper and give them a good mash. Add the olive oil and continue mashing until you have a reasonably smooth paste/marinade.

Put the lamb into a dish and pour the marinade over it, rubbing it into the meat before letting it infuse in the fridge for a couple of hours. This is an easier and more effective way of getting flavour into the meat without studding it with garlic and rosemary.

Meanwhile, light the barbecue and allow the heat in the coals to settle down to an even temperature.

Just before you start to cook, chuck the woody bits from the thyme and rosemary sprigs onto the coals and pop the meat on the griddle and if you’re using a kettle BBQ, cover and adjust the vents to provide a steady flow of air.

On a griddle barbecue, you’ll need to keep turning the meat to prevent it from burning. Periodically check the meat and baste on both sides with any remaining marinade. A typical leg should take around 25 – 30 minutes for pink meat, 35 – 40 for well-done.

GRIDDLED ASPARAGUS

• Fresh asparagus
• Butter
• Salt and pepper

Boiled or steamed asparagus is delightful, but barbecuing it really brings out the naturally nutty flavour.

Buy a couple of bunches and trim off the woody ends before washing briefly in cold water. Dry off and pop into a bowl.

Take a couple of ounces of butter and melt it gently down to a liquid then pour it over the spears, making sure each one is properly coated.

Season with salt and pepper and wait for the butter to set around the spears, before popping them onto a hot griddle.

Turn after two or three minutes, when the spears should be lightly browned, and cook for another two minutes.

Serve with mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar or a few shavings of parmesan.

ORIENTAL-STYLE SEA BASS

• 4 fillets of sea bass or one large 2lb side
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1.5cm of root ginger
• Small pinch of chilli flakes
• 4 drops of roasted sesame oil
• 2 tblsps of soy sauce
• Juice of a lime
• 1 tspn honey
• Pinch of salt

(Photo courtesy of tasha lyubina/stock.adobe.com)

This is a quick meal when camping at the seaside where fresh fish should be readily available. It also works well with mackerel or salmon.

Check the fillets for bones and place in a shallow tray. Peel and finely grate the ginger, crush the garlic and mix with the other ingredients for the marinade. Go easy on the sesame oil – it’s very strong.

Pour the mixture over the fillets and leave to marinade for around half an hour. Just before you start cooking, brush the bars of the griddle with a little oil to stop the fish sticking.

Barbecue the fillets, skin side down, for around three minutes, then turn and cook for a further two minutes. Fresh fish needs very little cooking, so don’t worry about under-cooking it – you can always return it to the griddle if it needs a little more time.

QUICK GARLIC BREAD

• Baguette or bloomer loaf
• 2 large peeled cloves of garlic
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

(Photo courtesy of tasha Pixabay)

Slice the loaf into nice thick chunks and pop them on the griddle, watching them carefully to prevent them from burning.

Once they’re nicely browned on both sides, take one of the cloves of garlic and rub the chunks of bread vigorously on one side with it.

The toasted bread works like sandpaper and skims a thin veneer full of flavour onto the bread. Drizzle a little olive oil over the bread and add salt and pepper.

FRUIT AND MARSHMALLOW KEBABS

• Seasonal soft fruit
• Kebab skewers
• Pack of marshmallow
• Honey

Get some fresh seasonal fruits and in the case of strawberries, leave them whole, or chop things like peaches, bananas or pineapples into inch-square chunks. If the fruit needs sweetening, brush it with a little honey.

Soak the kebab sticks in water for an hour so they don’t burn on the barbecue and thread the fruit onto sticks, alternating with marshmallows every so often.

Pop them onto the griddle (after giving it a quick scrape to remove the worst of the residues from the main course) and cook until the marshmallows are nice and squidgy.

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