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Teenage barbecue

June 30, 2010 13 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

The teen decided to have a primary school reunion this weekend, a barbecue. Lesson learnt by me: don’t even bother with salads or vegetables, even half French teenagers, brought up on a diet of good food, are only interested in Doritos, Coca Cola, 7up, marshmallows and meat. Except for my kid who had all the previous plus veggie sausages. The bread on a stick went down well though. I tried the recipe ‘Damper bread’ from the camping section of Alice Hart’s new book from the New Voices in Food series published by Quadrille.
However for broader minded adults, it is possible to have delicious meatless barbecues: halloumi should be a store cupboard staple for unexpected vegetarians; home-made veggie burgers, made of beans and cheese, are so much better than ready-made, fold into home-made pitta breads with tendrils of salad and home-made ketchup. I’ve threaded tiny parboiled new potatoes on skewers, sprinkled them with rosemary salt, and baked them slowly over the coals. Add sticks of rosemary and bunches of sage to your barbecue for instant incense! If you eat fish, I like to wrap an entire one in a wet newspaper. When the newspaper is dry, it’s cooked. Perfect for wild camping.
As for salads, vegetables and anything remotely healthy… who are these perfect mothers that manage to make their kids eat this stuff?

Bread on a stick: they were interested by this….

 I’ve known these kids since they were three years old.

 I made bread coiled around manchego al romero, a Spanish cheese with rosemary

 Vegetable kebabs: halloumi, red pepper, courgettes, basil leaves, marinated in oil and balsamic: untouched.

 Toasting marshmallows for starters! The teen diet.

 Radishes, butter, salt: only I ate them.

 They didn’t touch the mozzarella and heritage tomato salad.

 Plenty of beer, alcopops and soft drinks in the outdoor ‘fire’ bath. (Built by my squatter ex boyfriend, you fill with water, light a fire underneath, enjoy a hot bath under the stars)

 Salad: why did I bother?

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Comments

  1. chumbles

    June 30, 2010 at 12:46 pm

    I hope your teen really appreciates you, I really do. Most of my teen experience was avoiding my father's wrath and my mother's cooking…

    Something weird happens to teenage taste buds; I think it's all the hormonal changes – I hated vegetables until I was in my late twenties (apart, of course, from potatoes). But my excuse was that my mother crucified them; your progeny doesn't have that excuse so I can only guess it's social pressure. (Wot – eating veg, snark, Mummy/Daddy will be pleased, snark snark.)

    But I reckon there's a point where North becomes South and vice versa in our eating lives; from subsisting on burgers, sausages etc, I am now unbelievably picky about eating such things – last burger 1996, last sausage (a really good butcher's sausage) November last year.

    But I have always been mad for cheese, so the veggie burgers really rather interest – any chance of the recipe?? Pretty please?

    Reply
  2. MsMarmitelover

    June 30, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    Hi chumbles,
    Fry up some onions, mix with cans of beans such as black beans or good quality baked beans. Add grated cheese, egg to bind and bread crumbs. You can also add chopped up chilli peppers, garlic, and spices.
    I must have another go as it's been a while since I made them.

    Reply
  3. indiakalff

    June 30, 2010 at 1:44 pm

    An outdoor fireplace/bathtub? I love it!!
    All you need is some bubble bath, wine and some nibbles within arm’s reach… decadence

    Reply
  4. Jenny

    June 30, 2010 at 1:44 pm

    my veggie barbeque normally consists of a whole romano pepper (mum stuffs hers with cous cous some times), a corn on the cob, a whole roasted beetroot.

    i think mainly because they are easy & i'm getting a little lazy with my cooking.

    but i like the bread on a stick idea!

    i ate most veggies as a child but only as i reached my 20's would i eat mushrooms, peppers, aubergine. This was more down to the eating disorder than anything else i think – just because of it i tried new veggies – mum wouldn't have bought aubergine or butternut squash, neither of the artichokes eiher.

    Reply
  5. Anonymous

    June 30, 2010 at 3:12 pm

    The manchego bread looks delicious!

    Reply
  6. chumbles

    June 30, 2010 at 3:26 pm

    Hi MsMl,
    Thanks for that – I'll give it a go. But first I'll wait for some cooler weather to make some breadcrumbs!

    Reply
  7. Lizzie

    June 30, 2010 at 4:41 pm

    Odd – I loved vegetables when I was a kid. Those halloumi kebabs look awesome, shame they were untouched. Kids eh!

    Reply
  8. James

    June 30, 2010 at 9:17 pm

    Ugh – vegetables, they haven't got enough sugar in. Bread, beer and sausages sounds more like it. That's all you need isn't it? Ha ha. Maybe they'll see the light one day.

    I had the barbecued halloumi revolution last month. So good!

    Gave up offering leaf salad (even adults) for BBQ's – always left. Spinach, tomato, red onion, organic feta-like cows cheese and olives does go well though.

    Marshmallows for a starter? Well you could do sweet potato and marshmallow skewers – like that US thanksgiving dish.

    Reply
  9. Gourmet Chick

    June 30, 2010 at 9:24 pm

    Can't believe they passed up those haloumi kebabs – delicious. by the way, love the fire bath – I saw that when at The underground restaurant and wondered what it was!

    Reply
  10. MsMarmitelover

    June 30, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    James: I must try that dish. It's always fascinated me.
    Was going to do it for the Elvis meal, but I felt they might keel over from sugar overload.
    Gourmet chic: I must get the bath going for some sous vide cookery one night!

    Reply
  11. dining room tables

    July 1, 2010 at 3:47 am

    Outdoor cooking! I love doing that. It is good for everyone. Through that your bond with your friend will going stronger than before. My family loves doing that.

    Reply
  12. Helen

    July 3, 2010 at 10:40 am

    That bath is absolutely awesome.

    This post really made me laugh. All I used to eat when I was a kid was Findus crispy pancakes and sandwiches.

    Reply
  13. The Curious Cat

    July 7, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    Oh dear…one day they'll look back on that with regret….such tasty healthy food! xxx

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
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Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Mi Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Minus Crown and king as I cannot find either. This one is made with Tonka bean. Plus homemade puff pastry (well worth the effort). According to ike delorenzo at The Atlantic:  The tonka bean, a flat, wrinkled legume from South America with an outsize flavor that the US government has declared illegal. Nonetheless, it proliferates on elite American menus. The tiniest shavings erupt in a Broceliande of transporting, mystical aromas.
The taste of the tonka bean is linked strongly to its scent. "Scents," I should say, as the tonka bean has many at once. I register the aromas of vanilla, cherry, almond, and something spicy—a bit like cinnamon. When served cold—say, in tonka bean ice cream—the taste is like a vanilla caramel with dark honey. When warm, perhaps shaved over scallops, it moves toward spiced vanilla. Additionally, the aroma of the tonka bean shavings (it's almost always shaved) is so affecting that it seems like an actual taste in the way that opium, which has no taste in the traditional sense, "tastes" like its rich, flowery smoke.  Here is the recipe: 

Tonka bean galette des rois

Serves 8
Ingredients
* 140 g caster sugar
* 125 g salted butter, softened
* 100 g ground almonds
* 2 eggs, medium
* 1 tonka bean, grated
* 2 packs ready made butter puff pastry on a roll
* 1 yolk for brushing the pastry
Instructions
* Preheat your oven to 200c.

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* If using a block: divide the puff pastry into two and roll out to 5mm thick. 
* Make two circles about 15 cm’s each in diameter. Lay one circle on a silicone mat/parchment paper on a baking tray and fill with the almond cream leaving a 3 cm border around the edge. 
* Paint the border with the egg yolk. Then lay the other circle on top, sealing the edges with a fork. 
* You could then carve designs into the top. Make a little slit in the middle to let steam escape then brush the top with the egg yolk
Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. T Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. This is a vegan version. ***

Ingredients:
- 400 g box of soft tofu not silken
- 5 soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, diced, keep water
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 400 g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tbsps groundnut or vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp fermented bean paste
- 1 or 2 small red chillies, minced or a spoonful of Chinese chilli paste
- 1 tsp heaped sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
- 2 tbsps soy or tamari sauce
- 2 tbsp cornflour in 3 tbsps water, mixed into a slurry
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- large pinch fresh coriander leaves

Prepare the tofu by cutting it into one inch cubes and soaking it in hot but not boiling salted water. Drain after 15 minutes.
Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, covering them in boiling water. Leave until soft, then dice the mushrooms. Retain the mushroom soaking water and add to the vegetable stock water.
Prepare the other ingredients so they are ready to stir-fry: red bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, ginger, garlic.

Using a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat to frying temperature. Add the bell peppers,fry for a couple of minutes, then add fermented bean paste, chilli paste or chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sichuan pepper.
Add the mushroom/vegetable broth and simmer on high for a couple of minutes.
Carefully add the cubes of tofu, taking care not to break them too much.
Add the cornflour slurry, stirring for a couple of minutes.
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