Everything but Beetroot

We had a barbecue yesterday and one of the things I particularly wanted to try were the fish; sardines and mackerel.

There’s something very reassuring about cooking on a barbecue; it’s a very bloke thing as this video lampoons so effectively.

I’d marinaded the fish earlier in the day and just turned them once or twice once they were on the barbecue. Because both are quite oily fish they barbecued really well, but I’d say the mackerel were more successful, or probably I should have taken the sardines off a bit before I did.

Marinade

• 2 tsp of black peppercorns, crushed
• 1 tsp of sea salt
• 2 tsp of rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 tsp of thyme, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

As the photo on the right demonstrates it wasn’t just fish for supper. A friend had given me a recipe for tabbouleh which I made the night before and I spent the morning on a marinade for the chicken and a grapefruit and avocado salad.

Tabbouleh

• 200g couscous
• one red onion, finely chopped
• 400g ripe comatose,diced
• half a cucumber, diced
• juice of 2 lemons

Just mix everything together and leave overnight in the fridge.

Chicken Marinade

•  3 tsp of grated fresh ginger
• zest and juice of a lemon and lime
• a couple of handfuls of coriander leaves, roughly chopped

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

• 2 red grapefruit
• 2 avocado
• watercress
• sherry vinegar
• olive oil

Cut the grapefruit up – retaining some of the juice for the dressing – getting rid of all the pith.  Slice the avocados and mix with the watercress and grapefruit.  Dress with the remaining juice, vinegar and oil.