After experiencing several of the rainiest months in Scotland on record, summer was a fleeting moment - blink and you missed it! With slight glimmers of sunshine appearing in autumn, and hope of bright and crisp winter, who says BBQing is only for the summer?
Outdoor cooking can be just as enjoyable in any season, and BBQ enthusiasts are now unearthing their barbecues, condiments and dusting down their recipes in order to fully embrace the increasingly popular BBQ trend.
Aberdeen-based sauce manufacturing company, Angus & Oink, has partnered with four of Aberdeen’s finest local food retailers to showcase the best in meat and fish with four fabulously fiery recipes to compliment their range of sauces.
Malissa Fraser of Angus & Oink says: “BBQ flavour is really at the soul of our sauces so we were very excited to support local food retailers, who offer the finest meats and fish, to compliment our own range on the grill.
"BBQ food does not just need to be supermarket-bought burgers and sausages. Being selective about the meats and fish you use makes all the difference in terms of taste, texture and flavour.
“These simple and delicious recipes are sure to make the neighbours envious. We urge the people of Great Britain to don their hats and gloves, grab their basting brushes and get grilling!”
Red Dawg Apache pulled pork belly
(Davidson's Specialist Butchers)
Malissa says: "Juicy pork belly with hot sweet Red Dawg Apache sauce stirred through with the most amazing crispy crackling. Instead of using the traditional pork shoulder for this, we went for some beautiful belly pork, which cooks to tender pulling in half the time and is lovely and juicy with the bonus of salty crackling. All loaded up into a soft brioche roll and topped with more sauce."
Serves 6
Ingredients
• 2kg Pork belly ribs, bone in.
• 1-2 tbsp each of sea salt, coarse black pepper and fennel seeds
• 2 tbsps each of Red Dawg Apache hot sauce and cider vinegar
• Brioche rolls, pickles, , slaw etc.
• Red Dawg Apache sauce to serve
Method
Set up your BBQ for low to moderate temperature direct cooking with the lid on. You can also do this in the oven when its raining!
Score the skin of the pork belly with a sharp knife, and rub all over with the salt, pepper and fennel. Place on the BBQ with the lid on, skin side down. You can add a few smoking wood chips to the coals if you want a smoky flavour, I added cherry wood.
Leave for an hour or two until the skin starts to puff up and form crackling, depends on how hot your coals are, but do not allow to burn. Turn over so the ribs are facing down and cook until meat in the centre of the belly has reached 95 deg C, use a digital temperature probe to check this. This is the temperature the meat pulls apart at.
Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes with a cover of foil. Then remove the crackling with a sharp knife. Pull the meat apart with two forks. Mix up the Red Dawg Apache and vinegar, and dress through the pulled pork.
Load up a toasted brioche roll with pulled pork, add a slice of the crackling, add further sauce, pickles etc.
Rampant burger using lean Aberdeen Angus steak mince
(Andrew Gordon Butchery and Fine Foods)
Malissa says: "Dry aged Aberdeen Angus Steak Mince marbled with Angus & Oink Rampant Angus Scotch Bonnet Ketchup to ramp up the heat in these homemade juicy burgers with a bit of a kick."
The recipe is for one burger, scale up for more.
Ingredients
• 150-200g of quality lean Aberdeen Angus Steak Mince per burger
• A pinch of good quality flaky sea salt, and a pinch of fresh ground black pepper
• A good tablespoon of Rampant Angus Scotch Bonnet Ketchup
• A good quality Brioche Bun
• A tablespoon of good quality Mayonnaise
• Your choice of add ins, tomato slices, pickles, slaw, green stuff etc.
Method
Season your mince with the salt and pepper, and stir through the Rampant Angus until well mixed.
Using a burger mould ( I use a large metal ring), spoon in the burger mix andpress down with the back of a spoon. Make up all your burgers and leave in the fridge for and hour to set and allow the flavours of the sauce to mingle.
Set up a charcoal grill to a low to medium heat with a little oak smoke from oak smoking chips. Brush your grates with a little rapeseed oil to stop the burger sticking.
Place your burger on the grill grates for around 4/5 minutes then turn and cook for the same length of time on the other side. Cook the burger how you like it, we like ours cooked to medium around 55-60 deg C internal temp. Allow the burger to rest for a few minutes.
While resting, toast your brioche buns quickly over the charcoal, and load up with your add ins, we went for lettuce, mayo, tomato, the burger, a slice of juicy pickle, and lashings of Rampant Angus over the top.
Voodoo crispy fish tacos
(Award-winning chef and sea salt and sole take-away owner Rikki Pirie)
Malissa says: "Fish Tacos rock…nuggets of fresh fish in a crisp panko breadcrumb crust, crunchy lettuce, avocado, sour cream slaw, all wrapped up in a soft shell taco, and drizzled with fruity hot Voodoo Mango sauce."
Serves 4
Ingredients
• 500g firm white fish, Hake is perfect
• 2 eggs gently beaten
• 100g panko breadcrumbs adding a pinch each of sea salt, black pepper and paprika
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 8 soft taco shells (flour tortilla)
• 2 avocados, sliced
• Homemade sour cream apple and carrot slaw
• Crisp lettuce leaves
• Lime, coriander leaf, and slices of red chilli to garnish
Method
To make the crispy fish, cut the Hake fillets into 2cm thick slices, dip each into the egg mixture, and then into the seasoned breadcrumbs.
Heat up a large frying pan with a thin layer of the oil until medium hot, add the breaded fish slices, cook in a couple of batches rather than squeeze in the fish. Cook a couple of minutes and turn over, until the panko is crisp and the fish cooked.
Load up each taco with green lettuce, slaw, and avocado, then garnish as you wish, but drizzle generously with Voodoo Mango sauce.
Enjoy with a nice cold beer.
Pulled skirt steak chilli
Malissa says: "Skirt steak is a much-underused cut of steak, which falls apart in juicy strands and makes for a wonderful chilli instead of the usual minced beef. With chocolate, and coffee, and a mix of Pitboss BBQ and Red Dawg Apache sauce, this is a wonderful, deep complex flavoured chilli for loading into flour tortillas with your favourite toppings."
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
• 2kg Skirt Steak, ask your butcher for this cut
• ½ each of a red/yellow pepper and green pepper cut into slices
• 1 red onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 squares of dark chocolate
• 1 double espresso, or a teaspoon of dark roast coffee
• 2 tbsps maple syrup to taste
• 1 tin tomato passata
• 1 tin of black beans
• 2 tbsps each of Pitboss BBQ sauce and Red Dawg Apache sauce
• 500ml rich beef stock
• Flour tortillas to serve
• Sour cream, avocado, sliced red chilli, lettuce and grated cheddar to serve
Instructions
Ideally smoke the skirt steak for an hour on the BBQ with a lid on at low temp 120-140c with a hickory or pecan smoke. Wrap with foil and cook for a couple more hours until falling apart into juicy strands. This can be cooked in an oven at a push.
Place the veg, chocolate, coffee and black beans in the base of a casserole dish, and place the skirt steak on top. Spoon over the hot sauces, and the passata, add the maple syrup for a slightly sweeter chilli. Top up the dish with half the stock and place back on the BBQ, or in the oven. Keep topping up with beef stock so it doesn’t dry out, and cook for 4/5 hours at low to medium until the sauce is rich and thick, and the steak is falling apart. Feel free to cover with foil to stop the chilli drying out.
Serve in flour tortillas, loaded up with the chilli, and the toppings of your choice, drizzled over with plenty of hot sauce.
Malissa concludes: “We are delighted to be part of the food scene in the NE of Scotland and encourage people to support their local butchers and retailers. The quality of the produce we have up here is outstanding.”
• For further information, and to purchase Angus & Oink’s full range of products visit: www.angusandoink.com/
