While working on our travel posts, here are a few simple ideas for your fall bbq parties. Some of the recipes can be also part of a Thanksgiving dinner, Halloween or even a Christmas party. However, having fresh farm produce makes a difference for others.
We are blessed to have great neighbours. One family on our west side and two families from the houses just across the street. We gather often for a coffee or an afternoon/evening drink, and when everyone is in town, we have dinners parties. Last night was our turn to host a bbq party.
I prefer to serve dishes, some of which can be prepared or partially prepared in advance. I also like to experiment and make something I haven’t done before. For last night it was trout gravlax.
And I added a Bulgarian style eggplant, pepper and tomato dip/spread called kyopolou, that I haven’t done for some time. It is best made with autumn-fresh farm vegetables and goes well with meat – cured or grilled/barbequed.
The menu
Appetisers:
Cheese board, trout gravlax, cured meat with roasted veggie dip and rye bread toasted in advance.
Main:
For the bbq, I marinated pork tenderloins and chicken breasts. The pork was marinated with red wine, onion, garlic, rosemary and parsley, while the chicken breast had beer, sage, rosemary, onion and garlic as marinade. A couple of hours before the bbq, the meat was wrapped in foil and ready. Not much work around the bbq after.
As side dish I, had my signature potatoes roasted with tomatoes, parsley and garlic, and salads with tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce.
Desert:
As you all know I am lousy at baking. So, my deserts are really easy. Last night it was barbequed peaches (bbq’d and refrigerated in advance) with vanilla ice-cream.
Simple!
And here are some recipes:
Trout Gravlax
This is really easily made, and a very effective appetiser – it proved so popular that we had to slice extra.
I used freshly-cut rainbow trout filet with the skin on (this is preferred in order to hold it together). I also used the back half only. The stomach half is too thin. Instead of trout you can use salmon – the more popular cousin used for gravlax. The basic ingredients one uses to cure the fish are equal parts of salt and sugar. Of course, if you prefer saltier or sweeter you change the proportion. Since I like salty and Alex sweet, for peace in the family I kept the proportions equal. You can add many other ingredients to the basic marinade to enhance the flavour depending on your taste.
For about 1 kg of filet I used 50g of salt, 50g of sugar and a shot of gin. I also added lemon and lime zest. Grated would be better, but I was lazy and used the zest peels instead. Mix all ingredients.
Cover a shallow roasting pan or a tray with clear plastic food wrap. I had two pieces of trout and used half of the marinade for each of them. Spread some of the mix (about ¼) on the wrap, enough to cover the fish. Lay the fish with skin down over the marinade. Cover the filet with the rest of the marinade. Make sure all the filet is well coated. If you think it’s not enough, just add some more salt and sugar… Wrap the filet tightly. To be on the safe side I wrapped it with a second layer. Place it in the fridge for about 48 hours. Some recommend that it would be ready in 12 hours, but I tried it at the 48 hour mark and decided to give it another 12 hours until it was done to my taste. The filet has to be firm. The longer it stays the firmer it gets.
Discard the marinade and wash the fish thoroughly. It is now ready to eat. You can just slice it paper thin and serve it. But if you want some more flavour, now is the time to add it. Since I had a day to my party, I covered the ready product with finely chopped dill and wrapped it in a clear plastic wrap for another day. You can do the same with ground peppercorns. How does a mix of dill with ground white and black peppercorns and juniper berries sound?
Treat the ready gravlax as any other ready fish/meat product. You can keep it refrigerated for about a week. But once it is sliced use it the same day.
What to serve with gravlax?
You can use the gravlax for sandwiches or appetiser dishes.
Make your pairing as you wish, but what goes well with it is:
- Rye bread: I used sunflower seed, thin sliced rye bread and toasted it in advance to create a cracker effect
- Pickles: dill pickles, beets pickles, etc. I made my own.
a. Pickled beets: I roast my beets on the barbeque. Wash well and wrap a beetroot in well-oiled foil wrap. BBQ for about 30 to 40 min – depending on the size of the beetroot. Peel after cooling, slice and place in a bowl with cover. You can use plastic Ziplock bags too, but I use a glass bowl with a lid. Add marinade of cider vinegar, olive oil and salt to taste. Cover the bowl with a lid, shake well and place in the fridge. Let sit for about two days, occasionally shaking it to make sure all slices are coated with the marinade.
I cut the slices in cubed pieces for decorating my gravlax dish.
b. Pickled cucumbers and radishes: Thinly slice radishes and a cucumber. Place in a bowl with a lid (or a ziplock bag) and cover with cider vinegar and water (equal amounts) and salt to taste. Let it sit at least a day, but two is better. Notice how the radishes discolor and the brine became reddish? They also lose their hot taste. You can use this mix for any dry/cured meat or fish decoration, add to green salads, or as a salad on its own.
- Greens: Use peppery greens with gravlax. I used watercress and arugula.
- Cream cheese or goat cheese will be a great compliment and a good spread for the rye bread
- Mustard: I like horseradish mustard. You can add your freshly grated horseradish to your mustard of choice. Or you can use a sweeter Swedish style dill mustard sauce. This time I just used horseradish Dijon mustard.
On this serving plate I have trout gravlax, marinated roasted beets, marinated cucumber and radishes, cream cheese, Dijon mustard with horseradish, watercress and arugula.
Kyopolou
This too can be made in advance.
Roast (I use the bbq for this) an eggplant and three red shepherd peppers. Peel after cooling.
Discard all the seeds from the peppers. Finely chop the eggplants, peppers and three tomatoes.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and squeeze 2 cloves of garlic (has to be fresh and juicy). Add salt to taste. Add freshly chopped parsley.
If you don’t like garlic, just don’t use it, although I think it is a base ingredient in this case as in many dishes that use roasted peppers and eggplants.
You can use more eggplants or more pepper and tomatoes. It all depends on your taste. Some use only eggplants and peppers and in other versions you’ll find only eggplants. But for me this dish has to have almost equal proportion of eggplants, peppers and tomatoes, all good quality.
You can actually have it as a light dinner dish with toast on its own or add it as a side dish to your meat. For last night I used it with a cured meat appetiser in combination with the pickled cucumbers and radishes (see b. above)
Roasted potatoes with tomato slices
This side dish is also simple, tasty and effective. And can be partially prepared in advance. You can boil the potatoes in the morning or even the previous night. Boil the potatoes until almost done. Cool.
Slice the cold potatoes in circles and lay in an oiled roasting pan. Salt and oil lightly. Add sliced tomato circles on the top of the potatoes. Add a mix of chopped parsley, minced garlic, salt and oil to the top of each tomato slice. If the oil is not enough, oil over the portions again. Place in preheated oven (400°F) and bake for about 30 min, until the tomato and potato edges begin to crisp. Every oven is different so you may need to use a higher or lower temperature.
Oh, and in the end, drinks:
Last night I served white sangria, beer, white and red wine. There are varieties of ingredients and combinations I use for my sangrias. The surprising twist last night was the Frangelico liqueur, bought by Alex by mistake (usually we use Amaretto for white sangrias). The hazelnut flavour in combination with fresh peaches and an early crop of apples was amazing. I guess this will be our signature white sangria.
Cheers and bon appétit!
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