Stokes Sauces: Brilliant BBQs

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BBQ bonanza, come rain or shine

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The key to a really good barbecue is the preparation. The preparation of the salads, side dishes and great marinades for the meat.

The marinade lets the meat take on some additional flavour as well as tenderising it before its often quite brutal exposure to naked heat.

A good guide to grill temperatures is the hand test. Hold your hand around 6 inches from the grill; if you can only keep it there for a few seconds, the temperature is too hot; 10-20 seconds is high and an ideal searing heat.

Around 30 seconds means a medium temperature, ideal for normal grilling and cooking meat through to the middle. Anything longer than this and the grill is not really ready.

If you are using charcoal, try to create a hotter grilling side and a medium grilling side by having more coals to one side than the other. And always wait for the coals to burn white before cooking.

Heat the grill & cool the beers

Cuban Pork Marinade

This gives a juicy piece of pork shoulder a tangy coat of zesty orange, aromatic mint, heady garlic and deep smoky tomatoes, sweetened with honey and molasses. It's best to cook this in the oven and finish it off on the BBQ.

You'll need:

3 tbsp of olive oil
The zest and juice of an orange
The juice of a lime
3 tbsp of Stokes Original BBQ Sauce
3 tbsp of finely chopped coriander
2 tbsp of mint leaves, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tsp of ground cumin
1.5 kg pork shoulder, boned

Here's how:

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 7. In a processor or blender, pulse the orange juice, coriander leaves, mint leaves and garlic until everything is finely chopped.

Add this mixture to a large plastic bag, along with the rest of the oil, zest, lime juice, oregano, BBQ sauce and cumin.

Add the meat, tie off the bag, massage the marinade into the meat and marinate overnight. Remove the pork from the bag and roast for 1 hour.

Tip the marinade into a small pan, add a little cornflour, stir well and simmer to thicken it up to a sauce. Remove the meat from the oven and finish it for 25 minutes on the BBQ grill, turning frequently and brushing each time with the sauce. It's a real treat.

BBQ finished Lamb Tangia

This is a traditional Moroccan dish from Marrakesh that's been given a BBQ twist. It is so easy and so delicious. The meat is slow-cooked for four hours sealed in its own juices, herbs and spices then BBQ'd to a smoky sweet finish for shredding into pitta with yogurt and olives. If it rains, just follow the final steps under the grill.

You'll need:

2 or 3 lamb shanks (to fit 1 sealed pot)
4 preserved lemons
6 garlic cloves
2 tbsp of olive oil
30 g of butter
350 ml of water
2 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of ras el hanout
2 tbsp of parsley, chopped
2 tbsp of coriander, chopped
2 tbsp of mint, chopped
2 tbsp of Stokes Original BBQ Sauce

Here's how:

Heat the oven to its highest temperature. Put the lamb shanks into a pot (ovenproof and with a good lid) and add everything else. Just twist the meat about to make sure it's well covered cover well.

We need to seal in all the goodness so cover the pot with foil and scrunch the edges in tightly then put the lid on, pressing it firmly into the foiled rim.

Turn the oven down to 160°C/gas mark 3, pop in the lamb and disappear for 4 hours. Carefully remove the meat and let it rest, let it cool and / or use them tomorrow. (Be careful, the meat will be falling off the bone).

15 minutes before you need it, brush the meat with a little more Stokes Original BBQ Sauce and warm it through on the BBQ turning very carefully for an even coating of 'yummy'.

Caribeann Style BBQ Chicken

If you like your chicken sweet but with a smoky chilli kick at the end - you will love this.

You'll need:

4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
10 fl oz of pineapple juice
1 tin of pineapple rings, halved
3 tbsp of Stokes Hot & Spicy BBQ Sauce

Here's how:

Cut the breasts evenly in half lengthways and marinate them in the simple marinade of pineapple juice and BBQ sauce. This is best done in a sealed plastic food bag and ideally overnight in the fridge.

When you are ready to BBQ, place the chicken on a freshly oiled section of the grill, baste with the marinade and cook for 5 to 8 minutes on each side (depending on the size of each piece of meat).

For chilli-loving adults, brush your pieces of chicken with more BBQ sauce while grilling.

Drain the pineapple slices, brush them with a little oil and char for 2 minutes each side.

Special offer

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This tasty bundle of Stokes BBQ Sauces tick all the boxes when it comes to making BBQs taste better. Click here (or the image above) and save 5% OFF the bundle - and receive a free gift as well.

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