What is the indirect method of cooking on a barbecue?
To do this you need to have a barbecue that has a lid.
Indirect cooking is done by creating a space in your barbecue where there is no direct heat.

In my diagram you can see that charcoal is heaped on either side leaving the center empty.
In the center place a disposable aluminium (roasting) tray beneath the grill bars, this will act as a drip tray to prevent any flare-up.

Light your charcoal and when the coals are tempered enough (after about 45 minutes) then you can cook food on the center, In fact you can roast a whole chicken or a joint of meat. And by closing the lid of your barbecue you are in effect turning your BBQ into an oven.

I usually marinate a chicken, with olive oil; garlic, citrus fruits, coriander and chilli then roast it, basting the meat from time to time just as you would in a regular oven. Together with the slight smokiness from the grill this will produce a wonderful roasted chicken. I call this South American Roast Chicken.

Turning your barbecue into a oven gives you lots more scope in your out door cooking, indeed I have even baked a cheese cake on a BBQ during cooking demonstrations just to make a dramatic point of what was possible. The important thing to become good at cooking outdoors is to find a way to control the heat. Indirect cooking can also be done on a round barbecue grill as long as it has a lid and that you create a no direct heat zone in the middle.

P.s I will be posting my South American Roast Chicken recipe here sometime in the next couple of weeks.

There’s a chance, just a chance mind you that Jean-Christophe Novelli might come and browse this blog sometime today. I’m not getting to the whys and where fore’s but I can say that we met and chatted briefly during the BBC Good Food Show in 2004 and I found him to be a most charming man.

Perhaps you’ve tried polenta at a restaurant and been somewhat disappointed by the
rubbery disk on your plate. In itself polenta has very little taste, so it’s important what is added to the polenta to makes it tasty. The first time I saw polenta served was back in 1986 by a famous American chef named John Ash, to see his love of cooking was quite inspirational. With that in mind I thought I’d show you a different way to serve polenta you see the Italians also serve polenta similarly like we serve mashed potatoes. It’s rich, creamy & tasty!!

Mushroom Ragout (serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course)
3 large field mushrooms
150 ml (5 fluid oz)Red wine
75 g (2.5 oz) Shitake mushrooms
30 grams (1 oz) Plain Flour
200g (5 oz) Chestnut mushrooms
120 grams (4 oz) Butter
250g ( 8oz) Oyster mushrooms
1 small sprig of Thyme
25g Dried Porcini
3-4 sage leaves
1 Medium diced Onions
2 level tablespoons of Tomato puree
2 Cloves peeled garlic
500ml (1 pint) Brown vegetable or chicken stock
1 small bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon Gravy browning (optional)

1. Peel the field mushroom and cut them into 1/4’s (put the peelings into the stock).
2. Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with cold water.
3. Cut the chestnut mushrooms in 1/2’s or 1/4’s if they are really big.
4. Tear each oyster mushroom into 2-3 pieces depending on their size. Put any woody part of the stalks into the stock.
5. Remove the stalks from the shitake mushrooms (put the stalks into the stock)
6. Rinse off the mushrooms, but don’t let them get too wet, then drain them on paper towel.
7. Heat up the brown stock adding the tomato puree & red wine and simmer gently.
8. Add the thyme, peeled garlic, bay leaf & sage to the stock.
9. In a separate thick-bottomed saucepan melt 1oz butter, then gradually stir in the flour and turn down the heat to medium. Cook the flour out until it is quite brown stirring occasionally.
10. Gradually ladle in the stock, stirring well to avoid lumps, allow to simmer on a low gas.
11. Sauté all the mushrooms except the porcini in 3oz butter until they are golden brown.
12. Add the now soft porcini mushrooms and the liquid (strain the liquid to remove any grit).
13. Cook the mushrooms until the liquid is absorbed into them.
14. Strain the brown sauce onto the mushrooms and cook on a very low gas for a further 5 minutes, just to marry the flavours, then season with salt & pepper.

Parmesan Polenta Mash
120 grams (4 oz) Polenta corn
250ml water
250ml milk
8-10 Basil leaves chopped
30 grams (1 oz) Butter
30 grams (1 oz) Grated mozzarella
60 grams (2 oz) Grated fresh Parmesan
1 level teaspoon sea salt
3o g (1oz) Parmesan curls or shavings(optional)

1. Bring the water, milk and sea salt to boil in a heavy based saucepan.
2. Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly add the polenta, stirring with a wooden spoon until it is completely blended. The polenta needs to be cooked for about 40 minutes with regular stirring until it falls away from the side of the pan. Then stir in the butter followed by the cheeses & chopped basil. When serving polenta mash it should the same consistency to mash potatoes, so add a little extra milk or cream if needed.

Chef’s Tips
Remember to keep the mushroom pieces quite large,as they will shrink a lot during cooking
If your brown sauce isn’t a nice rich brown colour then add a few drops of gravy browning.
Of course if you’re a chef and you have a veal reduction handy then use this as a base for your sauce instead of the brown stock and roux. A roux is the French name we give to the flour and butter mix that thickens some sauces. In my photo you’ll see that I made quenelle shape with the polenta. A quenelle is the French name for any food that is shaped between two spoons. The spoon size most often used are dessertspoons. To make a quenelle of polenta put the spoons into a mug of hot water. Shake off the water then gather a portion of polenta on one spoon. Now shape it by passing the polenta backwards and forwards between the 2 spoons. Like any other skill making a quenelle just takes practice.

The great thing about cooking, if you pay attention to the results even bad ones can teach you something, that perhaps you can use later. Some years ago I tried experimenting smoking fish with various types of teas, but unfortunately I wasn’t happy with the results. Then recently whilst visiting Paris I was sitting with friends drinking tea, Lapsang Souchong to be precise which you drink without milk and has a delicious smoky flavour. Eureka! This and only this is the tea to smoke food with.

Thai Dressing
3 tablespoon Oyster sauce
2 red chilies *deseeded & finely chopped
1 Tablespoon finely chopped ginger 60 ml vegetable oil
Juice of 1 lemon & 1 lime
1 coconut
2 heaped Tbsp coriander chopped

Salad
1 bag of mixed leaves (washed)
4 Spring Onions cut in thin strips
1/2 bag bean sprouts

Soy Marinade
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tblesp light brown sugar
Black pepper

70 grams of Lapsang Tea
*ginger trimmings
4 x 175 gram sea trout fillets
Chili seeds & trimmings
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1. Split the coconut carefully and reserve & strain the milk.
2. Break off a 40-gram piece of coconut and peel the brown skin off it.
3. Place the peeled coconut meat, oyster sauce, ginger into a food processor and puree.
4. Add the vegetable oil slowly, then the coconut milk, citrus juice & zest.
5. Marinate the fish in the soy marinade for 1 hour turning once in a while.
6. Line a wok with tin foil then add the tea, *ginger trimmings & chili seeds
7. Make sure your extraction fan is on and have your kitchen window open.
8. Find a wire rack or a steamer rack that fits inside your wok.
9. Heat the wok on a medium high heat until it begins to smoke. Turn the heat down to low & place the fish skin side up on the rack.
10. Cover with a lid and smoke for 30 minutes then turn off the heat
11. Mix salad ingredients then add 35 grams of thinly cut coconut strips, (you can use a sharp peeler to first remove the skin then cut the coconut).
12. In a non stick frying pan flash fry the sea trout in the vegetable oil for 4 minutes each side on a medium to low heat, then allow to rest for several minutes.
13. Stir the coriander & chili’s into the Thai dressing then toss the salad with 1-2 Tbsp of it,reserving the rest to serve on the side.
14. Place a small mound of tossed salad on each plate then top with the trout.

Chef’s Tips
You can serve jasmine rice with this dish if you wish.
If your not keen on smoked fish this recipe works just as well without smoking, just allow a little more cooking time. Be careful when flash frying the fish because the soy marinade will make it brown quickly. If you can’t buy sea trout use salmon or even a rainbow trout. Did you know you can peel fresh ginger with a teaspoon?....really...give a try, just scrap with a spoon and lose a lot less ginger than conventional peeling methods.
© Kevin Ashton 2005