What’s on your grill?

Dear users, dear authors,
do you enjoy barbecuing? Is it too hot for that right now?

That’s a question that fits us well today. After a long time, we’re having a barbecue at our place tonight.

We’ll be grilling a variety of meats, and we’ve also planned grilled vegetables for the non-meat-eaters and grilling cheese.

  Too hot... but we still have to eat. We’ll have spelt rolls and plenty of salad

to go with it. And of course, we’ll set up a big tub of water—just walk through it once to cool off. 

We used to barbecue more often, but now we only do it when we have guests coming over. Unlike in the past, we eat less meat these days—more vegetables or salmon instead.

One thing we always have when it’s hot is potato salad. I make a big bowl of it, so I don’t have to cook every day. I add lots of herbs from the garden to the potato salad—definitely chives and dill. And my pickled cucumbers. Add a fried egg and some fresh tomatoes, and that’s enough.

Best regards, Ina

When we’re grilling just for the three of us, it’s simple. My husband and Anton each get a piece of organic pork loin, unmarinated. I have pork neck in a beer marinade. I just prefer the fattier pork neck, and the beer marinade from our butcher is super delicious. Then we usually have some sausages, feta cheese wrapped in aluminum foil with onions, tomatoes, and herbs, and a sweet potato.  We usually bake that in the oven, though. Sometimes we treat ourselves to a piece of lamb or merguez (lamb sausages). When we have guests, we usually also serve red lentil salad or tortellini salad and grilled vegetables… and bread is a must, too.

At home, we only have a contact grill, so the extra heat is negligible anyway. Our classics are wild garlic sausages and, to finish things off, beef rump marinated in herbs (and butter?). The rest varies depending on our mood and what’s available—pork and/or poultry. Ever since we’ve lived here, we’ve always bought them ready-to-cook from the organic supermarket. We like a wider variety in smaller portions; that way, there’s often something left over for the next day.

To go with it, I’ll sometimes make a pasta salad with a vinegar-oil dressing and feta-style cheese, or a pasta or potato salad with (store-bought) mayonnaise.

I actually prefer even larger gatherings—that way, you get more variety without overeating.

Since we don’t have a garden anymore, our grilling days are over… or so we thought. One alternative is the hot stone grill, and we’re going to fire it up again today—it’s not quite as hot anymore, and the nights are getting cool enough to let the air circulate.
We also like to have plenty of variety, so depending on the number of guests, we have to plan a bit. Today’s menu includes beef tenderloin, chicken breast, Nuremberg grilled sausages, salmon, scampi, bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and chanterelles. We’ll serve them with various sauces, herb butter, and a selection of breads.

We mainly grill vegetarian fare—lots of vegetables and grilled cheese. The meat-eaters in our family eat poultry sausages and poultry—chicken breast or turkey.
My husband has been avoiding pork for a long time, for various reasons. I’ve been a vegetarian for 30 years, as has our older daughter, and my husband is about 95% vegetarian.

So, if we barbecue at all, it’s mostly vegetables and poultry :).

Best regards,
Sonja