Karen Wright: From sausage struggles to sizzling souvlaki
I love a barbecue! I was in my early 30s before I had even heard of the concept. I remember the very first time we tried to cook on a barbecue.
It was on holiday in France; we had booked a large fully equipped tent and there was a small metal barbecue included in the inventory. We bought charcoal and firelighters and set to work to get it lit. Several hours later when it was dropping dusk, we finally managed to cook a few sausages and burgers; we just didn't have the knack or the know how to get those coals hot and ashen.
Over the years we have had numerous different barbecues. We have bought them and we have built them and we have got quite good at using them now, which is hardly surprising as it has been work in progress for over 30 years!
Rather late in the season, I finally managed to cook outdoors whilst up at the caravan last weekend. I had been craving a Greek Gyros for a few days, and I finally decided to buy some ingredients and make some.
Gyros is a round flatbread filled with meat and salad, often with a few chips. The tricky part is folding the bread around the filling and eating it like a huge sandwich.
I bought the flatbreads on this occasion and then for the filling I bought iceberg lettuce, a large tomato, red onion slices, tzatziki, and some souvlaki. For the souvlaki (which is meat grilled on a skewer), I made a marinade. I put olive oil, lemon juice, garlic granules, and oregano in a dish and whisked it all together. Then I cut up some pork shoulder steak into chunks and submerged them in the marinade. I left the meat in the marinade for a few hours in the fridge before threading them onto wooden skewers that I had pre-soaked in water.
I used my small gas barbecue to cook the souvlaki and once cooked I squeezed lemon juice and on them and ground over some salt. I warmed the breads for a minute and then assembled the Gyros, starting with a layer of tzatziki, lettuce, onion and tomato and then after removing the meat from the skewer and generous serving of souvlaki.
As much as I love a banger or a burger on a barbecue it is great to try different things like this souvlaki, why not give it a whirl?