The Best Ever BBQ Meal

Now that the days are getting warmer, it’s time to fire up the old grill that’s been sitting all winter. I have the perfect barbecue meal for you to make! It would be great for Mother’s Day, a birthday or any other special occasion. Most everything is made right on the grill. So if you choose to do this mid summer, your house won’t heat up!

Now, let’s talk about the Best Ever BBQ Meal, shall we?

When barbecuing, you want to pick pieces of meat that are pretty much the same thickness all over. This ensures even cooking. Look for lots of marbling in the meat – the white streaks. This is extra fat that helps keep the meat from drying out on the grill. If you’d like to know more about choosing meat for BBQ-ing, you can read what BBQ Bob has to say about it. He has some great tips.

I love to cook shishka-bobs on the grill. It takes time to cut, marinate and skewer the meat, but almost each skewer is done at the same and the pieces are perfect serving sizes.

The menu for our Best Ever Barbeque Meal is simple: shishka-bobs, baked potatoes, grilled veggies and for dessert, grilled fruit served with vanilla ice cream. For your convenience, you can print this whole post with recipes

Shopping list for The Best Ever Barbeque Meal

• 3 med to large onions
• 1 large red onion
• ½ to 1 cup olive oil (or your preferred oil)
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic
• 1 ½ cup Italian Dressing
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 pound choice steak, per adult cut in 2″cubes
• 1 large green pepper, cut in 1″pieces
• Zucchini 1 for every 2 people
• Yellow Squash 1 for every 2 people
• Roma Tomatoes 1 for every 2 people
• ½ cup butter
• Salt and pepper
• Potatoes, one for each adult and ½ for each child
• Aluminum foil
• Skewers of your choice, metal or bamboo
• Your choice of any three following fruits: pineapple,
• peaches, bananas, pears, apples, nectarines.
• Vanilla ice cream
• Ice
• Beverages of your choice

First, we want to start the potatoes. They take the longest to cook. I bake one potato for each adult and half a potato for each child. Get your grill good and hot. Neighbor Nancy has a great tip to help us know how hot our cooking surface is. Take each cleaned potato and poke it all over several times. Wrap it in foil so that no skin is showing. Put on the grill and pretty much leave them alone for a good half hour to 45 minutes, turning them every once in a while to ensure even cooking. After that, start testing for doneness every 15 minutes. They are done when it squishes slightly as you squeeze the middle of the potato.

OK, let’s turn our attention to the rest of the meal. I buy one pound of meat for every 2 adults when figuring how much meat to buy for a barbeque. There are other goodies served so I know they will get ‘fed up’. This recipe would be perfect for a family of two adults and 1 or 2 children. Adjust it to fit your own needs.

I think this is a good time to talk a bit about skewers. Both are good. I have metal ones, because I use them over and over again. They last forever and I don’t have to worry about them catching fire. However, they get hot. Bamboo skewers are great, too. It’s important, though, to soak them in water for at least an hour before using them. But they don’t get near as hot as the metal. You can choose which ever works best for you.

Here are the recipes for each dish and my favorite tea recipe, too. For your convenience I have provided the recipes in a printable format.

Cee’s Marinated Shishka-Bobs

• 1 cup Onion, chopped
• 1T olive oil (or your preferred oil)
• 1 ½ cup Italian Dressing
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 pound choice steak, cut in 2″cubes
• 1 large green pepper, cut in 1″pieces
• 2 medium onions, quartered
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed

Saute chopped onion in oil; remove from heat. In mixing bowl, stir in Italian Dressing & Worcestershire sauce with grilled onions. Place meat and cut veggies in a zippy bag. Pour marinade over meat and vegetables. Zip tight and marinate at least 4 hours to overnight in refrigerator. Remove meat and vegetables from marinade; reserve marinade. You can skewer the meat only or you can alternate meat and vegetables on skewers. However you choose is good. Today I’m in a no nonsense mood, so it’s only meat! LOL!

Grill kabobs 5 minutes on each side – remember – there are 4 sides, so it will roughly take 20 minutes, over medium/high heat or until desired degree of doneness, brushing frequently with marinade. As you take them off the grill, keep warm.

What’s a good barbeque without vegetables? You can grill the veggies taken out of the marinate if they haven’t been put on the skewer. For more variety, here is a recipe from a good friend of mine, that kids don’t mind eating:

Hilda’s Grilled Veggies

• Zucchini
• Yellow Squash
• Roma Tomatoes
• Red Onions
• 2-3 Tablespoons melted Butter
• 1-2 Tablespoons Olive oil
• 1 clove Crushed garlic
• Salt and pepper

Cut ends off of the Zucchini and Squash. Slice in thick slices, lengthwise, about ¼ to ½ inch thick. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Cutting veggies lengthwise helps keep them on the grill better and there is no need for any other pan or foil. Quarter the red onions. Mix butter, oil, garlic and salt and pepper in small bowl. Stir well. Brush all sides of veggies with butter mixture. Grill about 2 minutes per side, or till nice and brown. Don’t cook all the way done, these are best a bit crunchy. Serve warm. Salt and pepper to taste.

Now that the kids have had at least 3 bites of grilled veggies, it’s time to treat them!

Let’s make grilled fruit and serve it with vanilla ice cream. Your guests who are more health conscious can have the fruit only, and the rest of us can slather ice cream on the fruit!

What type of fruits can we grill, you ask? Pineapple, peaches, bananas, pears, apples, nectarines all grill up very nicely. Some people even grill watermelon. The trick is to cut the fruit in uniform pieces and skewer them. (See why I use metal skewers?) Choose three different fruits to grill. It’s simplest that way.

The most important part about grilling fruit for dessert is to clean off the grill with a wire brush before adding them to the heat. We don’t want barbeque sauce on our dessert.

Brush the fruit with melted butter and grill over medium/high heat about 2 to 3 minutes each side. We want the fruit hot but not cooked through. Now it’s time for ice cream!

For the beverage, I serve sweet tea. I love sweet tea. I was taught to make it by my southern in laws. However, I know my place as a western girl, and won’t step over any boundaries, so I call this recipe:

Desert Sweet Tea

• Makes one gallon
• 6 tea bags (I prefer Tetley but any tea will work)
• 4 cups boiling water (I use bottled water here in the desert)
• 2/3 to 1 cup sugar – to taste – Being a westerner, I like less sugar in my tea

Bring water to boil, steep tea bags 5 minutes, squeeze lightly and remove. (If you’re ‘going green’ this would be something to add to your compost, worm bin, or other recycling bin.) Add sugar and stir till all is dissolved. Fill gallon jug with ice and pour tea over. Add more water till it’s full. The ice cools the tea faster so we enjoy it sooner. If you don’t want to put ice in, just put the tea brine in and fill with water.

Thank you for allowing me to share my Best Ever Barbeque Meal with you. It has been such a pleasure and honor to serve as intern here on Family Foodies. You all have been so kind as I’ve learned what to and not to do in blogging. Thank you for your encouragement and tips. Now I graduate to guest blogger. I encourage you to visit often and check for new posts, as we will be getting a new set of interns soon, and I know you will want to see what they blog about!