I thought I would give a bit of a description of my triumphs and failures in the cookery department on my blog and even though it was over a month ago I thought I would start with our Christmas Dinner which was all cooked on the BBQ over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
I think I have mentioned that we don’t have an actual kitchen our house. We have a BBQ which has a lid and one stove top on the BBQ so that when I cook dinner for me and the Aussie I have to plan things strategically so that they are cooked in the right order and at the right time.
The ultimate test of this planning was the Christmas Dinner particularly as a lot of the vegetables if not all have to be boiled before I roasted them. I had not at this time tried roasting anything in the BBQ and too say I was nervous was an understatement. Thankfully my Mum was on hand to text me instructions and when things should be cooked!
We (crazily) braved the supermarket on Christmas Day and picked up all the food that we would need and then I started work on the roast chicken.
The BBQ is temperamental at being lit and also frequently (read always) runs out of gas right in the middle of cooking dinner but this time it all lit. I had Googled numerous times “how to roast a chicken on a BBQ” and was advised to heat the whole thing up and then turn the burner where the chicken would sit off so that it reached the optimal temperature (210 degrees C) and then the BBQ would work as a convection oven.
I watched the temperature rise and then when it was ready put the chicken in and half way through it was perfectly brown when I turned it over with the help of the Aussie. About 2 and a half hours in total (cooked for about 20 mins per pound and then an extra 20 minutes) I produced this from the BBQ and was very surprised!
I prepped all of the vegetables on Christmas Eve and so on the actual day I filled a baking tray with oil and started the potatoes boiling at the same time for about 15 minutes as they needed the longest time in the roasting tray (about 45 minutes at 180 degrees).
I set the BBQ up again as I had when I was roasting the chicken and then followed the process with the pumpkin, carrots and parsnip boiling them for about 10 minutes and then adding them to the oil along with the potatoes.
I also created pigs in blankets which is literally little sausages, usually chipolatas, with bacon wrapped around them and then if needed, secured with a cocktail stick. I placed them in an oven proof dish with some oil and cooked them for about 30 minutes at the same time as the roast vegetables.
To finish the roast off I boiled some broccoli for about 15 minutes on the stove top and mixed the pre made stuffing powder with some water and put it in another oven proof dish with a drop of oil for about 15 minutes until it was crispy on top.
Of course no roast dinner would be complete without gravy and I mixed the liquid from the roast chicken with a drop of hot water and then added this to the gravy granules and a little more water and it was ready to go.
We were of course so full that we couldn’t eat the Christmas Pudding that we bought (and still haven’t now in February).
This Christmas was strange as it was my first Christmas where I wasn’t at home with my family but was also different in a good way with the Aussie and his Brother.
I was very excited to speak to my Family in the evening whilst they opened up their presents and I am planning a mini Christmas for them (probably using a cooker this time) when they get here in June.
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