Mr Fabulous Mission's Summer Grill

Back when it was still horrible winter weather in summer, some food gave me the impression of summer. This summer grill, consisting of polenta, tomato and red pepper kebabs with a yogurt dressing and cucumbers allowed me to believe I was on a patio on the Med. You know the terrible cliche, "it's summer on a plate," well let me give it to you, as this is.

This looks more like the portions for a starter, and while I do think it would make a highly satisfying starter, I had a couple of the kebabs with a big salad, the cucumber tzatziki and some bread. If you know what's good for you, make it a meal. Grilling the polenta caramelizes it and crisps it up- put it on the BBQ if you prefer. The juice and sweetness from the tomato and pepper seep into the polenta. You could easily marinade the kebabs in an oil and herb dressing (I'm thinking of pesto) and obviously use whatever vegetables you like. Still, the cucumber, garlic, lemon and mint yogurt dressing is more than enough of a compliment and flavour to make you eager to eat.

Recipe for a Summer Meal for Two

1. Chop up a block of polenta, tomatoes (I quartered 3 Roma-sized tomatoes) and a red pepper into suitable sized chunks. Put onto kebabs to resemble the 1970s classic, pineapple and cheese on a stick.

2. For the tzatziki, finely chop 1/2 clove of garlic and 1/3 of a cucumber. Add to about a half a cup of yogurt (I used low fat Greek style), the juice of half of a lemon and a small handful of mint leaves (chop the bigger ones).

3. Grill/BBQ on each of the four sides. The first two sides take longer as they're getting everything cooking. The first side took me about 8 minutes; the second side about 5 minutes and the others about 3 minutes on a high grill. If you like more of a subtle golden colour, go for a medium or low grill. I was going for the BBQ effect. 

4. Serve with a salad.

Happy BBQ season.

What do you think of when you think of ribs?

Burley men with beer bellies, wearing wife beaters, and listening to Ted Nugent? A Southern barbecue with corn and Budweiser?

While these images may have some truth to them, ribs aren't just for rednecks or fat people.

Ribs aren't feminine or pretty, but let's face it, your taste in style and fashion is not necessarily your taste in food. Still, ribs are sweet, hard to ignore, delicious and one of the cheapest meats you can buy. I'm a fan.

The formula for flavour is simple: sweet, sour and hot.

The recipe I take pride in making is as follows. It serves four (1/2 rack/person) or 2 meals for 2. Buy the ribs with the most meat on them.

Ribs Recipe:
2 Racks of ribs
        +
Sauce

Sauce for Ribs
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
3 tablespoons of ketchup
6 chopped pepper rings or 1 small chili chopped
2 tablespoons of ginger
2 tablespoons of honey
Tabasco to taste (I'm not a person who likes it too spicy and I find 8 drops sufficient)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse ribs in hot water. Boil in water for an hour. Sometimes, ribs will release a great deal of fat in the form of cloudy white bits. Skim these off. I sometimes do this half a dozen times. Cooking the ribs in water will render the fat, cook them and make them moist.

2. Make sauce for ribs as the ribs are cooking in the water. Combine all ingredients and make to your desired hotness. The flavour will mellow significantly in cooking so make it hotter than you think you like it.

3. Preheat oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Cooking them in the hot oven will give them the smoky flavour and 'set' the sauce into them.

4. After the ribs are boiled, baste them in sauce.

5. Cook in hot oven for 10 minutes. Turn over, baste and cook for a further 10 minutes. Obviously, the bbq could be instead of the oven to finish them off.

5. Add the remainder of the sauce to your cooked, great ribs.

Serve with coleslaw and corn on the cob in the summer. My favourite cole slaw recipe is on the way. The one pictured was tasty (cabbage, carrot, apple and pecan), but it's not The One.