[Kikkoman Recipe Challenge] Home-made BBQ Sauce

A big jar of BBQ Sauce made with Kikkoman Soy Sauce

You’ve probably noticed I’ve been a little quiet on the blogging front recently. May and June were taken over by my final Law School exams. I take exams very seriously: I’m not a worrier but when I’m in the exam zone nothing else even registers of my radar; everything gets thrown to the wayside including friends, family and cooking!

My last exam was just over a week ago and I’m slowly getting back into some sort of routine.

I’ve been having interviews for a job between finishing law school and starting my training contract, socialising with friends and I’ve also been doing a variety of creative projects!

For some reason though I’ve found it hard to get myself back in to the kitchen. So, when I heard about the Kikkoman Blogger Challenge I thought it was the perfect way for me to get back into the kitchen and to start experimenting with flavours again.

Kikkoman are experts in all things Soy Sauce. They’re extremely passionate about their products and want to show just how versatile they are, so bloggers like myself have been challenged to use either their Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce, Teriyaki Marinade or Less Salt Soy Sauce, in a recipe. The catch – the recipe can’t be oriental!

BBQ Sauce smothered chicken on the grill!

I’ll be the first to put my hand up and admit that I only ever use soy sauce in the typical oriental recipes such as stir fry’s, sweet and sour sauce, and to serve sushi so I was quite excited about this challenge! I started by tasting the Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce and trying to break down the flavours I could really taste.
Now there’s no denying that Soy Sauce is quite salty, and also tastes a little smoky so I started trying to think of food stuffs where these flavours could really work. It wasn’t long before I came up with the idea of making home-made BBQ Sauce!

This BBQ Sauce can be used in a number of different ways – smother chicken wings in it and bake in the oven, dollop into a burger bun, dunk in your chips, or even spread it over a pizza base as an alternative to tomato sauce!

Is there any better way to prove just how versatile soy sauce is than by using it in a super versatile sauce?!

Here’s how to do it:

[BBQ Recipe] Honey and Mustard Glazed Chicken

Honey and Mustard Glazed Chicken on the BBQ

The English summer weather is unpredictable to say the least. As I’m writing this, we’ve have torrential rain, glorious sunshine, and a lot of cloud cover over the space of just 7 days.

It’s no surprise that the English folk react so crazily when the cloud breaks and we finally get to see a bit of the sun.

When the sun comes out to play where I live the smell of BBQ’s begins to fill the air. And I must admit my family are no different.

The beauty of a BBQ is that you can cook almost anything on it. This summer I’ve already shown you sizzling summer prawns, char grilled tuna, as well as barbequed courgette and bulgur wheat salad. This particular weekend however we didn’t have any special food in.

Key ingredients for Honey and Mustard Glazed Chicken

The sun had come as a bit of a shock. The weather man had been saying for days we should expect the hottest weekend yet, but Saturday came and went and it remained overcast though a little warmer than usual. With the clouds overhead we assumed there was no point getting the BBQ out, but by Sunday afternoon the sun was shining brightly and it was time for me to raid the cupboards!

We’d got chicken breasts in the fridge that we intended to use later in the week so this was where my inspiration started. I butterflied the breast, making the surface area larger and the fillet thinner so it would cook quicker on the BBQ.

I didn’t just want grilled chicken for dinner though. I wanted to jazz it up a bit!

Out of the cupboard came mustard, honey, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, pepper and garlic – and so my honey and mustard glazed chicken was born!

[BBQ Recipe] Barbequed Courgette and Bulgur Wheat Salad

Barbequed Courgette and Bulgur Wheat Salad

It can be really difficult to watch your weight when heading to a BBQ with friends and family. There will be a mountain of meat, some sumptuous fish, and if you’re lucky the odd veggie kebab on the BBQ too. The table of sides often isn’t much better with mayonnaise laden potato salads, coleslaw swimming in yet more mayonnaise and sugary condiments.

My Mum and I are often the bringers of “green salad” to these kind of events but the limp lettuce tends to get pushed around the plate. One leaf might make its way into a burger bun if its lucky.

With that in mind I’ve started making a conscious effort to serve up more exciting salads when cooking up a storm around a BBQ.

Before I thought if people weren’t willing to eat a simple green salad, why would they be willing to try a cous-cous or bulgur wheat one? I won’t lie to you, I have had mixed success in this regard. My Nan and Grandad simply won’t touch the stuff, but it turns out the rest of my family are much more willing to try new things.

With that in mind here’s one of my favourites. It’s a warm salad with the courgette grilled and served over the fluffy bed of bulgur wheat at the last minute. This gives it a bit of theatre and people feel like they’re not betraying the BBQ!

[BBQ Recipe] Char grilled Tuna Steak

Char grilled Tuna Steak

Last week we were fortunate enough to have blue skies all of Sunday. Dad was out in the garden, Mum was sunning herself on a beach somewhere off the south coast and I was revising. BUT, we still managed to find time to have a BBQ that evening.

On Sunday I shared with you my Summer Sizzling Prawns, an incredibly simple way of livening up seafood before popping on the BBQ. Today I’m sharing yet another BBQ fish dish (can you see a theme here?)

Tuna steaks have been a favourite of mine for a while now. Around the age of 16 I started going off the giant mound of blackened burgers and sausages that would invariably be served up at any family BBQ. I’d become more conscious about my weight and quite frankly was bored of the same old processed rubbish. Seafood came to the rescue as I soon realised that you could have fresh, healthy, non-processed food on the BBQ too!

You shall have a fishy on a little dishy...

Nowadays I’ll be the person who rocks up to the BBQ with vegetable kebabs, corn on the ob and some sort of fish to stick on the Barbie. Today it was tuna.

Tuna is so delicious cooked on the BBQ that sometimes I like to simply give it a few mins either side, and serve alongside a salad with a squeeze of lemon. This time, I decided to jazz it up a bit.

[BBQ Recipe] Sizzling Summer Prawns

Sizzling on the BBQ

Today I got way, way, WAY too excited. For the most part of the day I had been shut away in my little study revising for my upcoming exams. My Mum has gone away for a long weekend (by which I mean 5 whole days) to sun herself by the sea with her two best friends, which left my Dad and I to our own devices.

After being cooped up all day I wanted to get out and enjoying the sunshine and before I knew it I’d inadvertently convinced my Dad to whack on the BBQ.

As soon as he said yes I instantly perked up. We’re having a BBQ! That means one thing and one thing only – COOKING!

I rummaged through our fridge and found various goodies – loads of salad, king prawns and paneer. Not to mention bulgur wheat, chillies and lemons and limes lounging around. We just needed a few little extras so I sent Mr KG and my Dad off to the shops to grab them before they closed for the day.

Garlic, lime, chilli, ginger, coriander and prawns

Without a doubt I got carried away. I was trying to think up fresh, tasty and healthy dishes – and I did just that! The problem was I came up with too many. But, you can’t help but over indulge at a BBQ so we sat outside on the patio just the three of us and enjoyed the goodies I’d cooked up.