Fire up the barbecue

Award-winning smoking duo Samantha Evans and Shauna Guinn share recipes from their cookbook, Hang Fire

Getting fruity: Shauna Guinn with her Aloha Boyo grilled lamb kebabs (Paul Winch-Furness)

They didn't grow up slathering whole hogs with vinegar or operating a pulley-pit in the wilds of Texas. They ate burnt burgers from disposable grills and their idea of saucing was ketchup. So what can a couple of Celtic girls tell us about American-style slow cooking and smoking? Three years ago, Samantha Evans and Shauna Guinn quit their long-standing careers in London and embarked on a road trip across America, eating at evey BBQ joint they could find. Their Hang Fire cookbook is the story of their metamorphosis from ocasional backyard barbecuers to an award-winning smoking duo with an obession with fire and meat.

Aloha Boyo grilled lamb kebabs

Cooking method: Grilling

1 ripe pineapple
1kg boneless leg or shoulder Welsh lamb (deboned), cut into 5cm cubes
2 tbsp soft light brown sugar 
50g unsalted butter vegetable oil, for brushing

For the lamb marinade

3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 small leek, roughly chopped
1 red chilli, roughly chopped (closer to a jalapeño than a finger chilli)
1/2 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
250ml fresh pineapple juice 
50ml dark soy sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
Juice of 1/2 lime
A few grinds of fresh black pepper

For the dipping sauce

Small bunch fresh coriander, chopped
Small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime
100ml olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
Fine sea salt and cracked black pepper, to season

Place all the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor and blend until smooth. Put all the marinade and the cubed lamb into a ziplock bag or lidded plastic container. Massage the marinade into the lamb, making sure the lamb is well covered. Leave in the fridge for 3–5 hours, or overnight for a stronger flavour.

Peel and core the pineapple, and cut the flesh into 5cm cubes.

Remove the lamb from the fridge and pour the marinade into a saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat, reduce to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by about a half. Add the brown sugar and butter and stir through until dissolved. This is going to be a gorgeous, glossy glaze. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Now take six bamboo or metal skewers. If using bamboo, pre-soak them for a couple of hours, or even overnight in water – this will stop the skewers from burning on the grill. Thread the marinated lamb and pineapple on to the skewers, alternating the meat and pineapple.

Set your grill up, whether gas or charcoal. Brush the kebabs in a little oil and make sure your coals are white. Now let’s get to grilling! Depending on how you like your lamb, you can grill the skewers for three minutes on each side, brushing on your reduced marinade as you turn the kebab. We like our lamb medium rare, but if you like yours a little more well done, add another minute on the grill time per side.

Lastly, combine the dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl. Arrange your skewers on a plate, drizzle the sauce on top, or serve as a dipping sauce on the side.

Moo Ping pork skewers

These are the classic Bangkok streetfood skewer, moreish sweet-salty pork, eaten any time of day, ideal with a ball of sticky rice.

Makes 12 skewers

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Ready in 2 hours (including marinating time)

400g pork shoulder (make sure it has a little fat)
1 lemongrass stalk, bashed 
2 tbsp coriander roots, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic
½ tsp white peppercorns 
50g of shaved palm sugar or golden caster sugar
1 tsp dark soy sauce 
2.5 tbsp fish sauce 
1 tbsp vegetable oil 
50ml coconut milk 
Pinch of salt
Bamboo skewers

Method

Soak the bamboo skewers in water for 15 mins or so

Cut the pork shoulder into 1cm thick slices against the grain, dont remove too much fat.

Classic Bangkok street food: Moo Ping pork skewers (Singha Beer UK)

Now in a pestle and mortar add the pinch of salt and pound together the white pepper, garlic cloves and coriander roots.

Mix in the palm sugar, dark soy and fish sauce and use the pestle to mix and dissolve the sugar, now stir in the vegetable oil.

Pour this marinade mix over the sliced pork and leave for around one hour (maximum four hours). Thread the marinated pork on to skewers. Slowly grill the skewers over charcoal for 15-20 mins, occasionally basting with the coconut milk using the bruised lemongrass stalk.

Serve with a large ball of sticky rice

Cauliflower burgers

Serves 4

Ready in 45 minutes

1 cauliflower, roughly chopped
50g butter
100g plain flour plus extra to dust
150ml milk 
2 tbsp chopped coriander
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
8 Haywards Medium & Tangy Traditional Onions
2 tsp cumin 
4 ciabatta rolls
100g baby plum tomatoes, halved
100g rocket
2 Medium & Tangy Gherkins, sliced

In a bowl, cover the cauliflower with boiling water and stand for five minutes.

Drain and refresh with cold water, then crush roughly.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour, cooking for one minute. Slowly stir in the milk.

Add the lemon zest and juice and pickled onions, then mix into the cauliflower and add the coriander.

Serve cauliflower burgers in a ciabatta roll with tomatoes, rocket and gherkins (www.haywardspickles.co.uk)

Shape the cauliflower into four patties with hands dusted with flour.

Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and sprinkle with the cumin. Chill for 10 minutes.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200C/gas 6 for 15-20 mins, until browned slightly.

Serve in a ciabatta roll with tomatoes, rocket and gherkins.

Maque choux

Pronounced ‘Mak-shoo’, this Louisiana corn dish is, for us, an essential side dish to our barbecue. It’s thought to be a marriage of Creole (spices) and Native American influence (the corn). It’s vibrant, tasty, sweet, very simple to make and has all those beautiful Creole flavours that go together like horse and carriage. We’ve served this side dish at our kitchen takeovers from the start and have given this recipe out more times than we have our pulled pork recipe – let’s hope that’s not saying something about our barbecue!

6 fresh corn on the cob, husks removed
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1  medium onion, diced 
2  celery sticks, diced 
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 green bell pepper, deseeded and diced
1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and diced
2 tbsp Cajun seasoning (see recipe below)
125ml double cream
1 tsp fine sea salt, plus extra to taste
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
3 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander

Start by cooking the corn cobs. We like to grill ours over charcoal, or if they’re in their husks you can cook them directly on your barbecue coals. Failing that, you could of course cook them under the grill for 15 minutes, turning frequently, until golden all over.

Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan over medium heat until starting to foam. Add the onion, celery, thyme and bell peppers, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring, for 10 minutes, until soft. Using a sharp knife, slice the corn kernels off the cobs as close to the core as possible, cutting away from you, into the pan. Cook for a further five minutes.

Maque choux is an essential side dish to an American barbecue (Paul Winch-Furness)

Now add the Cajun seasoning and stir through. Stir in the cream, salt and pepper, lower the heat and cook for a further 10–15 minutes, stirring, until thickened and reduced.

Take a ladleful of the mix and put in a blender or food processor. Blitz until smooth and return to the pan along with the spring onions, parsley and coriander, and cook for a further five minutes. Season to taste and serve immediately.

A note on frozen corn

There’s some kind of secret ingredient missing from using frozen sweetcorn in this recipe. Perhaps it’s the corn milk that forms like dew as you run the knife down a fresh cob. However, we understand that fresh corn can be tricky to get, so you can substitute the cobs for 400–500g good- quality frozen corn.

Cajun seasoning

5 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp freshly-cracked black pepper 
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp chilli flakes

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients well. Optionally, put through a blender for an extra fine powder. Transfer the rub to a jar, or a shaker if using immediately.