Sue is an award-winning home cook, blogger and food writer. She lives in Devon and is well known for her bakes and BBQ cooking. Instagram: @sue_stoneman
As we welcome spring, a light, zesty sponge cake is the perfect treat to brighten those lingering cool, drizzly days and crisp evenings. You can put this into your BBQ to bake once you’ve removed the meat or main dish from your grills.
A delicious creamy, cheese and leek filled pastry case, perfect for those lazy days when we can eat alfresco. A slice will be perfect for your lunch box too. You need to bake the pastry base blind first but this can be done on the BBQ too. Any leftover pastry, mix in some grated cheese & smoked paprika to make cheese straws.
With the game season well underway and with warming stews, casseroles and one pot meals on the menu, this one is a firm favourite for those cold days. The red wine enriches the sauce and the redcurrant jelly adds a touch of sweetness.
Something a little different – a fruity focaccia with dried cranberries plumped up with sherry. It’s a bit like a light fruit cake or bread and butter pudding without the egg mixture. Topped with honey and nuts adds a little sweetness and bursts of fruit as you bite into a slice. It’s moist enough to eat on its own or serve with crème fraiche, custard or ice cream.
All the fillings of your quiche in a skillet pan without the pastry. No need to worry about making or baking blind the pastry as the skillet pan is the dish.
If you’ve still got apples left over from the autumn, this is a hearty comfort pudding which you can serve from the BBQ straight to the table and dive in with a big spoon.
It’s the time for comfort food and your lidded BBQ can be used as a slow cooker. I cooked this scrummy stew in my Kamado Joe Jr, which is very economical on charcoal and retains the heat for a very long time
It’s apple season and this is an easy sweet treat to make. The main ingredients are apples and ready-rolled puff pastry. The hardest bit is grating the apples!
Indian spices tickle this delicious salmon dish, using the last of the summer vegetables – tenderstem broccoli, tomatoes and potatoes. The star of the dish is the chargrilled chickpeas cooked in a sieve directly over the coals.
I’m bringing a bit of America here for this summer dessert – BBQ baked cheesecake! It’s got a buttery biscuit base and I’ve topped it with my favourite summer fruit mixed in with some of my homemade strawberry jam – the British strawberry season will be in full swing by now.
Thinking of summer holidays, sunshine and food… so I’ve taken you to Greece (virtually, of course) with this zesty chicken souvlaki, charred on the grill to get those gnarly bits, sliced and topped onto filled flatbreads of a gorgeous colourful Greek salad and drizzled with tzatziki.
Perfect for the cooler spring evenings, close the lid of your BBQ and let it sit there for several hours. Using different ales will give different flavours.
You can use Terry’s chocolate orange, which I did for this recipe, or plain dark or milk chocolate. Any leftovers will make a delicious bread and butter pudding.
A warming treat that’s quick to rustle up – no whisking for these tasty muffins and once you’ve grated and chopped the apples, weighed out all the ingredients, and cooked they will be straight out of the BBQ into your bellies!
Chimi Chimi because the chicken gets ‘chimied’ twice! Firstly to marinate it and secondly to dollop over the top of the dish once it’s cooked, so you need to make plenty for this. This chimi has a bit of a chilli kick to it.
This is a warming dessert and so easy to make. Two main ingredients – pears and a bottle of red wine!
Stews and one pot dishes are warming wonders when the nights are drawing in and getting cooler, and this one is quick to make. Use your favourite sausages. I used my local butcher’s best traditional pork sausages, which have a great flavour.
Not quite a paella, but full of colour, flavour and baked in a paella pan. It’s quick to cook and a delicious fishy one-pan dish. Serve straight from the BBQ to table and dive right in.
Baking in your BBQ – as long as you’ve got a lid – is relatively easy and a great way to use that residual heat. I usually bake indirect and put an upturned baking tin on top of my grills to prevent the base from burning. It acts as a deflector from the heat underneath.
I love to cook puddings on the BBQ and these delicious chocolate pots are a real treat. Cook them just right and they will still be gooey in the middle.
If you have a BBQ with a lid, why not use the residual heat from your coals and rustle up a delicious cake? I love to bake in my Kamado Joe. My top baking tips are to cook indirect at a slightly lower temperature and cook for a little longer. This cake is eaten best on the day you make it and while it’s still warm.
When life gives you lemons – and you’ve residual heat in your BBQ – how about baking a delicious, zingy lemon tart? You can use shop-bought pastry but it’s very easy to make your own.
I love making desserts with whatever fruit is in season and in spring, you can quite often get the early pink rhubarb, which has more delicate flavour, or the more chunkier crop a little later in the year, which has more flavour and deeper in colour.
It’s the weather for warm, sticky puddings and this cake hits the spot. All you need is a big jug of creamy custard to go with it. No need to cook the pears first and it’s not a cake you turn out of the pan like an upside-down cake so, once cooked, grab a spoon and dive in.
If you’ve still got apples left over from the autumn, this is a hearty comfort pudding which you can serve from the BBQ straight to the table and dive in with a big spoon.
I’ve adapted my usual focaccia bread recipe for these delicious breadsticks, which are lovely and light. Ideal to snack on, dip into oils, dips or with soup.
Grab your passport and I’ll take you on a trip to Morocco. You can rustle up this delicious dish in your back garden and pretend you are on holiday. I cooked this on my Kadai Firebowl, using ingredients you might have in your cupboards, so no need to rush out and buy lots of ingredients.
This is a tasty chicken dish, which is a perfect for summer dining al fresco with friends. It’s a one-pan wonder and with asparagus and fresh peas in full swing, adds a lovely colour.
Hang on to summer with this warming, one-pan wonder. With flavours from South Africa, Louisiana, Spain and France, this tasty dish is a cross between a jambalaya, gumbo and paella.
