Greatest barbecue hits
When you’re invited to a barbecue and told to ‘just bring a salad’, here are a couple that fit the bill perfectly.
Finally there has been a bit of sunshine around the country – not consistently, but there have been glimpses! As Kiwis, the moment the sun comes out, so does the barbecue, and the opportunity to entertain becomes more simple and frequent.
Often, hosts will sort out the meat department, and offers of help are met with ‘‘Great! Can you bring a salad?’’, so I thought it would be good timing to share two of my favourites.
The first is a loaded potato salad – every family seems to have their own version. This one is packed with flavour, with earthy potatoes, sharp capers and baby gherkins, lemony garlic mayonnaise, fresh herbs, seedy mustard and salty pancetta.
There are all sorts of options you could use to make this salad your own – don’t like red onion? Leave it out! Stir through watercress for a peppery note, add chopped boiled eggs if they take your fancy, finely sliced German sausage can be substituted for the pancetta, and I had a fabulous spud salad brightened with the addition of cold cooked peas.
The slaw is brilliant with slowcooked pork, alongside ribs, chops or even piled onto burgers. I love using celery in this recipe, and the chopped nuts add a pleasing extra salty crunch.
Alternatives to this classic slaw would be to use fennel, apple and white cabbage with the same dressing, then top with crumbled toasted walnuts or use the same ingredients but swap the parsley for coriander, and substitute with an Asian style dressing.
Use these recipes as your base for quantities and go wild.
Loaded potato salad
Serves 8-10 Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Dressing:
1 cup good-quality mayonnaise 1⁄2 cup sour cream 3 cloves garlic, crushed 2 tablespoons seed mustard Finely grated zest of 1 lemon 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 1⁄4 cup roughly chopped capers 1⁄3 cup chopped baby gherkins 3 tablespoons chopped chives (reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish) 2 tablespoons chopped dill 1 small red onion, finely chopped (reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish) Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1.5 kilos new potatoes, scrubbed (I used Baby Golden Gourmets, but small waxy new potatoes are also great) 80g pancetta or streaky bacon, chopped
Put mayonnaise and sour cream in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Stir through all of the remaining dressing ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bring a big pot of water to boil, add the potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes until potatoes are just cooked. You want them to still have a quite firm texture, not be soft or flaky.
While the potatoes are cooking, fry the pancetta or bacon until crispy.
Drain the potatoes well, chop into thirds and immediately put in a container with the cooked pancetta and mix through half of the dressing so that the garlicky lemon flavours infuse into the potatoes. Cool in the fridge. The salad can be made up to this point and refrigerated for up to six hours.
To serve, stir through the remaining dressing to refresh the salad, transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with reserved chives and red onion.
The perfect barbecue slaw
Serves 8-10 Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: Nil
1⁄ cup good-quality mayonnaise 2 1⁄4 cup cider vinegar 2 teaspoons caster sugar 1 tablespoon American mustard 1 teaspoon celery seeds (or celery salt to taste) 1⁄4 white cabbage, finely shredded 1⁄2 red cabbage, finely shredded 2 small carrots, peeled and grated 2 sticks celery, finely sliced 3 spring onions, finely chopped 1⁄2 cup finely chopped parsley (reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish) 1⁄2 cup finely chopped roasted peanuts (reserve 2 tablespoons for garnish)
Whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard and celery seeds and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Toss through all of the remaining ingredients and serve garnished with the remaining parsley and chopped peanuts. This slaw can be made and refrigerated up to two hours ahead, then served with reserved garnishes.
Recipes, food styling and photography by Sarah Tuck.