Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
With another summer winding down, Yellowknifer trekked out to a few homes last week to learn some of the tried-and-true approaches people have to using their barbecues.

Philip Chalker bastes his barbecued ribs with rub on Sunday evening. - Simon Whitehouse NNSL/photo

Over on Lanky Court, Peter Fast, with some help from his son Alexander, emphasized some of the healthy aspects of barbecue cooking and some of the possibilities it can provide for families.

"One of the reasons we have started barbecuing more is because we have moved toward a lot of vegetarian dishes," Peter said. "We found that all we ever used it for was red meat and we tried to broaden our horizons."

The Fast family has made great use of the Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen, which after 10 years has been well marked with notes and bookmarks throughout. Peter said the book contains a number of international recipes since the author had travelled to 25 countries on five continents.

One of the highlights for Peter's two young sons includes doing pizza on the barbecue, which has been a hit for birthdays.

At Diamond Plaza, Reyhan Sarikaya shared her grilled seasoned vegetables in lettuce wrap. Sarikaya said she uses olive oil, Italian seasoning marinade and garlic on vegetables, which included zucchini, red pepper, fennel, green peppers and onions.

"The secret to a successful barbecue dish is to keep everything simple – do not overdo it on the marinade or seasonings," she said.

Sarikaya demonstrated her use of aluminum foil Sunday afternoon, which she said keeps the food from sticking to the grill. She generally cooks slowly and at a lower temperature.

She likes to use yogurt to marinade chicken and does this in plastic bags an hour before cooking. This is the best method to tenderize the chicken, she said.

Sarikaya's neighbour Philip Chalker is a true champion of the barbecue. Much of Sunday afternoon he was preparing ribs, but he tends to find recipes through online sources. About five nights a week in the summer, Chalker will use the barbecue for cooking. In the winter, he'll cut back to once or twice per week.

"I just go online and find recipes that I think will be tasty," he said. "Then I just try them and if I like them, they go into my makeshift recipe book and that is what I use."

With the ribs, Chalker basted the meat with a marinade of water, cider vinegar and liquid smoke every 20 minutes for four hours. This keeps them from drying out, he said. Cooked at a low temperature and not directly over the flame, the ribs take about four hours to complete, he said. He adds chicken to the grill about an hour before meal time.

The benefits of barbecuing include the convenience of having dinner prepared relatively quickly, but Chalker agrees with other cooks that the health benefits are a plus.

"It is lower fat, too, I find, than when frying or broiling or anything like that," he said.

"There is nothing in the rub that I use either because that is just spices and I use very little salt. You get a nice flavour and it is a more healthy way to cook."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.