I really like good quality and cheap pub meals.  They usually have all the favourites like chicken parma, calamari rings and inevitably steak.  Some places do these foods extremely well and matched with hot, crispy thickly cut chips and a few mates it is always a good time out.  However many pubs do these foods badly and this really puts a dampener on the whole evening.

One remedy for this is pubs where you BBQ your own meat.  It is a little counter intuitive that you pay to cook your own food but it is fun and at least when your steak is burnt to a crisp you can only blame yourself.  I have found there seems to be a complete lack of etiquette at the grill.  To combat this I have devised “The Ten Commandments of the Grill” which I ask all pubs to get engraved onto marble tablets (or print out) and put in a prominent position near the BBQ.

  1. Don’t hold onto the tongs.  Put them down between uses.
  2. Stealing someone’s area of the grill is off limits.
  3. Definitely do not flip, turn or move someone else’s steak
  4. Use seasonings sparingly.  No one wants burnt seasoning from a previous griller stuck to their meat.
  5. Step away from the grill when not tending your steaks.
  6. Applying copious quantities of oil to the grill will cause a fireball.
  7. Beer should not be used as a seasoning, it doesn’t make the meat more tasty.
  8. Turning your meat a thousand times does not make it cook quicker
  9. Stealing someone else’s meat is off limits.  The owner of the steak may smite the offender without fear of retribution.
  10. And most importantly have fun.

So I like steak.  One of my favourite ways is having it grilled medium rare with some Cafe de Paris butter on top.  Cafe de Paris butter is a compound butter which is a fancy way of saying its butter with tasty stuff mixed it.  It freezes really well and is great to spice up a boring steak or even on freshly toasted bread.

What are some atrocities you have seen committed on a communal BBQ?

Café de Paris Butter
Makes 300g

Ingredients
250g Unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp Shallots, finely chopped
1 Garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tspn Parsley, finely chopped
2 tspn Tarragon, finely chopped
2 tspn Thyme, finely chopped
2 Anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1 tbsp Capers, finely chopped
1 tspn Worcestershire Sauce
1 tspn Lemon

Method
  1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor.  Gently pulse until combined.
  2. Spoon onto plastic wrap and mould into desired shape.  Refrigerate until required.

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