Years ago, my parents gave me a full sized propane bbq as a housewarming gift.
That may not sound like a practical gift for a single person … but with some planning, you get some great tasting meals, at a good price, for very little effort, especially if you fill up the grill. Personally, I find hot dogs bland and boring but, throw them on a grill, and you’ve got a taste treat that you can pair with chili, throw into a pot of baked beans or even serve over pasta in a marinara sauce.
The star of today’s bbq was this pair of sirloin steaks. A bit pricey at $18.60 for the two, but after bbq’ing them and cutting each steak into 3 or 4 portions, the results were much more economical.
Blackberry/raspberry lemonade with a splash of club soda. Cause you need something cold and refreshing while you’re standing over a hot bbq grill wielding your tongs.
I didn’t have any sour cream for the baked potato so I spooned on some tzatziki sauce. Yummy.
The BBQ – Sirloin steaks, package of hot dogs and 2 chicken breasts marinaded in tikka masala paste and yogurt then threaded on metal skewers.
And ended up with
Steaks
Hot Dogs – Normally, I forget these little guys and they get charred but this time, I got them JUST RIGHT.
Chicken Tikka Skewers and Baked Potatoes – au jus (for the sirloin steak) in the background
Throwing meat on the barbecue somehow seems like cheating. It’s not really cooking the way I do it. I ‘sometimes’ marinate the meat but more often I just salt and pepper it. So, I try to do a little extra for the sides or the dessert. I put back the 3 packages of blueberries I bought this rainy Saturday morning and instead bagged 9 peaches so I could make a tray of peach crumble bars.
The peaches were BEAUTIFUL even if not as sweet and juicy as I would have liked.
I’ve used this crumble recipe before with cherries, nectarines and, of course, peaches. You can use berries or mangoes, if you want. This Peach Melba (raspberries and peaches) variation was delicious. The juiciness of the fruit really makes the crumble special. That’s why I don’t think apples or pears would work as well, but, since I haven’t tried them, I may be wrong. If you try those fruit, let me know.
I had some extra filling so I used it to fill a frozen mini pie shell from the pastry I made a couple of weeks ago. I stole some of the crumb topping from the bars in place of a top crust.
Cooking is Fun ... Really!! 
You have been busy! I also love to cook on a BBQ and agree, it does seem like cheating but mostly because it doesn’t seem like work – with a drink in hand and with being able to be outdoors, it’s more like R&R. That’s a very yummy dinner with the steak, potatoes, and salad xx
Thank you for commenting. I wish I had picked up some beer yesterday, which is the traditional bbq accompaniment, but between the rain and trying to economize on my grocery budget I decided to go home and make do with what was already in the fridge which is how the lemonade came about.
It’s amazing how many things you made during one weekend. Your crumble looks so good… Crumble is one of my favourite desserts because apart from the taste and texture I love, it’s one of the rare where I don’t have to count amounts 😉
Lucky you to have a BBQ! I’m sure if I had a possibility, I’d happily grill for myself too (I regularly make quite complicated meals just for myself if I crave something and my husband doesn’t like it…).
Thank you for the comment. Even though propane is a lot faster and more convenient than charcoal, it’s still time consuming and messy to uncover the grill, pre-heat it, prep the grill, clean the grill, let it cool and cover it. Making a full grill’s worth of food makes the effort worth while.
You grilling skill is awesome! I hear that you need to know your grill well to get perfect bbq result (kind of like oven?). My husband switched the grill and now he’s learning his grill again. Your parents are awesome for giving the grill as a gift. They know you cook very well. 😀 Amazing spread. I’m hungry looking at your dishes…
Thank you for your lovely compliments. My brother and I liked bbq’d food growing up but it was such a chore for my tired father to heat up the charcoal to the correct temperature when he got home from work, so he bought a propane grill … and let my mom do the bbq’ing. I’ve inherited her ‘cooking’ tradition even if there are dishes I’ll never make as well as she did.
You have major skills when it comes to grilling! It is not easy (from what I’ve seen my dad do). Those peaches look juicy and so delicious – I miss peaches a lot. Stone fruit are my favourite summer fruit. That dessert looks too yummy to be true. I would like it with some Greek yogurt and honey!
It helps if you stay and actually watch your items grilling … though that may lead to playing around and flipping the items from boredom rather than just letting the grill do its job. At least they won’t get burned which HAS happened to a package of hot dogs or so in the past. 🙂
The bbq’d steak pics made my mouth water in memory of how good it was. I need to pick up a couple even if it’s too cold to bbq them. Pork chops are also great on the bbq.
The crumble bars are delicious. They really don’t need anything to enjoy them with when they’re still warm out of the oven except a glass of cold milk. MAYBE a single scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Mmmm cold milk with that peach crumble would be divine. Too bad it’s winter now 😦
I agree about the taste of those bars. I miss being able to bbq even though I only end up doing it a few times during the summer months. People who have grills on their stoves (with fans to get rid of the smoke) can get a decent flavour/look on them year round.
Yes! Those people are so lucky. Grilled salmon is my favourite, and zucchini is so good too!