Things have been a bit quiet from me here at Delicieux lately. I have just been so incredibly busy that I have not managed to sit down and write. I always call July and August the ‘Silly Season’ when everyone I know seems to be running around with guests staying, kids off on school holidays and lots of work on and all this in sweltering 30+ heat!

Honestly, you would think that in this weather, we would all be taking it easy and enjoying the sunshine but I seem to have more on my plate than ever! Not that I am complaining as such…I enjoy being busy. But it is a bit exhausting too.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. This months Four Seasons Food (hosted this time by Louisa from Chez Foti) theme is BBQ’s and BBQ side sides and being a co-host of this fun blogging challenge, I feel it’s rather important that I make an entry of some sort.

Cue husband going to check on our BBQ. And disaster of disasters….our BBQ had sort of disintegrated over the Winter! It was a gas BBQ and some of the metal had just worn away, it crumbled to dust with a little prod!

Well this had to be rectified and fast. Not just for the sake of my FSF entry but also because we had imminent arrivals due to stay in our gite who would expect to be able to use a BBQ during their holiday.

So a-shopping we went and we are now the proud owners of a brand spanking new shiny gas BBQ. Which I am dying to play with but the irony is, I have barely had any time. We did manage to christen it on it’s first weekend in it’s new home though with a couple of simple and fun family meals.

So first of all, I want to share a delicious Beetroot & Apple Salad with chunks of Gorgonzola and walnuts in it. One of my most favourite ways to have a BBQ is to just grill some simple meat (on this occasion some sausages and burgers) and then knock up a couple of salads using ingredients straight from our vegetable garden.

Right now we have lots of lovely lettuces ready, cucumbers, red onions and of course beetroots. So, I  speedily plucked a couple and knocked up this delicious, fresh salad which worked sublimely well with the burgers. The sweetness of the beets was perfectly matched to the decadently creamy gorgonzola and the earthy nuttiness of the walnuts.

Beetroot & Apple Salad with Gorgonzola & Walnuts

(Serves 6 as a side dish)

2 medium raw beetroot

2 green apples

150g chopped walnuts

150g Gorgonzola

1 tbsp runny honey

2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (or use normal balsamic)

1 tbsp walnut oil

I advise wearing some rubber gloves to peel your beetroot. Then use a mandolin if you have one to grate your beetroot and your apples. If you don’t have one, either use a normal grater or cut into the thinest matchsticks you can.

Mix your grated beetroot and apple together in a bowl. Add your chopped walnuts. Cut your Gorgonzola into cubes and add also. Mix up the rest of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over. Stir gently and season.

The following night, we BBQ’d again and this time I tried out the ‘beer can chicken’ idea. I must say, I was not overly impressed. It didn’t really add anything special to the meat and also, my husband had trouble making sure the bird was cooked all the way through. He also said that as far as cooking on the BBQ being fun goes, sticking a whole bird on with a beer can up it’s bum and then just leaving it there for an hour certainly erred on the boring side! Needless to say, we won’t rush to do it again…

However, along with our dull bird, I made foil wrapped parcels of Tartiflette which actually worked brilliantly with the chicken, livening up the otherwise dull meat with the rich, creamy potatoes oozing with lots of lovely melted cheese. Now these I most certainly would make again as they would be a luxurious addition to any BBQ meal…

Foil Wrapped Tartiflette Parcels

(Serves 4 as a side dish)

4 large potatoes, cut into cubes

200g bacon lardons

200g Reblochon Cheese (or use Brie) cut into cubes

a drizzle of white wine

Simply par boil your cubed potatoes in salted water for 8 minutes. Fry up your lardons until starting to go crispy. Take 2 large pieces of tin foil and in the center of one, place half your potatoes, half your cheese and half your lardons and place the remaining ingredients on the other piece.

Bring up the sides of the foil to create a little package and just before you seal it up, drizzle in a little white wine. Then place on your BBQ for 10 minutes to heat through and melt all the lovely cheese. Yummy.

I hope to be back soon with more BBQ ideas when I get a chance to sit down and enjoy the Summer sunshine!

I am entering both of these dishes into this months Four Seasons Food Challenge co hosted by myself and Louisa from Chez Foti.

Four Seasons Food hosted by Delicieux and Chezfoti

And I am also entering them into Javelin Warrior’s Made With Love Mondays as both dishes were made from scratch.