If you invest a lot of time, love and money in good meat for the barbecue, you should put at least as much effort into your side dishes. A gorgeous steak in the middle of the table, paired with a range of accompaniments prepared to high culinary standards – that's the hallmark of a modern barbecue. Side dishes can even become the main attraction and are much more fun when served straight from the barbecue. With this in mind, we have collected some inspirational ideas for creative accompaniments for your next barbecue.
Noodle salad from the wok
Sophisticated Asian dishes can be prepared in the barbecue wok on your Outdoorchef. With even heat over a large area – which you can also use that for other dishes. For example, for a lukewarm pasta salad. Simply pre-cook the noodles and fry the onions, garlic, dried tomatoes and pine nuts in a wok. Place the noodles in the wok, add some pesto, toss once and serve while still warm.
Grilled watermelon
Watermelon steaks on the grill are a real revelation – for several reasons. When sliced into a perfect steak shape, their high sugar content creates wonderfully caramelised toasting marks on the outside. When cooked, a dense, juicy structure develops inside the melon, which actually resembles tender meat in terms of its texture. Our tip: marinating the slices with Indian spices like garam masala really brings out the watermelon flavour.
Crispy mushrooms on the griddle plate
Mushrooms are an excellent alternative to crispy bacon. Marinated in advance with a little salt, pepper, garlic and vegetable oil, oyster mushrooms in particular benefit enormously from lots of direct heat from the griddle plate. To achieve this, set the funnel to the volcano position, preheat the griddle plate for 10 minutes and grill the mushrooms until they are really crispy. This takes a little patience, but rewards you with an umami factor that you otherwise only know from bacon & co.
Tuber vegetables cooked low & slow
Ever put a whole celery on the barbecue and just let it cook for four hours at 120 degrees Celsius? The result is amazing! The sugars inside start to caramelise slightly and the hard celery develops a creamy, velvety texture that barely resembles the celery we all know. Just peel, slice and top with some fresh goat's cheese and a salsa. By the way, this also works with other large-volume vegetables such as cabbage or turnips.
Crispy flatbread straight from the plancha
Flatbreads are thin bread patties made of water and flour and, if necessary, baking powder, which can be baked very quickly as they only need to be heated through once. Recipes are a dime a dozen and you can pimp them with your own ingredients: why not try a Mediterranean flatbread with anchovies and garlic? Or an Indian variant with coriander seeds? Flatbread dough usually does not require fresh yeast and needs no more than an hour's preparation – perfect for spontaneous baking on barbecue day.