KEY POINTS:
For most people, including many a female, a barbie wouldn't be worth a
glance if it wasn't for the meat. The tantalising smells and sounds of a juicy cut of beef sizzling away on the grill, delicious smells wafting through the air. That's pretty hard to beat.
The first step to eating excellent barbecued beef is finding a good butcher who is happy to chat about what type of cut will best suit your needs, or to prepare something special for you.
The second step is to make sure you are properly prepared. Quality beef needs only to be seasoned well to taste fabulous but follow a few other simple steps and you will wow your guests.
Have the meat at room temperature. This is very important and often
overlooked. The meat needs to be nicely relaxed before hitting the heat of the grill, so take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before
cooking.
Season the meat and rub it with a little oil before putting it on the barbie and get that barbecue very hot. You want it smoking so the meat instantly seals and will be all juicy inside with gorgeous deep colour on the outside.
The only other lesson is to leave it alone. I know that makes a few people feel a little redundant as prodding and shuffling the food on
the grill comes second only to drinking beer in barbecue etiquette, but the food will thank you for it. Meat should be turned only once. It needs time to form a delicious crust.
Today's two recipes demonstrate how to cook a large piece of beef, which
can be sliced to feed a large gathering at a party, and a beef salad that can be thrown together in a flash for dinner, using whatever vegetables are at hand.
The sirloin is paired with a traditional Argentine barbecue sauce called chimichurri, which is used for both beef and chicken. There are
many varieties of this delicious sauce but all are based on lots of fresh herbs and garlic. It's a winner that you can keep in the fridge
for two weeks - but it may last only two days as it's generally pretty popular.
