Mix It Up

Surprise your guests at the barbecue this year with hot and delightful alternatives to the same old, same old 

- By Ryan Smith

With three hamburger-loving boys to look after, Tara Assaly has hosted more than a few barbecues.

But last summer she tried something different. Six couples and eight children were coming over for another backyard bash at her west Edmonton home, and this time Assaly wanted to be able to spend more time hobnobbing than flipping flesh. A friend suggested something Assaly had never heard of – a barbecue pizza party. She tried it, and it turned out so well she expects she’ll do it again.

“Everyone likes pizza, but you need a really hot oven to do it the way we like it, with the thin crispy crusts, and that really heats up your house,” she says, “especially in the summer. But pizza on the barbecue is easy, fun and tastes great.”

Assaly did the prep the day before the party – mainly cutting up pizza toppings. The day of, she made the dough and laid out the toppings so her guests could create their own. Setting up beforehand allowed her and her husband to mingle as they put together their pizzas. The pizzas took only a few minutes to heat, and the idea suited vegetarians and epicureans alike.

“Everyone chooses their own toppings and makes it themselves, so no one can blame me if they don’t like it,” Assaly says, laughing. “And the kids like it; if they want a plain cheese pizza, that’s what they get.”

Barbecued pizza is one of many low-hassle ideas for a tasty cookout that allows hosts more time for socializing and less time sucking in smoke over the spit.

“When I host a barbecue, I keep it as simple as possible,” says Diana Tyler-Moon, executive director of the St. Paul Community Learning Association and organizer and sous-chef for Making the Best Barbecue, a popular course offered each year at the Lafond Community Centre in St. Paul, Alberta.

The key, Tyler-Moon says, is prep. That way, when the guests start arriving, you don’t have much left to do except enjoy their company. Such planning includes choosing a party theme, if you like.

“Canada Day is always a good time for a party,” says Tyler-Moon, who is the wife of a Canadian diplomat and has hosted dinner parties around the world. “Go to the dollar store and get red and white bandanas for napkins, serve strawberries and whipped cream for dessert.”

Location is also important. A house with a big covered porch is great for barbecues. “But if I lived in a small apartment or condo, I’d see if there was a party room in the building. And a lot of parks have barbecue setups. Or you could try to have a shared party with someone who has a nice backyard.”

Don’t be afraid to cancel due to weather. No one likes hiding from the elements in a raincoat with a frozen hot dog in her hands. If Mother Nature is not co-operating and you can’t arrange for an alternative to your outdoor space, you should probably pack up and try again another day.

A barbecue has a different dynamic than a sit-down dinner party, adds Paul Shufelt, corporate chef for the Century Hospitality Group in Edmonton. “For a backyard barbecue, guests are more focused on having a good time than worrying about the food,” he says.

Shufelt oversees the menu and food quality at three of Edmonton’s top chophouses (Century Grill, Lux Steakhouse and Bar, and the DeLuxe Burger Bar.) He says the key to a beauty of a bash is threefold: preparation, product and equipment. Other common-sense steps include cleaning your place and making sure you have enough charcoal or fuel to keep your fires burning. Choosing the menu is the most essential part, and you’ll have to co-ordinate your choices with all of your other decisions. Finding a butcher you trust is a good idea.

“Your supplier can be a great source of ideas,” Shufelt says. “You want to be able to call him and say, ‚ÄòHey, I’m having some friends over, can you cut me eight, 12-ounce rib-eyes?’”

If you’re going to have people eat on their laps – which is fine – make sure you have really big dinner plates. Don’t serve a saucy or messy dish. Tyler-Moon usually picks her menu based on what’s fresh at the local farmers’ market.

With the produce and protein picked, both Shufelt and Tyler-Moon recommend doing as much as possible to prepare the food – marinate the meat, chop the chop suey – before the guests arrive, even if you have to do it the day before. Remember: some meals are higher maintenance than they look.

“If I was going to do a lamb, I’d order one from my supplier, put a basic mint and dry mustard rub on it and throw it on the rotisserie in the afternoon,” says Shufelt. “It’s boneless, easy, and you just cut the strings when it’s ready, carve it up and serve it with potatoes. It’s a lot simpler than trying to do 40 little lamb chops.”

Of course, cooking lamb on a spit requires the gear. Your decision will come down to equipment and the tools on hand. A rotisserie attachment is now standard. There are hand crank spits and models that you can plug into the wall, so you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get one. Another standard feature on newer barbecues is a smoker box, which adds flavour and aroma from woods such as hickory, mesquite and sassafras.

Cam Dobranski, executive chef at Muse in Calgary, says that if your griller doesn’t have a smoke box, you can soak your wood in water for about 30 minutes and then place it in an aluminum pie plate on your charcoal or rock briquettes. “One of my favourite things is to use apple or cherry wood. They impart a nice smoky flavour,” he says.

For the barbecue pizza pig-out, Dobranski suggests picking up a Japanese mandolin, which is a sort of vegetable guillotine.

“The mandolin is faster than a knife and you get a perfect slice every time,” he says. “And when you’re doing vegetables for the grill or for a pizza you want to keep the slices thin so you can cook them through without burning the outsides.” 

“Hosting a good barbecue means that your guests can get what they want, whenever they want it,” Tyler-Moon says. She’ll set out a galvanized tub and fill it with ice and drinks, and when her guests arrive, she tells them to help themselves. And for all of the planning and preparing, the thing that makes a really good barbecue is a good mix of people.

“Barbecues are a great way to meet people because everyone’s roaming. You’ll have some people watching a hockey game in one room and others will be outside, and there’ll be conversations going on everywhere,” says Tyler-Moon. “You don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen or at the barbecue. You don’t want to miss the fun – that’s why you’re having a barbecue in the first place!”