Barbecue Burgers and Halloumi Skewers

Now that the sun has come out at long last, barbecue season is in full swing (as was evident from needing to go to 4 different shops yesterday to buy bamboo skewers, which had sold out at the first 3). I thought I would share some tasty barbecue recipes that we've been using this weekend...

Chili and Garlic Burgers
Makes 8-12 burgers

Ingredients
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 chili pepper (as hot as you dare)
2 packs of beef mince
1 egg
Salt and pepper to season

1. Finely dice the chili pepper and garlic
2. Put the chili, garlic, both packs of mince and the egg in a large bowl and season
3. Work the egg, chili and garlic into the mince with your hands
4. Form into 8 large patties or 12 smaller patties
5. Chill in the fridge for half an hour (or until ready to BBQ) to hold shape
6. Cook on a hot BBQ for 10-15 minutes, turning once, ensure burger is hot right through

Serve in buns with plenty of chutney, cheese and lettuce (ours are stacked up between greaseproof paper in this cardboard box as an unconventional method of transportation to the BBQ we went to last night!)

Halloumi and Vegetable Skewers with Lemon and Rosemary

Makes 12-14 skewers

Ingredients

1 block halloumi (mine was 250g)

Vegetables of your choice (I used courgette, mushroom, cherry tomato and red onion)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon

1 sprig of rosemary

Salt and pepper to season

+ Skewers

1. Chop all veg into bite-size chunks and thread onto bamboo skewers

2. Mix the olive oil, rosemary and salt & pepper in a small bowl, add the juice squeezed from the lemon and stir

3. Brush or drizzle the oil over the skewers

4. Cook on a hot BBQ for 5-10 minutes, turning occasionally

Happy barbecuing!

Coffee Grounds in the Garden

The Lodge was renovated before we moved in and to give us a patch of garden, our landlord kindly planted these little fir trees:

 As you can see, some of them are feeling a bit sorry for themselves and they're all not quite tall enough to give us any privacy in the garden. So I'm trying to grow these little beauties into a garden hedge without spending any money on fancy fertiliser etc.

My first port of call is coffee grounds, which apparently contain nitrogen, as well as smaller quantities of magnesium, calcium, potassium and other trace minerals. See this article from The Gardening Channel for some of their uses.

I have been saving mine up this week, but I think when I'm next in a town with a Starbucks, I may need to pop in for some of their giveaway grounds, as this little pot probably won't be enough to spurt the growth of my little fir trees!

I have measured some trees as part of this highly scientific experiment (!) to test the benefit of coffee grounds, so watch this space for a tree update.

What do you use to help your garden grow?