Fire up the BBQ

If you've never been to a BBQ competition before, and you're a BBQ enthusiast, it's time to get involved. We had the best time at the Steak Cookoff Association's Let There Be Meat competition at the New Zealand Agricultural Show. It was hot, smokey and full of drool-worthy buttery creations. The competitors were tasked to create their "best buttery dish using Westgold butter" and we saw 15 amazing entries. Everything from drip cakes, Westgold ice cream, brisket loaded pastries, confit salmon and whitebait patties were eyeing up first prize.

Taking out the gold medal was Chris McLaren's 'Trio of Whitebait, Salmon and Prawns'. This combines whitebait, salmon and prawns with their accompanying garnishes on butter toasted brioche. It was utterly buttery and delicious. As a mate of Westgold, Chris has shared his recipe below for you to try at home. 

For the 'Trio effect' serve one (or two) of each item below on a piece of toasted brioche with the white wine & butter sauce spooned over.

Confit Salmon

Ingredients:

400-500g salmon (skin off)

Cure mix:

2 Tbsp maple sugar or raw sugar

2 Tbsp flakey Salt

1-2 tsp dill

Lemon zest

Confit:

400-700ml clarified butter (Westgold butter melted)

Dressing:

200ml cream fraiche

Just under a tsp of capers (finely diced)

Method:

Cure:

First off we will give this Salmon a slight cure. Start off by trimming your salmon to your desired slices, I like to cube mine. Whisk together sugar, salt, dill and lemon zest. Coat each salmon piece with the dry cure and place on a plate, tray or into a snap lock bag. Once all pieces are coated store in a cool area like the fridge for 4-7 hours.

Dressing:

Mix the Cream Fraiche with the capers and keep cool until the salmon is ready to serve.

Confit:

Prepare your cooking appliance, this can be a barbecue or oven. I use a Weber Go Anywhere Barbecue with a Quetensil Royal Riser. Set this for a temperature of around 190-200f (88-93c) Take the cured salmon out the fridge and rinse each piece in water to rinse off the cure, pat each piece dry with a paper towel. Place each piece in a tray or two (I use them small aluminium trays), only big enough to contain the salmon, pour the melted clarified Westgold butter into the tray ensure the salmon is completely submerged. Place the submerged salmon trays into your oven or barbecue away from the heat source and cook for 20mins more or less (or if you see any white blobs coming out of the salmon take it out. This salmon is ready to enjoy! Carefully lift out each piece of salmon and serve with a dollop of the cream fraiche and caper sauce.

Optional:

Garnish with micro greens or thinly sliced and curled spring onion and tiny crispy bacon pieces.

Garlic Butter Prawns

Ingredients:

500g prawns peeled and deveined

1-2 tsp of your favourite Salt and Pepper mix (I used Wingless Angel Barbecue’s Miracle Rub)

3 tbsp olive oil

1-2 clove garlic (crushed or minced)

50g Westgold butter

1/4 cup dry white wine

Lemon juice

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Method:

Place the prawns, salt and pepper and 1 Tbsp Olive oil in a bowl, gently toss and rest for 10-20mins. Heat up a large pan or skillet over high heat, add the rest of olive oil to the pan. Add the prawns and sear for 50 seconds each side then add the garlic, stir for another 20-30 seconds. Add the wine and stir, most of this will evaporate quickly. Add the Westgold butter and squeeze in the lemon juice and stir. Add the parsley and then serve.

Whitebait 

Ingredients:

1 pound of whitebait

1 egg

Salt and pepper mix (I used Wingless Angel Barbecue’s Miracle Rub)

Westgold butter

Method:

Preheat a skillet over med heat. Using a bowl, whisk the egg then add whitebait and your seasonings and mix together. Lightly oil your skillet or pan and place in a dash of butter, the oil will prevent the butter from burning. Use a spoon or ladle to place the desired amount of whitebait mixture onto the skillet, cook for a couple mins each side or until there is a light golden sear. While the whitebait is cooking, slice your brioche into slices if not already and light toast in a buttered skillet, I use the same as the whitebait is cooking in. Once your whitebait patty and bread are seared they are ready to eat…..allow to cool slightly otherwise you’ll burn your mouth.

White Wine and Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 shallot, finely diced

1 garlic clove crushed

Salt and pepper

1 cup dry white wine

Juice from 1 lemon

6-7 tbsp Westgold butter

1 tsp parsley finely chopped or minced

Method:

Melt 1/2 tbsp butter in a skillet or pan on medium to high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Once the shallots are starting to turn golden (this won’t take long) deglaze the skillet with the white wine and add lemon juice. Turn the heat up to high and reduce this till only half is left. Remove from the heat and whisk in 1 tbsp of butter at a time, this will start to thicken. Add the parsley to the sauce and spoon the sauce over the salmon, prawns and whitebait.

Butter Toasted Brioche

Ingredients:

Westgold butter

Brioche loaf or any bread you wish.

Method:

Slice your brioche into slices if not already and lightly toast in a buttered skillet.

Looking for more BBQ tips? Check out Chris's top BBQ tips here.

We'd love to see your BBQ creations! Share them with us on Facebook and Instagram.