Condiments to dress up the main dish (with dogs and burgers, you’ll need buns, ketchup, mustard, relish, tomatoes, lettuce, and these super-awesome quick-pickled onions). Don’t forget platters, serving bowls, and serving spoons/tongs for the main and side dishes. LogisticsĪ few last practical considerations: for food service, you’ll need paper plates, forks/spoons/knives, napkins, and perhaps beverage cups. Of course, beverages are always a great place to ask your guests to pitch in - that’ll be one less thing you’ll have to worry about as the host. ![]() ![]() On the beverage scene, your guests may enjoy beer, sangria, and plenty of non-alcoholic sparkling water, or even a couple of pitchers of agua fresca (see recipe below). You can even go really simple by putting out a bowl filled with an assortment of always-crowd-pleasing Ding Dongs and Tastykakes. Try watermelon slices (sprinkled with a bit of salt for a savory revelation), Southern-style banana pudding (again remembering to keep it cool and out of the sun), or (if you have a freezer handy) every grown-up-kid’s favorite: popsicles. When it comes to the dessert course, cold and sweet is always the way to go. And later in the summer season, grilled corn-on-the-cob (or, to really class it up, Mexican street corn) is a delicious treat that straddles the line between side dish and dessert. Baked beans are always a great BBQ side, as they can be enjoyed hot or cold. I’ve found that even store-bought potato salad can be an excellent accompaniment - just add a diced hard-boiled egg or two and some additional chopped pickles to add your own flair. For casual gatherings, you might ask your friends to bring along a veggie tray, a bag of chips, or a bowl of macaroni salad to accompany the main dish - just remember that mayonnaise-based and egg-based salads and sides will need to be kept chilled in a cooler rather than left to ferment in the sun. ![]() The side dishes are a key part of every successful BBQ. You will discover that if the meat and the accompanying side dishes are lip-smackingly tasty, your guests will be just as satisfied as they’d be if you’d slaved all day over the blazingly hot mesquite coals of a BBQ pit. I’ve served many excellent meals of tender and smoky pulled pork that were entirely cooked in a crock pot (or an even quicker version in the Instant Pot). Here’s a little secret: not every BBQ meal needs to be cooked on a grill or smoker. Or perhaps you’d like to impress your coworkers by having them over to your apartment for a Saturday summer dinner, which means you will have your whole kitchen available and can prepare a batch of pulled pork in the crock-pot (recipe below).Īnd if you want to go all-out and you have access to an actual wood smoker or pellet grill, you might attempt the mother-of-all slow-smoked protein centerpieces, the Texas-style beef brisket - but that’s a lesson for the master-level BBQ class. Is this going to be a casual Memorial Day gathering with your roommates at a local park? If so, you probably will have just a small charcoal or gas hibachi grill available, which limits you to quick-cooking hamburgers, hot dogs, and black bean burgers. ![]() The first consideration is who you’re going to invite to your BBQ, because that will help determine the menu. With just a bit of advance planning, your friends will forever refer to you as “the burgermeister,” the “pit boss,” or perhaps even “the skipper of the flipper.” Consider your menu If you want to have a great social with your friends this weekend (or any time), I’d like to offer a few practical hints that will help make sure your BBQ is the highlight of the summer. Whether you’re gathering with your pals at the park over some grilled hot dogs and tossing the frisbee, kicking back at the beach munching on burgers and strumming on the guitar, or just sitting in your backyard around the fire pit enjoying brisket and beans, cooking outside with friends is a time-honored tradition that says, “Life is good!” There’s something about a three-day weekend that demands a BBQ cookout.
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