One of our office Head Beads® briquettes fans recently spent a weekend camping in the Grampians with friends.

But there were no canned baked beans in sight for these intrepid travelers! Instead, they whipped up a delicious Lamb and Red Wine Casserole in a camp oven powered by Head Beads® briquettes - and videoed the process to share with Sizzle readers.

If you’ve got your own fun video of Heat Beads® briquettes in action, we’d love to see it! Upload to YouTube, tag as Heat Beads® BBQ briquettes, and post a link to it in the Comments section.

Here’s the recipe for those of you who wish to try this out over the holidays!

Lamb and Red Wine Casserole

Ingredients:
Lamb
Onions
Carrots
Potatoes
Red wine
Water
Butter
Self-raising flour
Salt

Method:
1) Light Heat Beads® briquettes 20 minutes before cooking
2) Brown onions and lamb
3) Add carrot, water and red wine and simmer for 10-15 minutes
4) Add potatoes and simmer for further 10-15 minutes
5) Ensure vegetables are cooked, then add damper to top of casserole and allow to cook for approx 10 minutes or until golden brown

For useful guidelines on camp oven temperatures using Heat Beads® briquettes click here to visit Derek Bullock’s site.

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Nothing can deter Heat Beads®’s John Higgs from the pursuit of the perfectly-cooked snag… even a broken arm!

A scorching summer day was a fitting way to kick off BBQ season at the annual Triple R Melbourne BBQ Day, sponsored by Heat Beads® briquettes.

As usual, before the big event we asked you to send in your signature char-grill BBQ recipe, for the chance to win a Weber and a year’s supply of Heat Beads® BBQ briquettes.

From the pages upon pages of recipes received, the judges selected their top three which were cooked to perfection at BBQ Day for all to enjoy.

So here they are… the three finalist recipes for you to turn into your own hit of the BBQ!

The winner!
(As judged by the celebrity chef judging panel: Craig Penglase - The Prince Hospitality Group, Matthew Wilkinson - Circa the Prince, Ian Curley - The European and Triple R’s Cam Smith.)

Beef BBQ Teriyaki - Eve-Lynne Fairhall

L-R Vanessa Forrest, Eve-Lynne Fairhall and owner of the Heat Beads® company, Lee Gilmour. Eve-Lynne won the day with her Beef BBQ Teriyaki recipe.

Well done Eve-Lynne, we hope you enjoy your prize, and the glory of being crowned our BBQ expert of 2007!

The listener prize
(As judged by the crowds from ‘Hamburger Hill’ at BBQ Day. This year the listeners’ favourite recipe differed from that of the professional judges on the day.)

Eggplant Dolmades - Brigitte Stone

Our third finalist - with a delicious taste of chicken and spice:

Easy, Tasty, Spicy Chook - Anthony Williams

Brigitte and Anthony are the lucky recipients of a Summer BBQ Entertainment Pack to keep their grills firing, as well as a large helping of kudos to boot!

More than 1,200 Gourmet Grill, sausage and veggie burger meals were served on BBQ Day.

Recipe - Eve-Lynne Fairhall

Serves 4.

Ingredients:
· 1 kg chuck steak
· 1/2 cup soy sauce
· 1-2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
· 1/3 cup sake or dry sherry or any dry wine
· 1 tbsp brown or white sugar (brown gives richer flavour)
· 2-3 cloves smashed garlic

Method:
· Trim steak and cut into suitable portion size or cubes for kebabs
· Marinate in mixture of soy sauce, ginger, wine, sugar and garlic for at least one hour
· Cook over glowing Heat Beads® briquettes to desired done-ness!

Note:
This mixture makes chuck steak as wonderfully tender as the most expensive cuts. Enjoy served with variety of BBQ veggies and salads: green, mushroom, rice and/or potato and fresh crusty bread.

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Recipe - Brigitte Stone

Ok so this is a totally to-die-for light lunch, side dish or could even be developed into a main course it’s that damn good!!!

Ingredients:
· An eggplant (preferably organic and big - so you get to eat more)
· Olive oil (or one of the new tea/chamomile/rice bran/grape seed type oils - but I looove the reliable old extra virgin ORGANIC olive oil)
· Danish feta (as it is creamy and yummy and salty)
· Fresh vine-ripened tomatoes
· Pesto to serve: It’s easy and way nicer to make your own. It’s just char-grilled or toasted pine nuts, a bunch of basil, pinch of sea salt, as much garlic as you (or the people around you) can tolerate. I like to put a whole bulb on the grill for a minute - I find it takes the edge off, but still provides the pesto with a mellow garlic-ness. Then just process all hard ingredients together in a blender or mortar and pestle, and add a stream of olive oil till it’s the consistency you want. Most chefs will tell you to stir in parmesan cheese as well, but I don’t really think it’s imperative, however, cheese is great so if you love it, ADD it!!!

Method:
Slice the eggplant lengthways so that you have several pieces. The thickness is subjective - I like mine juicy so cut it thicker and cook it longer. If crispy and well-cooked is desired, simply slice thinner (it will also cook faster so you can EAT faster!!!)

To cook, brush each side with olive oil and place it on your weapon of choice (BBQ or grill plate). To get it really tasty I saturate with MORE olive oil (I like to convince myself it’s healthy in some way!)

After all the eggplant pieces are cooked to perfection, remove from the heat source and begin to assemble.

· On the cooked eggplant pieces add a slice of crumbly Danish feta and a wedge of fresh tomato
(If you want to make this more substantial, add some parma ham, prosciutto or some other char-grilled veggies like peppers or sweet potato.)

· Roll them up! (The oil on the eggplant and the moistness of the feta should allow them to stick without too much drama.)
· Once they are all done (resembling dolmades or little fat cigars), put them back on the grill until they are warmed through
· Remove and place on a serving dish and dress with the pesto

For a light snack or starter serve just like that. For a light lunch try with an authentic Greek salad or simple greens. For a main course it’s great with Italian pork sausages and char-grilled potato wedges.

YUM!!!

Enjoy with love.

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Recipe - Anthony Williams

Ingredients:
· 500 grams of chicken ribs
· 2 tbsp tomato paste
· 4 tbsp kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
· 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
· 4 tsp chilli sambal (go on, try a little more!)

Method:
Mix all ingredients and marinate for at least a couple of hours or overnight.
Shake off excess marinade and cook for about 7 minutes.

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