There will be thousands of BBQ’s fired up across the country this weekend. What could be better after an early start at the dawn service or watching the Anzac Parade on TV?

Our Anzac Day weekend kicked off a day early, with a feast of succulent BBQ delights cooked on an innovative little unit we discovered recently. Called the Little Wombat, this compact portable char grill - which also doubles as a cosy fire pit - worked a treat. It also stood the test of time! As with any product we mention, we need to know how it performs. So to make sure it could pass the Heat Beads® quality test we fired it up with Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes at 8AM this morning, and have kept it stocked all day. It is now 4PM, we’ve gone through four bags of Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes (just to make sure Little Wombat could go the distance), the food was cooked to perfection, the briquettes are still glowing, and the whole adventure seemed rather effortless with fantastic, succulent shaslicks as our reward!

In its most compact form, the Little Wombat is only 51cmW x 22.5cmH x 36cmD, making it perfect for those 4W’ding weekends with the boys, a ‘grey nomad’ six month wander across the outback, or a family BBQ in the hills or park. Just pack your Heat Beads® inside the unit, throw the Little Wombat in the boot and take off for the great outdoors - or perhaps just to your friend’s inner city courtyard?! Doubling as an outdoor heater Little Wombat appears to be another great way to enjoy Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes all year round!

Hope you can pick up a bag of Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes today on your way home and enjoy the Anzac Day weekend surrounded by family and friends.

Find out more about the Little Wombat by clicking here

Think BBQing is purely a man’s domain? Think again. 67% of respondents to our 2007 Heat Beads® BBQ Lovers Survey were female. More and more women are not just stuck in the kitchen making the salads but lighting up the Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes and getting involved in all the action!

And here’s living proof, Kerry Tait, winner of the 2006 Triple R BBQ Competition. She is an extremely enthusiastic BBQer throughout the year and enjoys experimenting with great new succulent recipes that turn traditional BBQ on its head. Kerry’s recipe for ‘Treat BBQ Like a Wok (Tempeh & Vegetable Stir Fry)’ was one of the fantastic, innovative dishes that wowed the attendees at the Steven Raichlen Degustation BBQ in February. The recipe is listed below along with her winning recipe for Lamb I am BBQ Back Straps that scored her a victory in the 2006 Triple R BBQ Competition.

Treat BBQ Like a Wok (Tempeh & Vegetable Stir Fry)

Great for vegeterians and gluten intolerant. You need a nice, heavy BBQ plate which you can heat up and then back the temperature off. Have a clean, dedicated plate for this one - no bits of old sausage should make it into this meal!

Ingredients
Slice up and marinate good quality Indonesian tempeh for a few hours in:
finely grated fresh ginger
tamari or good quality light soy
fresh red Asian chilli (optional)
sesame oil

Experiment with the marinade proportions. The tempeh should be coated but not drowning. Go easy with the sesame oil.

Chop mouth sized pieces of any combination of seasonal vegetables from the following list putting together contrasting colours:
zucchini (courgette)
asparagus
green beans - especially snake beans for the nutty flavour
yellow beans
red and green capsicum
yellow baby squash
snow peas
broccoli

Method:
Soak or par boil some noodles in hot water. Vietnamese rice vermicelli is good, so are Japanese udon if you’re after a more wintery feel. Or, grab some fresh ones if you’re near an Asian grocery.

Have some fresh mung bean sprouts ready to go to add last
Chop and set aside some fresh coriander for garnish.
Have some chopped roasted peanuts set aside for garnish.

Ok, here we go.

Fire up the BBQ and oil very lightly with sunflower oil or peanut oil. No canola, it’s evil.

Stir fry the tempeh and put to a cooler part of the plate. Reserve the marinade.
Stir fry the veg. Add in the noodles and join tempeh, noodles and veg together, final stir fry on the BBQ plate. Cook the veg fast. Add a little reserved marinade or tiny bit of water to cook quicker/steam on the plate, up to you.
Add in the bean sprouts at the last minute, one stir through.

Plate up. Garnish with coriander and dried peanuts.

Lamb I Am BBQ Backstraps

Method:

Take 1kg of trimmed lamb back straps from any Halal butcher on Sydney Road (but I love Wahlid’s the best).
Cut into generous serve size portions.
Get it amongst this marinade for any amount of time from one hour to one night:

The Marinade:

Couple of tablespoons of light soy sauce; Couple of teaspoons of whole cumin seeds or freshly ground cumin; Crushed garlic - 3-6 big cloves, it’s up to you, but lamb can take it believe me; 2-3 tablespoons of good quality olive oil; freshly ground black pepper.

Char grill quickly on high heat to seal in that lamb flavour. Give the scrappy end bits to those who like it ‘well done’ and serve with fresh Turkish bread, salad and dips. And BEER.

So what are you waiting for ladies? Grab those tongs, move the men aside and start lighting up your grill with Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes this weekend!

John Ryan and his family will soon be off to hit the huge BBQ circuit, in where else but Kansas City, US of A of course! Although John will be working in IT part-time, his main passion will be learning to be a certified judge for the Kansas City Barbeque Sanctioned Events Circuit. If you wish to aspire to Master Judge level, like John, the certified judging course takes about a year. The training is currently only provided by the Kansas City Barbeque Society in which participants take an oath to uphold the principles of BBQ, and is taken very seriously indeed:

‘I do solemnly swear to objectively and subjectively evaluate each Barbeque meat that is presented to my eyes, my nose, my hands and my palate. I accept my duty to be an Official KCBS Certified Judge, so that truth, justice, excellence in Barbeque and the American Way of Life may be strengthened and preserved forever.’
-The Kansas City Barbeque Society Website

Last Saturday was the perfect time for some of John’s friends, and passionate char grill aficionado’s, to come together. A perfect reason to gather around the Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes warmed Kettle, and enjoy some great taste sensations with that distinct, succulent flavour, in a fitting farewell to John.

Albeit, the occasion was bitter sweet, the day was a great success with three wonderful dishes satisfying all, including a special new recipe from Julian Wu - Leg of Goat with a fragrant chilli marinade. Below is the recipe so that you can test out this new sensation for yourselves:

Roast Goat with a Fragrant Chilli Marinade
Ingredients:
A leg of goat

Marinade:½ tspn preserved tofu in chilli oil (available at Asian Grocery Stores)
2-3 tbls of the Chilli Oil the tofu is preserved in
2-3 tbls basic BBQ rub (see below)
1-2 Szechuan peppercorns (also available at Asian Grocery Stores)

Blend these ingredients into a paste and brush onto Goat leg, leave overnight to marinate.

Basic BBQ Rub:
Equal quantities of salt, pepper (white and black) garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika.

Method:
When the Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes have ashed over, add some hickory wood chips, that have been soaking in boiling water for about 15-20 minutes.

Rest a Heat Beads® BBQ Tray inside the BBQ, with a little water inside. Lay the leg of goat across the BBQ, and close the lid. Leave the goat to roast within its own succulent juices for about 1.5 to 2 hours (depending on the size of the leg). About 2-3 times during the cooking process, baste the leg with the marinade.

This recipe will work equally as well with Lamb, if you find goat is a hard find.

Julian also recommends the same base recipe with a marinade that contains equal quantities of:
Garlic paste, lemon juice, good quality olive oil and mustard.

Although we are incredibly sad to see one of the most passionate char grillers in Australian BBQ’ing leave us, we wish John and his family all the best in Kansas City!

It is an ill wind that blows no good… or so they say! After a false start to this year’s Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show when gale force winds lasted five hours and forced closure on the first day, it was business as usual on day two at the Royal Exhibition Buildings and Carlton Gardens in Melbourne.

From today until Sunday April 6 Heat Beads® BBQ briquettes will be keeping the hoards happy with delicious, mouth watering char grill recipes from Stavros Tavern. I had the Lamb Souvlaki, which really did just melt in my mouth. Meet the man with the moustache and the biggest smile in town, at Stavros Tavern Catering beside the entrance to the Exhibition Buildings. Just follow your nose - yum…does it smell good - and look for the Heat Beads® barriers.

It is no secret to us that Heat Beads® solid BBQ fuel is the best around and we are so pleased that so many of our wonderful subscribers feel the same way! Here’s what one of the three runner-up entrants in the Steve Raichlen Book Competition had to say:

That char taste is hard to replicate,
But with Heat Bead Briquettes I can create!
A BBQ that all envy and cheer,
Everyone’s welcome - but don’t forget the Beer!!
Peta Booker

Congratulations to all our entrants in the Steven Raichlen Book Competition - we received some brilliant entries and these will be featured on our Sizzle blog and on the website in the coming months:

Winner: J. Collins

Finalists: P. Booker, D. Aitchison, L. Bree and V. Hawkins.

Join the fun and be one of ten lucky BBQ News subscribers to win a Winter Warmer pack of the latest DVD’s and CD’s.
Get cosy and warm while you watch four of the latest blockbuster movies on DVD - Atonement, Southland Tales, American Gangster and Golden Age, and four of the latest CDs from popular artists such as Brian McFadden, Vanessa Amorosi, Mika and Rihanna!

How to win
To be in the running, all you have to do is be one of the first 100 subscribers to complete our quick Heat Beads® Survey. You will then be entered into the draw automatically! The winners will be notified by email by 20th May 2008.