Paula McIntyre: It’s officially time to dust off the BBQ and get grilling in the great outdoors

It’s now officially time to dust off the barbecue and get grilling in the great outdoors. As one of those old fashioned grillers I prefer to cook over charcoal. Something magical happens when food gets a kiss of smoke. One of the benefits of cooking on coal is you can use the dying embers to bury things in. I like to cook onions, beetroot, even turnip in the hot coal. The outside scorches but you’re left with an inside of sweet, smoky and unique flavours. Cooking on gas however is a lot handier and you still get to be in the fresh air

When I was younger no one had the fancy, high tech grills we have now. You got a couple of bricks, piled the middle with logs and set a mesh grill on top. It mightn’t have had the sophistication of outdoor cooking areas now but the food tasted great. A humble sausage was heightened to a different level. One of my outstanding food memories is of potatoes wrapped in foil, buried in the ashes for an hour and then split open and lathered with butter. Simple but truly delicious.

Pork really suits being cooked on the grill – especially when it’s got some fat to sizzle. You may think of pork belly as a slow cooking cut but if you slice it thinly and marinate it, it’s perfect to be barbecued. Porchetta is normally a slow cooked shoulder of pork but I’ve transferred the aromatic blend you use of fennel, garlic, lemon and rosemary into belly slices instead. Marinate for a day in the fridge then grill and baste with lemon juice, honey and balsamic. To accompany I’ve added a recipe for grilled marinated peppers. Red peppers are scorched on the grill then peeled, deseeded and sliced and mixed in with onions, garlic and vinegar. Sticky, aromatic meat with smoky peppers and all done on the grill.

Barbecue and burgers are a classic match made in heaven. If you make your own burgers then you can control the fat to meat ratio. Hand chopped meat is better than minced and if you grate in some bone marrow fat you’ll end up with the juiciest, tastiest burger. Add some grated onion, garlic and an egg yolk to bind. I’ve added a recipe for buttermilk buns or you could just go to the bakery and get some fluffy baps. This is a recipe for a cheeseburger – no lettuce, tomato or other such adulterations, just good meat in a bun with cheese, as it should be.