What is Taco Tuesday all about?

Taco Tuesday started out as a custom in many parts of the United States of going out to eat tacos on Tuesday nights, whereby restaurants would often offer special prices to attract new customers. The phrase “Taco Tuesday” used as an advertisement started in the late 1960s and has now become something of a global phenomenon, thanks in part to the Los Angeles Lakers basketball player LeBron James’ frequent use of the phrase.

It is now a common thing to see photos of tacos on social media on Tuesdays across the world. They might be posted by restaurants to draw in the crowds, or by people at home who want to show off their cooking skills. The grilling community is no exception, with BBQ chefs and backyard grillers also showing off their abilities every Tuesday!

Tacos are a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small tortilla (corn or wheat) topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with meat, fish, vegetables or cheese, and garnished with condiments like salsa, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, and chiles. Tacos are a common form of Mexican street food, which are now loved around the world! Why? Tacos are delicious, cheap, and easy to make. They are fun to assemble at the table, and people can avoid any ingredients they dislike.

Taco Tuesday gives people the excuse they need to eat too many delicious tacos and wash them down with a margarita or two! Here is our celebration of the taco, with easy-to-follow recipes for fish tacos, minced beef tacos, corn tortillas, a selection of salsas, and of course a margarita!

Tacos de pescado (fish tacos for 4 people)

Ingredients: 700g lean white fish fillets (we used cod), salt and freshly ground black pepper, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, juice of 1 small lime, 1 clove minced garlic, ½ finely chopped onion, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp paprika, 12 small corn tortillas (see recipe below), lime wedges and fresh coriander to garnish.

• Season the fish on both sides.
• Whisk together the oil, lime juice, garlic, onion, chili powder, cumin, and paprika.
• In a bowl, pour the marinade over the fish and refrigerate for an hour.
• Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Brush grill with oil and grill the fish filets for about 3-4 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of the fish, flipping only once.
• Add the corn tortillas to the grill and warm for about 15 seconds on each side.
• Transfer the fish to a plate and rest for a few minutes. Break into pieces.
• Serve on warm tortillas, topped with crema agria (see below), fresh coriander and lime wedges. You can also add guacamole (see below) and other desired toppings.

Tacos de ternera picada (minced beef/veal tacos for 4 people)

Ingredients: 500g beef or veal mince, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 onion (finely chopped) 1 carrot (finely chopped), 1 green or red pepper (de-seeded and finely chopped), 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped), 2tsp ground cumin, 2tsp smoked paprika, 2tsp dried oregano, 0.5tsp chilli powder, 15 small corn tortillas (see recipe below)

• Heat the oil in a large frying pan or sauté pan over a medium heat on the grill, then add the onion, carrot, and pepper, stirring regularly until softened, this will take about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute. Then add the spices and the meat and fry it until it is brown all over (about another 10 minutes). Season with salt and pepper.
• Add the corn tortillas to the grill and warm for about 15 seconds on each side.
• Serve the minced meat on each tortilla, topped with pico de gallo (see below), sliced avocados or guacamole (see below), grated cheese and jalopeño chiles.

Tortillas de maíz (corn tortillas)

Ingredients: 400g maize flour, 750ml water, 5g salt

• Put 750ml of water into a large mixing bowl.
• In a separate bowl measure out 400g of maize flour and mix in 5g salt.
• Sprinkle the maize flour and salt onto the water in a mixing bowl and stir into a paste. With your hands knead the mixture making sure all the lumps are gone and work the mixture into a large ball which shouldn’t be sticky. Leave it to stand for a few minutes.
• Then divide the ball into smaller balls the size of golf balls.
• Use a tortilla press lined with plastic to get tortillas approximately 20cm in diameter. Use a hot griddle on your grill to cook them for about 1 minute on each side until they are lightly browned and puffed up. Stack them on a plate with a tea towel on top to keep them warm and moist.

Pico de Gallo (tomato salsa)

Ingredients: 2 chopped tomatoes, 1 small red onion – peeled and finely chopped, 1 clove garlic – minced, chopped coriander (cilantro) and chopped jalapeños (to taste)

• In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro and jalapeño.

Crema agria (or sour cream sauce made from Greek yogurt)

Ingredients: 1 cup Greek yoghurt, ½ cup mayonnaise, 1tbsp lime juice, salt, pepper.

• Add the Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, lime juice, and seasonings to a bowl. Stir until smooth.

Guacamole

Ingredients: 2 ripe avocados, 1 medium sized tomato seeded and chopped finely, 1 medium regular or sweet onion depending on if you like it hot or not, 1 jalapeño pepper seeded and chopped, 30 gr finely chopped coriander leaves (cilantro), ¼ tsp. each of ground cumin and coriander seed, ½ tsp. salt, the juice of 1½ limes

• In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the avocados.
• Peel and remove the pits from the avocados.
• Cut the avocado coarsely and add to the rest of the mixture.
• Mash the mixture with the back of a fork until you obtain a nice consistency. Do not over mash the avocado as guacamole should have chunks of avocado in it.
• Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.

Margaritas

Ingredients for 2 glasses: 2 lime wedges, rock salt, 4 measures tequila, 2 measures lime juice, 2 measures triple sec.

• Rub the rim of each glass with a lime wedge and dip it in the salt.
• Pour the tequila, lime juice and triple sec into a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes. Cover and shake. Strain into the glasses and serve immediately with a slice of lime as a decoration.

Happy Taco Tuesday!

This blog is written by a group of beginner-kamado-users who wanted to find out how kamados work by trying out a few simple recipes. Fornetto is happy to share their experiences to help guide other beginners! 

We are a small group of kamado novices, who between us have plenty of years of experience cooking with a conventional oven but are relatively new to kamado cooking. A couple of weekends ago, we tried out the Lento Medium Red and we were really impressed to discover how much better things can taste when they have been prepared in a kamado! Read our blog below to find out:  

• The basics of kamado cooking – direct vs indirect cooking and controlling the temperature 
• Roasting whole sweet potatoes and onions using indirect cooking 
• Recipe: Grilled pork chops with a nectarine sauce 
• Tips for making great pizza in a kamado 
• Recipe: Grilled ribeye steak with mushrooms 
• Recipe: Sourdough pizza dough 

The basics of kamado cooking – direct vs indirect cooking and controlling the temperature 

In a nutshell, we quickly discovered that kamados can be used to cook food in a direct way – straight over the coals like a traditional charcoal barbecue, or indirectly using the half-moon deflectors. They can be used very hot for searing, or with the temperature right down, low and slow. Kamados are incredibly versatile – they can grill, roast, bake or smoke – but we found out that whatever method is used to cook the food, the thick ceramic insulation means the charcoal lasts for ages.  

This blog focuses on a few simple recipes using direct and indirect heat, but we didn´t get the chance to turn it down a notch, so watch this space and another blog will be coming soon when we will record our attempts to cook the food low and slow.  

Roasting whole sweet potatoes and onions using indirect cooking 

The first recipe was incredibly simple. We brushed a little olive oil on half a dozen each of medium sized sweet potatoes and whole onions, and a sprinkling of salt. We placed them directly on the oiled grills of the kamado, with the deflector plates in place, at a temperature of about 200ºC, and turned them once during the cooking process. After 40 minutes they were completely soft with a crispy brown exterior.  

We served each sweet potato with half a roasted onion and some couscous salad. To make the couscous salad we cooked 200g of couscous (according to the packet instructions). We cooled the couscous, fluffed it up with a fork, and added a packet of baby spinach leaves (which had been wilted in a frying pan with a clove of finely chopped garlic), a large handful of roughly chopped pistachios, a handful of chopped dried cranberries, a packet of feta cheese cut into cubes, the chopped flesh of a couple of the roasted onions, chopped fresh basil, salt and pepper. We finished the couscous off with a generous glug of vinaigrette dressing.  

Recipe: Grilled pork chops with a nectarine sauce 

We bought fat bone-in pork chops about 3cm thick. Prior to going in the kamado, we prepared half of them with a generous amount of Wyld Smoke Rubs’ Stockmans Meat Rub on each side (available from Bunnings Australia) and the other half with salt, pepper and finely chopped garlic. We allowed the chops to come up to room temperature while we prepared the kamado and made the nectarine balsamic reduction. 

We brought the kamado up to temperature at 160ºC with one of the deflector plates in position.  

While the kamado was stabilising at the right temperature, we poured 200ml of balsamic vinegar and a sprig of thyme into a saucepan and boiled off 75% of the liquid to get a balsamic reduction. We added three ripe nectarines (chopped into small pieces) into the balsamic reduction, along with a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar and the grated zest of a lime. We stirred for a few minutes until the nectarines had started to break down and caramelise. 

Once the kamado was ready, we positioned the seasoned chops, two at a time, in the area of the grill over the half-moon deflector plate until the internal temperature reached 60ºC. Then we moved them to the front of the grill, where they were seared directly over the coals for 2 minutes on each side, while the next batch of two took their place over the heat deflector. The chops were left to rest for 5-10mins. 

They were served with a spoonful of the balsamic and nectarine reduction. By cooking them using this reverse sear method, the pork chops were deliciously succulent! 

Tips for making great pizza in a kamado 

We had never made pizza in a kamado before and were really impressed with the results. The base was much crispier than it is possible to achieve in a conventional oven, perhaps because a kamado is a much drier environment, and the moisture is driven away through the pizza stone. 

We made sourdough pizzas and have provided brief instructions on how to make the sourdough dough at the end of this blog. However, if you do not already have a sourdough starter, you can use a traditional pizza dough instead, using the instructions provided here on the Fornetto website for perfect pizza dough.  

Earlier in the day we had made a tomato sauce, by gently frying a couple of cloves of finely chopped garlic in olive oil with a couple of sprigs of finely chopped rosemary and thyme. After a minute we added a kilo of skinned and chopped plum tomatoes (skin the tomatoes by first immersing them in boiling water for a minute or so). If you don’t have access to ripe fresh plum tomatoes, you can use a couple of tins of plum tomatoes. They are nearly as good! After about 30 minutes of gently simmering, we seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper and used a stick blender to get a thick sauce.  

Here are a few tips regarding the assembly of the pizzas: 

• When shaping the dough, use lots of flour to stop the dough from sticking to your hands.  
• Make the dough base on a work surface and then lift the base onto a pizza peel dusted with a flour and semolina mix. Assemble the pizzas on the peel and leave for 10-30mins to give the dough some time for a final rise.  
• Minimise the number of toppings you use. The best pizzas have a minimal number of top-quality ingredients. We made a Margherita (tomato sauce, Mozzarella cheese, olive oil, fresh basil, and black pepper) and a second pizza with tomato sauce, mixed mushrooms, black olives, parmesan and basil.  
• Transfer the pizza to the hot kamado with a stabilised temperature using the peel. We cooked at 300 ºC with the deflector plates in place and a pizza stone on the grill. The pizza should be ready in about 9 or 10 minutes, but keep an eye on it, and towards the end of the cooking time, gently lift the pizza at the edge with a spatula to check the base isn’t too brown.  
• Consult our recipe below and pictures for how to make sourdough pizza. 

Recipe: Grilled ribeye steak with mushrooms 

We bought two large ribeye steaks about 3cm in thickness which we rubbed lightly with olive oil, and liberally applied some BBQ rub to each side before refrigerating for about 5 hours. We used Blue Smoke Texas-style BBQ rub, for a smoky and spicy flavour (available in Bunnings Australia). Before cooking we bought the steaks up to room temperature. We also bought half a kilo of mixed mushrooms which we diced and marinated in a few tablespoons of vinaigrette dressing.  

We pre-heated the kamado for hot direct heat, at least 380ºC.  

Once the kamado was up to temperature we patted the steak dry and put them directly on the grill over the hot coals and closed the lid. After 1.5 minutes we flipped the steaks. After a further 1.5 minutes we checked the internal temperature. We were aiming for somewhere between medium rare (55ºC) and medium (60ºC). Once done we removed them from the heat and dotted them with some herby butter. We then loosely wrapped them in foil and left the steaks to rest for 10 minutes.    

Meanwhile we grilled the mushrooms in a grill basket over the direct heat until the mushrooms were nicely browned. We seasoned the mushrooms and stirred in some chopped chives, before placing them on top of the rested steaks. Simple, easy and delicious!  

Recipe: Sourdough pizza dough 

Here are some pictures of us making the sourdough for our pizzas, and some brief instructions. We are assuming you already have a sourdough starter, but if not, you will either need to obtain one from a friend (if you know somebody who bakes with sourdough) or make your own, which will take about a week to make from scratch. We have had the same sourdough starter in our fridge since the first Covid-19 lockdown of May 2020, when a kind friend gave us some to mitigate a national shortage in baking yeast. Since then, we have made numerous loaves, pita breads and of course pizza! 

The first picture shows our sourdough starter, which we have kept in the same jam jar with a lid for the last 2 years (the starter doesn’t go bad since the yeast cells prohibit the growth of bacteria or mould). About an hour earlier we had fed the sourdough starter with a “feed” of equal quantities of flour and warm water, amounting to 350ml, which is the same amount of sourdough starter we were going to use to make our pizza (that way the level in the jar never drops!). The bubbles in the middle are an indication that a chemical reaction is taking place. After an hour or so, the starter has risen and is ready to use. We mixed the contents of the jar with a spoon.  

The third picture shows a big mixing bowl containing 450 grams of strong flour and 400 grams of plain flour (ours contained a mix of wholemeal and white flours, but it is up to you what you want to use). The fourth picture shows the same bowl with the addition of 350ml of the sourdough starter and 10g of salt. Combine everything by first mixing with your hands, as shown in the fifth picture, and then kneading the dough in the sixth picture. Stretch and work the dough using the heel of you hand. It will take 5 to 10 minutes of kneading before you can form a ball of smooth elastic dough.   

Place the ball of dough in an oiled bowl, which has plenty of room for the dough to grow and leave in a warm place. It will take about 6 hours for the ball of dough to double in size, but this will depend on the ambient temperature. The eighth picture shows somebody knocking back the dough, by immersing the fingertips in the dough, prior to removing a smaller ball of dough about the size of a small apple (approx. 150g). Stretch the ball of dough into a pizza shape ready for topping. You should have enough dough to make about 8-10 small pizzas. Enjoy!  

At the end of May, the Fornetto team met up with videographers, photographers, distributors, retailers and friends to get some imagery for our new products in development, and to get feedback from everyone on what they thought of the products. It was a great day, full of laughter with plenty of unique insights into the best ways to cook outside, bringing together different regional perspectives from a truly international group of people!

This blog gives a sneak preview of the products under development with images of the prototypes, as well as new videos and photographs of some of our old favourites from the existing Fornetto range. All the images were taken against the beautiful backdrop of rural Asturias in Northern Spain, where the team got to try the local cuisine as well as consume the grilled food from the day.

The first product to get all the attention was the Razzo Pro, our top-of-the-range 18” smoker for the true professional. The team lit the smoker and smoked some seasoned prawns, with occasional bastings of butter. We made the most of the stackable baskets, grill trays and hanging hooks, and proved the product was easy to push around and light using the large access door and Binchotan charcoal. The prawns didn´t take long!

Next up were the Endeavour 3 Burner and the Endeavour 4 Burner Pro, new prototypes which everyone agreed looked sleek and stylish. The Endeavour models come with the GrillSmart™ Oil Management System and cast-iron grills as standard, a system which channels fats and oils away from food during the cooking process into a conveniently placed collection cup at the front of the barbecue. The result is healthier, great-tasting food, reduced flare-ups and less time wasted cleaning up! Additional features include Insultouch™ (the double skinned roasting hood which keeps the heat in), powerful burners, precise control knobs, and the Jet Force ignition system.

While we were testing the Endeavour models, we fired up the Conquest 410, one of our most popular high-quality gas barbecues, with the aim of cooking some serious quantities of food! Throughout the day, the Conquest was a work horse, grilling a whole host of different vegetables, steaks, ribs, a leg of lamb, Hasselbeck potatoes, and chickens on the rotisserie.

Kamados are becoming increasingly popular, because of their huge versatility and a very broad temperature range. Fornetto unveiled its new Lento Pro prototype, which combines everything you could possibly want from a kamado with the high quality you’d expect from Fornetto. The result has beauty, clever design, precise control, optimised space, ease of use and a tough exterior.

We also took the opportunity to fire up the old faithful Lento Medium Red and roast some ribs and potatoes nice and slow over Binchotan charcoal. Our expert guests were only too happy to give a hand and show some of the novices how it should be done!

Fornetto showed the Rapido prototype, a bespoke gas table-top pizza oven, which despite its compact size, is able to quickly grill large pizzas. We should take the opportunity to thank our Italian guests from Il Mondo, who offered invaluable insight into pizza ovens and the best ways to grill a pizza using gas. Once finalised, we know the Rapido will be a best-seller; what can honestly be better than sitting outside around the table watching your own pizza cook?

Finally, we moved down to the water´s edge where we tried out our last product under development, our firepit – the Inferno. The product was easy to light and we piled in the logs to make the grill surface incredibly hot. We then proceeded to grill paella using the support ring at the top, and on the grill surface around the edge we grilled salmon fillets, burgers, whole small sardines, spears of asparagus and beef ribs. The grill surface was hot and the food cooked quickly. I think it is safe to say everyone loved it; it really is the perfect way to enjoy the flames and the heat whilst grilling dinner with friends.

Watch our video promotional video with highlights from the day, by clicking here.

Thanks to everyone who helped on the day, including Il Mondo del Barbecue from Italy, United Brands Group from the Netherlands, and Barbecue World, Estudio Lima, and Musgo Photography from Spain.

It is the season for Asparagus in Europe. So, with that in mind, we went foraging for wild asparagus near the banks of the Nalon river in Asturias, Spain. Wild asparagus is one of the most valued and widely consumed non-cultivated plants throughout the Mediterranean region.

Asparagus acutifolius, or wild asparagus is an evergreen perennial plant that grows on its own in the wild. We found it growing in grassy areas of abandoned pastures, not far from the river edge. The soil in the areas we found the spears was quite sandy with a history of disturbance. We tell you this so you might know where to try looking for some!

Finding the wild asparagus was no easy feat, since many of the spears were hidden amongst other plants. The stalks themselves were easily identifiable once we knew where to find them. We harvested the longer shoots, snapping the spear close to the ground.

Asparagus can grow up to 25cm in a 24 hour period, so we can return in a few days to find more fresh spears. While we were looking for the asparagus we stumbled on some fresh fennel growth, which we also picked.

Wild asparagus has a stronger flavour than its cultivated cousin and is great when partnered with olive oil and lemon. We decided to skewer the stalks together and grill them on the barbecue, partnering it with a hollandaise sauce.

We removed the tough bottom of each asparagus spear by holding each end and bending it gently until it snapped at its natural point of tenderness. Then we rinsed the spears to remove any residues of the sandy soil. We brushed the spears with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and freshly ground pepper. Then we placed the asparagus on a medium-heat grill. Our grill had a lid, so we closed it. The asparagus was grilled until it started to go brown after about 6 minutes for the thinner spears and 8 minutes for the fatter spears.

While the asparagus was grilling, we made a hollandaise sauce. We heated up 60 grams of butter in a microwave for about 1 minute until it was pretty hot (with steam coming off) making sure we covered it in case it overboiled.

Meanwhile, in a jug, we combined 3 large egg yolks, 1tbsp lemon juice, 1tsp mustard, pinch salt, and a pinch of chilli powder. Using a hand blender, the mixture was pulsed for about 10 seconds. Then, with the hand blender running, we slowly added the hot butter until it was beautifully smooth. We poured the sauce into a small bowl.

Then the dish was assembled. Grilled asparagus first, a drizzle of hollandaise sauce, and a few small sprigs of fresh fennel.

Here are some other tips for grilling asparagus, which we recently featured on Instagram @FornettoOvens

Try roasting your asparagus in an oven, smoker or kamado on a wood plank to give your food a delicious, smoky flavour. Wood planks are an easy way to cook fish, meat, chicken, cheese and vegetables. Have a look at Fornetto’s beech wood plank by clicking here.

Try brushing olive oil over the asparagus spears to coat and wrapping each spear in a slice of bacon. Pin with a toothpick to hold it together and grill on medium heat over an oiled grate until the bacon is crispy, 3 minutes on each side. Season with pepper and serve with lemon wedges. Easy and delicious!

Try coating your asparagus, or any vegetable, with olive oil, minced garlic and a sprinkle of your favourite rub before grilling. If you live in Australia you could try a generous shake of Wyld Smoke Rubs Stockmans Meat Rub!

By Anthony Demarco

I was very excited to finally get to Melbourne Meatstock after 2 years of delays and anticipation, and it was definitely worth the wait. It was fantastic to be able to check out all the stalls and exhibitions, try some amazing food, chat with the vendors, and spend time catching up with people for a drink throughout the weekend.

The most exciting part of the weekend was competing in the Melbourne Barbecue Wars for the first time, which comprised five categories – Chicken, Pork Ribs, Pork, Lamb and Beef Brisket, all to be cooked, presented and handed in to the judges for tasting and scoring throughout the course of the day.

All of these meats were cooked on the trusty 22 inch Fornetto Razzo and its newly acquired offsider, the 18 inch Catalyst Pro. I love using these smokers for competitions as they are reliable, easy to transport and can cook a lot of meat at once.

The day kicked off at 4am to start preparing for an intense day of cooking. Thankfully once I lit my binchotan charcoal and dialled in the vents I could be confident the Razzo would hold steady at around 300°F all day, so I could focus my attention on juggling all the different meats I had to cook. Once the brisket, pork and lamb shoulders were prepped, rubbed and into the Razzo it was time for a well-earned coffee while I reviewed the timetable for the rest of the day.

Now that I was re-energised it was time to light the Catalyst Pro and get everything else going – the pork ribs were hung under the top grill with a tray of chicken on top as well. From here it was a constant whirlwind of wrapping meats, preparing sauces, slicing, pulling, glazing, presenting hand-in boxes, and what proved to be the most difficult part of the day – pushing through the crowds to get the hand-ins to the judging table. Thankfully by this stage me wife had arrived to do the dreaded parsley trimming, where she made a new little friend, as well as supporting me and taking photos along the way.

We tasted all of the meats after hand-in to gauge how it would taste to the judges. The chicken was perfectly tender and had a great flavour, and the glaze was set perfectly. The pork ribs had a fantastic flavour and bite through, although were slightly let down by the glaze being a little uneven. We tried one of the pork medallions and absolutely loved it (the judges, not so much). The lamb was okay, but we felt it didn’t pack enough flavour. And finally the brisket – really enjoyed the taste, especially the burnt ends which were like eating little beefy marshmallows.

With the last hand-in came a feeling of accomplishment. This was the biggest competition I’ve done so far and also the happiest I’ve been with my cook. All that was left now was to find the bar, grab a drink, and await the results.

A pincho (also known as pintxo or pinchu) is a small snack, typically eaten in the bars of Northern Spain while hanging out with friends or relatives. Pinchos are all about eating and drinking with your mates at any time of the day, with delicious toppings often being ‘spiked’ with a toothpick to a base, such as a piece of bread. Bars and restaurants often hold regional competitions for the best pincho, so on this note we decided to copy the professionals and have our own pincho celebration, using the grill to make the most of the fine weather.

The pinchos we made were prepared and served over a period of several hours. Here are a couple of recipes:

Herbed minced cod cake served with Greek yoghurt with sumac, mango, red onion and chilli in a homemade sourdough pitta.

To make the cod cake mince 400 grams of cod and combine with one clove of crushed garlic, a handful of chopped parsley, the finely grated zest of a couple of lemons, a teaspoon of cumin, half a teaspoon of chilli, salt and pepper, and one beaten egg. Shape into small patties and refrigerate before grilling on an oiled medium grill for three minutes on each side until browned (use a grill topper to prevent bits falling into the BBQ). Serve with Greek yogurt sprinkled with sumac, salt, pepper, and finely chopped chives. In a separate bowl combine chopped mango, finely sliced red onions, and finely chopped parsley and chives. Serve everything in a small homemade (or shop bought) sourdough pita bread.

Courgettes stuffed with Manchego cheese, cashews, lemon, cumin and herbs topped with a herb and nut salsa.

To make, scrape out 6 large courgette halves with a spoon, leaving a 1cm wall – then brush the empty halves with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Create the filling by combining the finely chopped flesh of the courgettes (squeeze over a colander to remove water) with a crushed clove of garlic, 60 grams of grated Manchego cheese, a large handful of sourdough breadcrumbs, the grated zest of a couple of lemons, 60 grams of lightly toasted cashews, a heaped teaspoon of ground cumin, a large handful of chopped parsley and chives, salt and pepper. Fill the courgettes with the filling. Grill on a medium grill for 30 minutes until set and browned. Serve with a salsa made from olive oil, a few more finally chopped and toasted cashews, a handful of extra herbs, some lemon juice, and some salt and pepper (loosely derived from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi).

And here is a rundown of what else was presented and consumed!

Crispy Spanish morcilla (blood sausage) with caramelised lime-soaked apple, sprinkled chives and maple syrup, served on a freshly baked crumpet.

Dried courgette, Greek yoghurt, salmon caviar and fresh dill, served on a freshly grilled potato latka.

Ceviche made from hake with avocado, tomato and red onion salsa with aji chilli, served on a lightly grilled arepa.

Grilled prawns on a romesco sauce in a freshly cooked artichoke heart with a single caper.

Scallop, wrapped in bacon, pan fried over the grill with a stewed apple confit and maple syrup drizzle.

If you are lucky enough to be able to travel to Northern Spain to visit the bars and restaurants serving Pinchos, some of the best places to visit are Bilbao and San Sebastian, for the large number of pincho bars. Pinchos are often eaten as dinner, so the best time to find them is in the evening, after work, when all the locals go out for a pincho and a drink.

However, if you aren’t able to visit Northern Spain, you can always make your own, and they can be as complicated or as easy as you like. We hope the ideas above give you a taste of what you could make, but otherwise if you select your favourite fish/seafood, meat, cheese or vegetable, you can combine them in any way you like and serve them warm, or cold, on bread or any other base you like. Enjoy!

Earlier this year, we were super-excited to be trying out the Fornetto Explorer during our first BBQ of 2022! The weather in Northern Spain shone down on us as we tried out many of the different features of the barbecue.

Regarding capacity, the Explorer easily catered for our hungry group. The 52cm direct and indirect grill meant there was plenty of room to provide for 12 people. To start with we grilled some chorizo sausages with some veggie kebabs, having previously marinated the sliced vegetables in a mixture of thyme leaves, crushed garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and honey. We also made “pizza mushrooms” which were quick to make and a big hit! The procedure was simply peeling a few field mushrooms or large button mushrooms, removing the stalk, and then adding a heaped teaspoon of home-made or shop-bought tomato sauce to the underside of the mushroom. Each upturned mushroom was then topped with grated cheese, capers and chopped olives. They then sat on the hot grill until brown and bubbling.

Fortunately for us, our BBQ coincided with World Pizza Day! To mark the event we made pizzas on the Explorer. We made a pizza with oyster mushrooms for the vegetarians and a calzone with serrano ham and olives. Both had the most delicious crunchy crusts, thanks to the porous pizza stone which absorbed the moisture from the crust of the pizzas. Because of their size, we lightly fried the large oyster mushrooms before topping the sourdough base along with homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmesan and black olives. While making the pizza we kept on both the stainless-steel ring and hood. We also made sure the Explorer was up to temperature (around 230 degrees centigrade) before putting the pizza in.

Next up on the menu were lamb and pistachio patties, using a recipe written by Yotam Ottolenghi. The patties were easy to prepare and grilled to perfection on the Explorer. We used a mesh grill mat, which sat on top of the grill and meant that any small bits that broke off during the cooking process weren´t lost amongst the charcoal.

We also barbecued quail on the Explorer, with overnight-marinated spatchcocked quail. Removing the backbone and ribs from the birds was fiddly, but the flavour made it all worth it! Once on the hot BBQ, they took just 15 minutes to cook through with the hood on.

While testing out the Explorer, we used Binchotan White Charcoal (available at selected Bunnings in Australia). Because of its high density, this charcoal can be more difficult to light than others. However, we had no difficulties lighting it on the lower grill in the Explorer with a firelighter and a couple of dry pinecones. The charcoal easily lasted through the multiple grillings of the day. At the end we removed the ring from the Explorer, closed down the vents, and put the lid on to smother it. That way we were left with plenty of Binchotan to use again (and again!).

Overall, we were very impressed with the Explorer. It had a good capacity and thanks to the direct and indirect grilling options, it was incredibly versatile. There are still some features we need to test out, like the rotisserie, but that just gives us the excuse to spend another day cooking outside with friends and family!

Truth be told, I find entertaining based around anything that involves fire and smoke some of the best entertaining you can do! Fire and smoke bring out a certain deep-seeded nostalgia in people that we seldom get to relive in our day to day routines and a wood-fired oven accomplishes that perfectly. In this segment, we’re in beautiful Barcelona, Spain where the trees are just starting to turn green, the mimosa’s in full bloom and the temperature is just perfect for an early spring smoking party.

With the help of some close friends and using the Fornetto, I decided to smoke a 6 kilo (13 pound) ham. In preparation, I first glazed it with orange, cloves, tamarind and maple syrup before smoking it for three hours. The results were amazing!

Juicy, tender and succulent. Click here for the recipe and method!

Smoking is not a typical practice in the south of Europe as meats and fish are fresh year round. As Europe has become border-free and cultures are mixing, smoked foods are becoming more and more available in the south and tastes are developing for what the North has enjoyed for millennia!

Smoking has always been more prevalent in Northern European countries as it was once used as a way to preserve meats and fish for the long winter months. That being said however, smoked food is being adopted by Southern Europeans as it becomes a more common practice and the Iberian pork of Spain CANNOT be beat!

As the guests anticipate the first bite, the Fornetto Oven cools in the background, waiting for its next assignment!

My dear friend David, originally from Mexico, carves any roast like a pro!

The line-up begins and the crowd looks pleased!

Smoking is a technique that dates back to the time of primitive hunters. After having returned home from a hunt, the men would hang the meat to dry in the caves or simple huts that they lived in.

As these dwellings had no source of ventilation and would become extremely smoky, these early hunters quickly learnt that the meat that hung close to the fire and smoke both tasted better and were better preserved than the meat that was simply hung up to dry.

Every good roast, smoked or not, needs a side or two. Scroll further for great side ideas!

Any fresh cruciferous vegetables work well in this recipe. Broccoli, cauliflower, kale or Brussels’ sprouts to name a few.

Super cheesy brocoli, cauliflower and kale casserole with bread crumb and Grana Padano cheese topping. This casserole makes a great side to any roast! 

The techniques for smoking have naturally evolved over time as have the appliances, such as wood-fired ovens. Traditionally, in the Western world, farms would have a smokehouse in which large quantities of meat and fish could be smoked. In Asia, a large wok would be used to smoke tea.

These days smokers for domestic use, such as the Fornetto, are becoming more and more available. The use of different woods for smoking vary greatly from region to region as well, from fruit-tree woods such as cherry and apple to oak and alder in Europe.

The traditional use of mesquite and hickory are typically North-American whereas the use of manuka (tea tree) is predominantly used in New-Zealand for smoking fish. Interestingly enough, however, burning wood is not the only source of flavourings for smoked foods. In China, dry rice, sugar, and tea are burnt to flavour foods.

Peat moss is commonly used to smoke the barley malt to make whiskey and certain beers. Iceland boasts burning sheep dung as the flavouring of choice yet I remain reticent!

Yet another great side dish for any roast, yellow rice with cherry tomatoes.

Click here for my signature yellow rice recipe!

How we prepare our foods prior to smoking has changed significantly. The original process of salting or salt-water brining before smoking pre-cures foods and readies them for storage once smoked. This technique combined with exposing the foods to long periods of smoking, up to several days, in fact, ensures proper curing. Although this approach is still widely used, there are three methods that are more commonly used at home:

• Cold smoking involves cooking the foods first and then exposing them to smoke for flavouring in a relatively cool environment, 20 to 30 °C (68 to 86 °F). This results in foods that are rich in smokey flavour yet retain their moisture. Foods that are cold-smoked must be cooked first as cold smoking does not cook or cure meats, fish or poultry, however, it is the technique that should be used for smoking cheese for an obvious reason; its low melting point. (We will examine cold smoking more closely in a future post.)
• Hot smoking requires the foods to be subjected to moderate heat, 52 to 80 °C (126 to 176 °F) as well as hot smoke which cooks the food at the same time as it’s being smoked. Hot smoking fully cooks the foods ready for consumption directly from the smoker. The moderate temperature not only cooks the food but prevents it from losing moisture and rendering its fat. This is important for foods that require a certain fat content to remain palatable, such as smoked salmon or bacon.
• Smoke roasting / baking is any technique where foods are cooked and smoked at temperatures exceeding those of hot smoking. Examples of these are barbecuing over charcoal or wood, tandoor cooking or pit roasting. Since the temperature used for this technique is quite high and cooks very quickly, this method of smoking creates foods with the least amount of smokey flavour.

Note: When smoking cured or raw meat, fish or poultry remember to always allow it to form a pellicle, a slightly tacky (not slimy) layer of protein on the surface of the food you’re smoking.

Times will vary based on if the foods are raw, have been cured or depending on if it’s meat, fish or poultry. A good rule of thumb is to do so uncovered, on a rack in the fridge overnight. Fish, for example, creates a pellicle quite quickly whereas meats and poultry take longer.

A proper pellicle on the food that’s about to be smoked is what will ensure adhesion of the smoke and will determine the amount of smoky flavour and colour it absorbs. It equally acts as a protective barrier that will ensure your food doesn’t dry out during the smoking process.

A great tip if using the Fornetto smoking chips is to allow them to soak directly in the waterproof bag. I always keep one bag humid and one dry as I like to top off the smoldering chips with fresh, dry chips for a final burst of instant smoky flavour. Click on the picture for more information on the Fornetto smoking chips.

Tip: If using wood chips, such as Fornetto brand smoking chips, remember that for optimum results, soaking them for about an hour prior to introducing them into the combustion chamber will produce a slower burn and maximum smoke.

You’re in for a treat. Enjoy!

Pizza is famous the world over and comes with the most basic toppings like the original Neapolitan Pizza Margherita with tomato sauce, basil and cheese to luxury toppings such as caviar and foie gras. However, no matter how you like your pizza, simple and delicious or elaborately gourmet, the basics for a great pizza don’t change; a wood-fired pizza oven, very high heat, yeasty dough, great toppings and a healthy appetite! Pizzas don’t only come flat either, they can be topped and then folded over to make an Italian Calzone or Panzarotti.

Even topped, rolled up and then baked to make an American Stromboli. These days pizza comes in so many forms as well, deep-dish, stuffed-crust and pizza bites to name a few and no matter how you slice it, pizza is undoubtedly one of the most popular foods there are.

Simply delicious! Pizza Margherita from the pizza capital of the world. Click for the recipe.

Smoked salmon pizza with fresh dill and sour cream. Click for the recipe.

Our Fornetto mini-pizza stone competition came to a close a couple of weeks ago and we would like to thank everyone for submitting their recipes and photos. We would also like to congratulate our top three participants for their creative efforts, they will all be receiving a set of our Fornetto mini-pizza stones.

Terresa Emo from Ontario, Canada takes third place with her chocolate chip and orange dessert mini-pizzas and Kim Davies of Warwickshire, England comes in as runner-up with her seafood quiche tartlets. There are however times when not only a great recipe counts but the commitment one makes towards winning. Our first place winner, takes his recipes very seriously and is an avid user of the Fornetto wood-fired oven. Not only did he submit a tasty entry but has WOW’d us at Fornetto with his dedication to outdoor cooking and his love of wildlife photography. Mr. Piet Venter of Kimberley, South Africa takes the cake with a decadent three meat, two cheese, saucy pizza topped off with a special South African ingredient……..the Peppadew® (Capsicum Baccatum), now available internationally.

Mr. Piet Venter’s winning pizza recipe. Click to see more.

Mr. Venter is a retired mechanical engineer that worked in the mines of the Northern Cape for the past 25 years and who now resides in Kimberley, the diamond capital of the world, about 450Km (280 miles) from Johannesburg. It’s not hard to see that his hobbies are cooking and photography with particular attention to nature and wildlife. To ensure that he can use his Fornetto wood-fired oven whenever he pleases given any weather condition, he’s built a lapa (a South-African structure that consists of a thatched roof that’s supported by wooden poles. Lapas are commonly used as semi-open entertainment areas similar to that of a gazebo). He’s installed the Fornetto in the lapa with a brick chimney for smoke ventilation as seen in the photographs. “I am very happy with the results from the Fornetto and enjoy using it very much!” he proclaims.

Inside Mr. Venter’s lapa is his built-in Fornetto wood-fired oven and smoker. This is a serious man when it comes to outdoor cooking!

Ever wonder how a pizza gets to you so quickly in a pizzeria with a wood-fired oven?

High heat is key to cooking a great pizza, in fact the True Neapolitan Pizza Association (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, AVPN) states that it must be cooked in a stone oak-fired pizza oven at 905°F (485°C) for no longer than one to one and a half minutes. Ceramic pizza stones replicate the floor (cooking area) of the real Roman dome style wood-fired oven where the heat is off to one side and the floor becomes extremely hot, cooking a thin crust pizza without burning it in a matter of seconds.

Some people prefer the use of a pizza pan or combination of a pizza pan and a pizza stone and get great results, where I on the other hand prefer to cook pizza directly on the stone. The choice is really up to you. What isn’t up to you however is the heat.

High-heat is key to cooking great pizza. With very high heat the dough cooks quickly on the outside while retaining moisture on the inside, this is what makes a great pizza crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and deliciously fragrant.

By burning pure hardwood or a mixture of hardwood and lump hardwood charcoal (such as Fornetto’s Premium Lump Charcoal), I manage to bring the temperature inside the Fornetto to the 662°F (350°C) mark and my pizzas cook in about three minutes directly on the pizza stone.

YOU’RE IN FOR A TREAT. ENJOY!

A warm sun, a fresh sea breeze off turquoise waters and fishermen returning with their catch of the day. Narrow winding cobblestone streets, bright red flowers cascading from tiny balconies and the delicious smell of freshly baked bread cooling on a window sill. Mountainy slopes riddled with olive and fruit trees, grape vineyards as far as the eye can see and in a small rural village, the terraces abound with locals enjoying a drink on a warm Sunday afternoon. These are just some of the things that come to mind when I think of the Med. Pure joie de vivre!

Nestled deep inside this Majorcan village’s streets are local restaurants just waiting to be discovered.

European mountain vineyards; truly breath-taking! Wine, a staple in the Mediterranean diet.

Fresh ingredients are key in the Mediterranean, no matter what country!

In Europe and particularly in the Mediterranean region, a truly Romanesque practice is shopping for fresh produce on a daily basis. Going to the local outdoor market and picking out the best fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, bread, artisanal cheeses and charcuteries is what Mediterranean culture is based upon; fresh and delicious food! It’s an absolute pleasure going to the market and being inspired for dinner by the bountiful wares the farmers and fishermen have brought to sell. In fact, the Mediterranean diet is a very heart healthy diet and boasts many benefits for our health, so many in fact that many people outside the region are adopting it as a healthy way of preparing meals for themselves and their families.

There’s nothing better than the smell of walking into a vegetable market!

Cheeses are abundant and cured meats are a delight!

This deliciously devilish garlic bread recipe will leave you and your guests wanting more. Click here for the recipe!

The principal aspects of this diet include a relatively high consumption of olive oil, legumes (such as beans and other pulses), unrefined cereals, large amounts of fruits and vegetables, moderately high amounts of fish rich in omega 3 (such as sardines and salmon), moderate amounts of dairy products (mostly cheeses and yogurt), and a small amount of meat; all accompanied by a modest amount of wine.

The diet is a modern nutritional recommendation inspired by the traditional dietary habits of the southern Europeans and northern Africans. On December 4, 2013 UNESCO recognised this style of eating as an intangible cultural heritage of Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Morocco, Croatia and Cyprus. Olive oil contains very high levels of monounsaturated fats, oleic acid in particular, which studies suggest may be linked to a reduction in the risk of developing coronary heart disease.

There’s also irrefutable evidence that the antioxidants found in olive oil improve cholesterol regulation and reduce LDL cholesterol levels. There is a great deal written about the benefits of olive oil and all the other ingredients of a Mediterranean diet, including the wine! Reams of information credited to health and nutrition experts is abundant and can easily be found on the internet.

Rich in nutrients and combined with vitamin C-rich lemons and extra virgin olive oil in this simple recipe, artichokes are a delicious starter to any meal. Click here for the recipe!

Brunch, for most people is a combination of breakfast and lunch dishes and conjures up thoughts of mimosas, bacon, eggs, toast, bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, cocktail shrimp, roast beef and a selection of salads, not to mention a selection of baked goods and coffee or tea. More often than not, the typical time for brunch spans from about 11 o’clock in the morning to about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. However, on the Med, lunch only starts at 2 pm.

That being said, this article probably could have been titled as “lunch” however, as most people are not accustomed to having lunch at 2 pm, our latest recipes make for a delicious and light brunch for a lazy week-end afternoon, Mediterranean style!

Eggplant, tomatoes and zucchini are staples in the Mediterranean. Click here for our delectable eggplant and zucchini stacks loaded with tomato sauce and Italian cheeses.

The traditional cookware used in many Mediterranean households are earthenware or ceramic pots and shallow dishes, similar in size and shape to the Fornetto line of ceramics. In fact, the Fornetto oven’s ancestry dates back to ancient Rome with it’s roots deeply embedded in the Mediterranean and in years gone by, everything would have been cooked in wood-fired ovens or directly over open flame.

Nowadays, conventional ovens are by far much more common than traditional wood-burning ovens and fortunately, Fornetto’s line of ceramics perform excellently in the Fornetto oven as well as in conventional electric or gas ovens as demonstrated in our three latest recipes.

This is of particular interest if you live in a severe weather zone and getting to your Fornetto just isn’t possible. Our friends to the north have been bombarded by bad weather this winter, with record amounts of snow, wickedly cold temperatures in the negative double digits and even freezing rain storms. Equally dramatic, our friends to the south have had to endure shockingly hot temperatures. Therefore, come rain or shine, scorching heat or freezing cold, if you have invested in or are thinking of investing in Fornetto ceramics, you can rest assured that if you can’t get to your Fornetto oven or if you don’t have one yet, that they will work flawlessly in your conventional oven as well.

You’re in for a treat. Enjoy!

Chili Con Carne has to be one of the most well known Tex-Mex dishes in the world. Nothing else says hearty and nourishing like chili does and it’s versatility is unbeatable; from a simple bowl of chili on a cold winter’s night to warm your body and soul, to a chili-dog or chili-fries on a warm summer’s day at a ballgame. Chili is definitely a dish to be enjoyed year-round!

Fresh ingredients make for a great chili!

There’s great controversy over what does and doesn’t belong in chili and whether adding certain ingredients actually changes the dish enough to change it’s name. A common ingredient that is pondered over is beans. Do beans actually belong in chili? Evidence does suggest that there isn’t anything unauthentic about the addition of beans to chill however, certain Texan aficionados will argue the fact that chili does not contain beans. Truth be told, Texas-style chill doesn’t contain beans and may not even contain any other vegetable at all for that matter, except chili peppers, onions and garlic! An interesting fact about chili is that it’s the official state dish of Texas and there are numerous competitions to boast best chill in the world. In fact, there’s even an International Chili Society that organises and judges chili competitions.

Black beans and red kidney beans. Delicious and full of protein. A great addition to any bowl of chili!

A recipe that has been in a close friend’s family since the Acadians were deported by the British from the maritime provinces in Canada to Lousiana and Texas has evolved greatly over the years. The truth is that it most assuredly didn’t even start out as chili but has evolved into a delicious version of the dish. I love being creative in the kitchen so I’ve put my own spin on their original recipe that I will share with you……and YES, it does have beans!

Smokey and Sensational Chili – click link for full recipe!

Accompany your chili with guacamole and cornbread. Click on the links under the photographs to find the recipes

Homemade guacamole – click link for recipe!

Comforting cornbread – click link for recipe!

A rarely used method of preparing chili is in an earthenware pot in a wood-fired oven which adds another dimension to the dish. Ceramics are a far cry from being anything new to us as cookware. In fact, we have been using ceramics for about 20,000 years for cooking and we have been refining the process ever since. Shapes and sizes of earthen cookware vary widely across the globe and techniques for shaping and firing ceramic vessels do as well. The Chili Queens of 18th century San Antonio, Texas used to heat their chili over mesquite-flavoured wood fires in Mexican ceramic cauldrons. This got me thinking about the recipe and I decided to replicate the Chili Queen method of preparing the dish. I was even able to capture the smoky flavour added by a wood-fired oven.

Advances in the manufacture of ceramics have greatly improved the quality of the cookware that we use today. I’m a firm believer in quality and Fornetto’s range of unique and beautifully crafted ovenware and pizza stones are made using only top quality materials. The stoneware can be used in a wide range of temperatures to a maximum of 500°C (930°F) which gives you the versatility to create great tasting dishes in your wood-fired oven.

A great feature of their stoneware is that it’s highly resistant to thermal shock, which means you can take your dishes directly from your freezer to your pre-heated oven. In addition they have a high capacity to retain heat so that the food you prepare stays hotter for longer when it gets to the table. Whether you’re cooking chili, roasting a chicken or making a pizza, the range of stoneware has you covered. The entire selection of Fornetto cookware has been especially created to compliment any conventional or wood-fired oven. I like that their glossy “empire-red” glazed finish makes a bold statement on my table – whether I’m serving inside or out.

You’re in for a treat. Enjoy!