Cuisine – It’s all about the taste

My journey into the world of low n’ slow barbecue began a decade ago and since then I have not looked back. My partner and I have a passion for cooking honest, wholesome and crowd-pleasing food, and with trepidation we took the plunge and launched The Barbecue Hut in the heart of Mangawhai Village two-and-a-half years ago.

We regularly receive great feedback from our guests, many of whom we consider good friends now, and this has become the fuel that “fills the tank” and gives us confidence that our brand of Kiwi style American low ‘n’ slow barbecue is hitting the mark.

In 2023, we entered a television show called Cooks on Fire that was styled in the vane of the Masterchef franchise, but with a heavy lean on barbecue. Putting ourselves on a plate for the steadfast judges and a national audience to critique was so far out of our comfort zone, but again the feedback blew us away. We didn’t win, but we did learn a lot about cooking barbecue and ourselves during our time on the show.

In this series of articles I will share some of our own, our guests, and whanau’s favourite dishes, sides, deserts and cocktails. So, without further ado, this is a dish we prepared for the judges of the TV Show, a personal fav and a real crowd pleaser.

Seared flat iron steak with blue cheese sauce
Method (20mins)
1. Three quarter fill your chimney with lump coal and light
2. Tip white hot coals into your barbecue and add Pohutukawa wood – target 500f
4. Lightly spray steaks with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste
5. Place steaks on barbecue, directly over coals, turn over after 2-3 minutes or when nice char appears – continue for another 3-4 minutes or until internal temp is 130f
6. Remove from barbecue and wrap loosely in tinfoil for 10 mins
7. Slice evenly across the grain and on to plating.

Danish blue cheese sauce
100g Creamy blue cheese – I use Food Snob Creamy Danish Blue
2 Tbsp finely diced white onion
2 Tbsps NZ sauvignon blanc
300ml fresh cream
2 Tbsp butter

Method
Brown butter, and add finely chopped onion to brown. Add wine and stir until reduced. Add cheese and stir until the cheese has melted and the consistency is smooth. Add cream gradually, stir and reduce until required consistency and taste is reached. Rest before pouring, and reheat.