It’s summer! Alright it’s not summer, but the clocks have gone back and if you were brave this morning you went for bare legs, it seemed like a really good idea at the time even if you are regretting it now. Still, this is Great Britain and we’re not going to let a trivial thing like it being a bit nippy outside stop us from enjoying sunshine alright? We’ve got a long proud legacy of getting our pasty legs out in temperatures much lower than this (remember netball at school?), so wrap up warm and head out to your garden. Here’s how to have an outdoor(ish) house party.
The Food
You’ve already been eueing up the BBQ treats in your local supermaket. Ignore the fact that you haven’t got one and that they haven’t started stocking those rubbish disposable ones in Sainsburys yet. Get yourself a metal bucket or barrel, fill it with coals and place one of the grill shelves from your oven over the top and you’re sorted. Take that winter!
To cook; we'd recommend this spectacular recipe for jerk burgers and wedges (Caribbean burgers are totally having a moment right now).
Ingredients
For the wedges
4 very large potatoes
1 tbsp vegetable oil
For the burger
1 red onion, 1/2 grated and 1/2 finely chopped
1 carrot, grated
400g/ 14oz beef mince
2 tsp jerk seasoning (we used Bart's)
200g/7oz fresh pineapple (we used pre-cut packet), finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
A small handful of roughly chopped coriander
Juice of 1 lime
Lettuce and burger buns, to serve
Method
For wedges
Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Scrub the potatoes and cut into chips. Lay the chips in a single layer on a baking tray, drizzle with oil, season and toss to coat. Bake for 40 mins until crisp.
For burger
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Mix together the grated onion, carrot, mince and jerk seasoning in a large bowl, then shape into 4 evenly sized patties.
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Heat a non-stick frying pan till hot, then cook the burgers for 5-6 mins on each side.
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To make the relish, mix the chopped onion, pineapple, chilli, coriander and lime juice. To serve, place the burgers in split buns with some lettuce and the spicy relish. Serve with the crispy chips.
The Drink
Splash out and go full-summer with the Swimming Pool cocktail. It screams hot weather and gives you a chance to finally use up that dusty bottle of Curacao you’ve got hiding at the back of your cupboards. Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients
1 1/2 parts Bacardi Superior Rum
3/4 part Grey Goose Vodka
1/4 part Blue Curaçao Liqueur
2 parts pineapple juice
3/4 part coconut cream
1/4 part heavy cream
Method
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Combine ingredients in blender with ice
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Blend until smooth
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Pour into glass. There are no rules on the garnish - go wild!
The Game
Remember Twister? That board game you had to throw away after you caught a couple inflagrante on top of it at your last party? Take advantage of the fact that it's (basically) summer and make a DIY version outside. Simply get 4 different spray paints (you don’t even have to stick to primary colours, take THAT Twister purists) and mark out a Twister board on your lawn. To play, just get various party members to shout out different instructions. The best part? Your lawn will grow and you can mow the paint off before your landlord even has a chance to see. This doesn’t work as well if your garden’s a patio.
The Film
It’ll eventually get too cold to stay outside. Don't mourn the loss of light, instead of sticking it out to the point where you get frostbite in April, head inside and stick the entirely watchable Blue Crush on Netflix and muse on how similar Cornwall is to Hawaii. It's all about perspective.
Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons
For more great cocktail recipes you can make at home download the Mixed Cocktail app__.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.