His recipe for barbecue skirt steak with charred chilli chimichurri<\/a> is designed to make life simple, while barbecue monkfish tail with marinated heritage tomatoes and basil<\/a> will please those not so keen on meat-heavy dishes. The latter, he advises, works best if started on the pan and finished on the coals.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re catering for a crowd but want to be mindful of budgets (who doesn\u2019t?), you could try Moriarty\u2019s recipe for barbecue piri piri chicken thighs with coleslaw<\/a>, or his Greek-style halloumi skewers<\/a>, which he says represent \u201cmore an assembly job than an expression of culinary artistry\u201d. They are also perfect for time-poor hosts.<\/p>\n Looking further into our irishtimes.com archive, we find three great recipes<\/a> \u2013 crushed pork and pineapple burger with chilli mayo and shredded slaw<\/a>, smoked hummus and grilled veggie flatbread<\/a> and, for dessert, grilled peaches with honey thyme mascarpone cream<\/a> from chef Nico Reynolds, who combines Irish and Caribbean influences with asado charcoal grilling.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re lighting a fire and cooking with charcoal, you start to think of it like salt and pepper. Gas is not the same: cooking over charcoal is like a seasoning. It becomes one of the main ingredients in your dish,\u201d says Reynolds. <\/p>\n For more barbecue tips, there are few better sources than Andy Noonan, founder of the annual Big Grill Festival in Herbert Park in Dublin. Here<\/a>, as well as providing a series of very accessible recipes, he recommends serving dishes family-style so fuss can be removed from a gathering. He also advises having drinks ready to pour and having all the following to hand: a charcoal barbecue with a lid, good-quality lumpwood charcoal (even better \u2013 hardwood burned down into embers), a long sturdy set of tongs, an ash rake, heat-resistant gloves and a digital meat thermometer.<\/p>\n Chef Gr\u00e1inne O\u2019Keefe\u2019s barbecue tips<\/a> are also top class, with these including tempering ingredients, adding fat where it doesn\u2019t naturally exist in quantity and, literally, fanning the flames. <\/p>\n \u201cOxygen is the key for a barbecue to maintain a steady temperature. If you find your coals are getting a little cool, fan the flames a little to get the heat back,\u201d says O\u2019Keefe.<\/p>\n She also emphasises the importance of resting (not the chef, the food). This gives the juices time to travel to the centre and cook through slowly, she says. <\/p>\n For the barbecue purists, she has this 2020 recipe for the ultimate beef burger<\/a>, which comes with crispy onion rings and rarebit cheese sauce. To achieve best results, she says the barbecue needs to be \u201cclean and very hot\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AA2UATFGEVHIVEA2JKPUE4JIIY.jpg\")
Mark Moriarty’s barbecue skirt steak with charred chilli chimichurri. Photograph: Harry Weir <\/p>\n![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BEKQ73HUQVBUDG7ZJ7TJ37YP4Y.jpg\")
Mark Moriarty’s Greek-style halloumi skewers. Photograph: Harry Weir <\/p>\n![\"Nico](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MTIZ5HM3XJE6BBMXVL5L2NQQ2A.jpg\")
Nico Reynolds’s pork and pineapple burger <\/p>\n