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MasterChef Australia's Julie Goodwin's Tips For Best Barbecue Meals

As some COVID-19 restrictions ease, the celebrity chef says "we can have a couple of people around" to enjoy a BBQ.

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Australia’s first ever ‘MasterChef’ winner Julie Goodwin has dished her top tips for barbecue meals as COVID-19 restrictions slowly ease.

The celebrity chef, who is an ambassador for Cure Cancer’s Biggest Virtual BarbeCURE, said the key to a delicious meal straight off the BBQ is to pick a theme and experiment with different “out of the box” ingredients.

“There’s no reason why you can’t fire up that barbie and throw on whatever your favourite thing is,” Julie told HuffPost Australia.

Former 'MasterChef Australia' winner Julie Goodwin
Supplied/Cure Cancer
Former 'MasterChef Australia' winner Julie Goodwin

Pick A Theme

“You can joosh it up with anything you want because you’ve got your meat and your salads and all that sort of thing,” said Julie.

“But instead of just chops, why not make garlic sauce or tahini yoghurt and a fattoush salad?”

“Turn it into a tabouli and make it a Middle Eastern theme. Or you could put chicken on the barbecue, marinate it in coconut cream and garlic and make a satay sauce. Do it with rice and call it a Malaysian barbecue.”

Julie said “thinking a little outside of the box” with themes can make it a delicious and memorable meal to share with loved ones.

“You can make it a really cool meal just by thinking a little outside of box and perhaps thinking about specific cuisines,” she explained. “We’re so lucky to have so many different cuisines in Australia.”

BRETT STEVENS via Getty Images

Find The Flavours

One of Julie’s go-to’s when she wants a mouthwatering meal straight off the barbie is a Lebanese-inspired chicken tawouk dish.

It’s all about combining different flavours.

″[It’s] chicken skewers marinated in garlic, oregano and lemon zest,” she said.

Combined with some “beautiful yoghurt, flat bread and garlic sauce”, it’s good to go.

Simplicity Can Be Key

You don’t always have to pull off a culinary masterpiece for a nice Sunday lunch.

A sausage sizzle can be just as delicious, and the best thing is it takes minimal effort.

“You can fancy it up so simply and turn it.... and there’s nothing wrong with snags on bread,” said Julie.

“I can’t wait till Bunnings have their barbecues.”

i_compass via Getty Images

Julie is one of several celebrity ambassadors of Cure Cancer’s Biggest Virtual BarbeCURE sponsored by Barbeques Galore.

On May 16, the initiative is hoping to break the Guinness World Records for the biggest virtual BBQ, asking Aussies to also fire up the barbie and upload a photo, to help raise funds and awareness to support cancer research. To break the record, 6,000 Australians are required to participate.

More information about the online event is available here.

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