Barbecue Menu Ideas

John Maher:  Hi. I’m John Maher. Today I’m here at Woodman’s with Curt Fougere, a fourth generation Woodman, and Kristi Swett, a fifth generation Woodman. Today we’re talking about barbecue menu ideas. Kristi and Curt, welcome.

Kristi Swett:  Hi, John.

Curt Fougere:  How you doing?

Foods at a Barbecue Party

John:  Good. What types of food are typically served at a barbecue party?

Kristi:  When you think of barbecue, you think of grill items. You think of burgers, dogs, chicken, ribs, steak, and then typically more southern sides, pasta salad, potato salad, and things like that.

John:  Barbecue is more about the way that something is cooked rather than the actual type of food, so don’t get hung up on the idea that it just has to be hamburgers and hot dogs. You can really branch out from that a lot.

Kristi:  Right, exactly.

John:  Do you do fish as well at a barbecue?

Kristi:  Yeah, we can do a couple different options of fish.

Barbecue Chicken Options

John:  What are some of the options for barbecue chicken, Curt?

Curt:  A lot of times you can use different types of cuts on the chicken. You could have half a chicken which you could be serving. You could be serving just a single chicken breast.

We also do different types of wing bars. You could be grilling chicken wings and then using different types of sauce for dipping them in. There’s barbecue, or chipotle, or buffalo style. It varies. It could be just barbecue. It could be pulled chicken after you’re done grilling it.

John:  I think you guys also have a rotisserie chicken, is that right?

Curt:  We do use a rotisserie chicken for the majority of our functions. We tend to cook those at the restaurant and then bring them, already cooked, with us, depending on the venue, whether we can use a grill.

We may heat them up on a grill there. We may cook them full there. The rotisserie chicken is a very nice way to do a chicken. It’s slow‑cooked and very moist and tends to just fall apart when you’re eating it.

BBQ Steak and Ribs

John:  Great. What are some good options for steaks and ribs?

Curt:  A lot of steaks, you can use different cuts of steaks, so you can have a porterhouse steak, a sirloin steak. We can use steak tips. You could use steak on skewers. It really depends on your choice of what meat you would like. We do a lot of grass‑fed beef on our menus. You can use any type of barbecuing method for your meats.

John:  Kristi, should I include hamburgers and hotdogs, as well?

Kristi:  Yes, I definitely recommend that, even if it’s not for the entire guest count. If you do have kids in the mix or things like that, it’s a great option for them, but adults enjoy them just as much.

I don’t know if it’s because they’re outside and eating, but there’s something about a hamburger and hotdog, fresh off the grill, that really is appealing to everyone.

John:  Is it a good idea then to make sure you have enough hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone at the party, as opposed to only having the hamburgers and hotdogs for just the kids that are going to be there?

Kristi:  Yes, if you’re going to have any, I always add some in for the adults. You don’t have to do it for all the adults that are going to be there, but definitely some percentage of your guest count you should add additional on there. Just so everyone’s getting the food that they want, and they don’t have to hear the word “no” when they come up to grab something.

Vegetarian Options

John:  Are there options for vegetarians that are typically served as well?

Kristi:  Yeah. We’ve been doing a lot of grilled vegetable stacks. We’ve started a stuffed Portobello mushroom. We have different alternatives in terms of fruit salad; a tomato, feta, cucumber salad. Vegetarian is definitely an option that’s gotten much more popular, so we’ve tried to branch out and think of those ideas as well.

Barbecue Side Dishes

John:  What types of side dishes are typical for a barbecue?

Curt:  A lot of barbecues, you’re going to have beans, coleslaw. Cornbread goes really well with barbecues. You can have some soups that might go along with it, pulled pork sandwiches with the barbecues.

You may want to do bread if you’re doing a lot of types of ribs, to pull that apart, or a pulled chicken. It might be a hamburger style bun, that they might be putting some of the food on.

John:  All right, Kristi and Curt, thanks very much for speaking with me today.

Kristi:  Thank you, John.

Curt:  Thank you.

John:  And for more information about catering visit the Woodman’s website at woodmans.com or call 978‑768‑2559.