My first cookout was in the Girl Scouts. We each cut a door in a Crisco can and lit a fire inside then cooked a hamburger patty on the top (bottom). Tasted wonderful. And in a single stroke Mrs Sampson taught me the basic human right of cooking outside.

These days I have a mini Weber barbecue bought in a clearance sale. Sometimes I bring it out for a summer gathering, and on this occasion just for myself.

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• Ingredients: A selection of pork – shown here are 2 free range chops and 6 best leek and pork sausages. One red pepper, several red chillies, some cherry tomatoes, one leek, two small or one medium red onion, a can of borlotti beans, 100g rice (basmati is shown here). A pinch of turmeric, fresh rosemary stalks, pepper and salt.

• Method: Light the barbecue and wait until the charcoal is grey. Taking safety precautions, move the charcoal to one half of the bowl, leaving the other half for indirect cooking. Start with the vegetables and cook the whole peppers, leek, chillies and onions on the grill bars. Take them off when cooked and leave to cool down before removing char and skin. Slice up and put in a heavy 20cm diameter iron pan.

Place the meat on the barbecue and cook as you would normally until done. Slice one pork chop and a couple of sausages, (leaving the remainder for another recipe – wrap in foil and refrigerate as soon as cool enough to do so.)

Put the slices of pork into the pan with the vegetables. Add tomatoes and a can of borlotti beans, rinsed. Then cook gently on top of the stove or on the barbecue for another few minutes. At the same time cook about 100g of rice with 1 tsp ground turmeric or cumin. When the rice is ready, rinse it, then put the lid on and turn the stove off to let it steam for a few minutes while you make a salad of lettuce leaves. Serve with a garnish of fresh parsley or coriander (cilantro/dhania) and maybe some hot sauce and a cold beer.

Be prepared!