Goan Curry on the Braai

September 19, 2013 by Larry Susman in Beef, Big Green Egg, Braai, Curries, Food Websites, Hot & Spicy, Meat, national braai day, Recipes

Goan Curry on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Well, I hope that you have all been braaiing since my last blog, I know I have! Sorry for the long break but I had a bit of a rest and unfortunately my mother passed away during this time so my not blogging was not all due to me enjoying myself, many thanks to those who sent there condolences it was greatly appreciated.

It looks like the fantastic summer we have had, has come to an abrupt end but that doesn’t mean that you have to stop braaiing just because the sun’s not shining. What’s needed is a change of what you cook going forward for the next few months and I’m going to start with a curry that I’ve never cooked before. Goan Beef Curry, which is a dryish curry with strong flavours and I’m going to add some potatoes while it cooks so that I don’t have to make two separate dishes today. You can use any cut of beef but why spend a lot of money on rump or sirloin when you are going to cook this slowly for some time and braising or stewing steak will be even better, when it’s cooked this way. Let jump right in…

SERVES 6: PREP: 15MINS: COOK TIME: 1½HRS

Ingredients:

1kg braising or stewing steak cut into 2.5 cm cubes
4 x Large potatoes chopped into largish pieces
2 x Brown onions finely chopped
6 x Cardamom pods deseeded
1tsp Fennel seeds
½ tsp Fenugreek seeds
½ tsp Ground black pepper
3tsp Coriander seeds
3tsp Cumin seeds
½tsp Ground turmeric
2tsp Chilli powder
8 x Cloves
10cm Cinnamon stick
6 x Garlic cloves finely chopped
10cm Piece of ginger, grated
125ml Olive oil
100g Creamed coconut dissolved in 310ml water, or 310ml coconut milk

Method how to prepare:

Preheat the Braai to 200°C (400°F) Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and grind them in a spice grinder or with a pestle & mortar, along with the fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, fenugreek seeds, black pepper and the coriander and cumin seeds, until they form a fine powder.
Heat the oil in a tagine, potjie pot, heavy-based frying pan or casserole dish over medium heat and fry the onion, garlic and ginger until lightly browned.
Add the meat and fry until brown all over.
Add all the spices and fry for 1 minute. Add the creamed coconut and bring slowly to the boil.
Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the meat is tender.
Remove the lid and add the potatoes into the curry, push them down below the surface so that they are totally covered.
Replace the lid and cook for a further 45 minutes.
If the liquid evaporates during cooking, add about 185 ml (3/4 cup) boiling water and stir to make a thick sauce.
If the sauce is still too liquid at the end of the cooking time, simmer with the lid off until it evaporates. Season with salt, to taste.

This Goan curry had such a fantastic aroma it just brought a smile to my face to think that I had created this from scratch, no packets or bottles of sauce anywhere. I served it with some plain steamed basmati rice, sambals and a large dollop of Mrs Ball chutney. Give this a go even if you don’t cook it on the braai, it’s really worth the little time it takes and I’m sure it wont be the last time you cook this either.

Until next time keep on braaiing!

P.S. don’t forget that next week is National Braai Day back in SA and now all over the world. So if you decide to have some friends around for a braai take some pics and share them with me and I will post them up on the blog for all to see. Keep well Larry

Butterfly Lamb, Mrs Balls Chutney & Coke Marinade on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Braai Butterfly Lamb with Mrs Balls Chutney & Coke Marinade!

July 11, 2013 by Larry Susman in Big Green Egg, Braai, Food Websites, Hot & Spicy, Lamb, Meat, Recipes

Butterfly Lamb, Mrs Balls Chutney & Coke Marinade on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Well, welcome to another braai blog, it's almost come to the end of the challenge that I set my self a year ago "To braai every week for a year". I can't say that it's been easy but it has been a great deal of fun and "Man" have I learnt a lot over this year. Thanks for all your support and comments, this will not be the end of this blog but I will be branching out a bit and bringing reviews on other peoples cooking, restaurants and blogs and a few from me as well. So don't think this is the end, it will continue just not every week, on the other hand it might be!

I've also decide to extend the entry to the competition for suggestions of what to cook in my last week so entries will now close on our FaceBook Fan page on the 17th July so follow this link, make a recommendation and you could win £50 in gift vouchers to use on our website www.biltong.co.uk .

SERVES 4-6: PREP: 1HR: COOK TIME: 1HR

Ingredients for the Lamb & Pre-Rub:

Large leg of lamb (ask you butcher to butterfly it if you are not confident in doing this)
7tbs x Sea Salt
3tbs x Black Pepper
1.5tbs x Cayenne pepper

Method of preparing lamb:

Take you boned butterflied lamb and score the fat side in 2cm diamonds, this helps the spice rub to penetrate the lamb that bit better.
To make the rube all you need to do is put the ingredients into a pestle and mortar to grind into a medium mixture. Then sprinkle it all over the lamb and rub it in on both sides. Set aside while you make the marinade/baste.

Ingredients for the Marinade:

6 x cloves garlic finely chopped
30g x Fresh Rosemary chopped
170g x Mrs Balls Chutney (I used original but its your choice)
1 X Can Coke
3tbs x Worcestershire Sauce (I used Lea & Perrins but we have just got Lazenby's in from SA)

Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together, its that simple, pour over the lamb after you have rubbed in the spice rub and leave it to marinate for 1-2hrs. Don't discard this marinade when you take the lamb out as you will need it to baste the meat, whilst it's cooking

Method of cooking the lamb:

PREHEAT the braai to 200°c/400°F
Take the meat out of the marinade and place on the braai directly over the medium coals.
Cook for 20 mins without opening the lid of the braai or turning the meat.
After 20mins open and baste the lamb with the marinade and turn over, cook for another 20mins and repeat the basting.
This time, turn and cook for only 10mins, repeat once more and this should be the perfect length of time to cook the lamb to medium rare, pinkish.

All that's left to do is take it off the braai and leave to rest for 10mins minimum, I think this helps it to relax and it seems to be a lot more tender when eating for this process. As you can see I only just managed to not over cook the lamb, this is the trick. It's so easy to leave it in the braai for an extra couple mins as you try to decide if its cooked enough. Remember while it's resting it's still cooking, so don’t be tempted to leave it in the braai for that bit longer.

Serve with fresh salads and even some rice or baked potatoes, it's just a great summer meal thats doesn't take long to prepare or cook.

Please feel free to like and share this blog with other like minded nuts who enjoy Braaiing all year long. Don’t forget to enter the competition to win those gift vouchers, just go to our FaceBook Fan Page and leave a suggestion of what you would like to see me cook on the last Challenge Blog of the year. Entries will now close on our facebook page on the 17th July 2013, good luck!

Wors, Pap en Sous on the Braai!

June 27, 2013 by Larry Susman in Beef, Big Green Egg, Braai, Food Websites, Hot & Spicy, Meat, Potjiekos, Recipes

Wors, pap en sous on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Mielie meal is a staple food in much of Africa. Unlike European polenta, mielie meal is normally white in colour and quite coarse textured. It makes a delicious side dish or it can be the centre point of a meal. Pap (pronounced pup) means "porridge" in Afrikaans and the consistency can vary considerably from a smooth and quite loose porridge which needs to be eaten with a spoon (slap pap). Through to a stiff paste which can be broken off with the fingers to act as a scoop or spoon for stews and sauces (stywe – pronounced STAY-ver - pap), to a crumbly and dry texture a bit like couscous (krummel – pronounced CROO-mel - pap).

I’m going to be cooking the latter, as I once served up Slap Pap to my wife Jan, many years ago and she said that if I ever made her eat that again she would divorce me lol!!! The method and ingredients are the same but the ratio of pap and water differ depending on which type of pap you wish to end up with.

You can make the Boerewors and Sous(sauce) yourself from scratch. But why bother doing this when we sell what we think is some of the finest Boerewors in the country and a tin of All Gold Tomato & Onion which you can just add a few ingredients to, to lift the sous to something that you would be proud to make.

We are going to give away the main ingredients to make this meal to one lucky person this week, see details at the end.　

SERVES 4-6: PREP: 10MINS: COOK TIME: 1HR

Ingredients for Krummel (braai) (stywe pap) Pap:

1/2 litre water
500g Braai Pap (Iwisa or Premier Braai or Maize pap)
1tsp salt

Method how to make Krummel (braai) (stywe pap) Pap:

Preheat the Braai to 300°C (570°F).
Bring the water to boiling point in a large, heavy-based saucepan or potjie pot.
Add salt.
Then slowly add the maize meal and stir briefly.
Turn the heat down or move off to the side whichever you can do on your braai.
Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Using a large fork (such as a carving fork), stir it up until its crumbly and cover again with the lid.
Simmer for a further 20 – 30 minute on a low heat until cooked.
Set aside until you are ready to serve.

Ingredients for Sous(sauce):

1 x Tin All Gold Tomato & Onion (which we sell)
2 x Onions, halved and sliced
20g x Fresh chopped coriander
Salt and Pepper to taste

How to make Sous:

Preheat the Braai to 300°C (570°F).
Place a knob of butter in a frying pan and sauté the onions for a few moments until soft.
Empty the tin of Tomato & Onion sauce into the pan and stir.
Bring to the boil and then simmer for 5mins.
Remove from the heat until you’re ready to use, sprinkle the coriander into the sous just before serving.

All that’s left to do is now braai your Boerewors which you have already brought from us, we hope! You will need roughly 250g per person or one pack per South African, heehee.

Tips on what to do or not to do, when braaiing our boerewors:

Never prick the skins of the wors as this just allows all the juice to drain from the sausage and you will end up with dry, tasteless wors.
Always cook in a coil and cut after you have cooked it.
Cook at a high temperature so that it crisps the skin and leaves the middle succulent.
Cook on one side and then turn over and cook the other, hopefully you will not split the skins when turning as I did. If you do, blast it with some heat and eat before all that lekker juice spills out.
Don’t over cook as we only make our boerewors from whole muscle fresh meat with no other additives other than spices. So our wors will not shrink or swell and split the skins whilst cooking.
It’s best to eat your wors straight off the braai piping hot, absolutely lekker, even if I say so myself.

That’s just like I remember it back home in the old days, when I would return from school and it would be sitting on the table waiting from me, Lekker!

If you would like to try to cook this for yourselves then why not leave some feedback in the comments area below and one lucky reader will win 2 packs of Boerewors, pack of Braai Pap and a tin of All Gold tomato & Onion Sauce for themselves. Entries will close on the 12th July 2013, please check back to see if you were the lucky winner.

Loin Pork on Braised in Milk on the Braai

June 20, 2013 by Larry Susman in Big Green Egg, Braai, Meat, Recipes, Roasts, Pork

Loin Pork Braised in Milk on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

I haven’t cooked a lot of pork on the braai (except for ribs every week) so I thought I would give this very Italian recipe a go! The key to this being great is to find a butcher that will supply you with great pork to start with, ask him where it comes from and if he doesn’t or cant tell you, go elsewhere. If he can then get him to do the following for you: Ask him to chine and skin the pork loin (chining means removing the backbone from the rack of ribs so that you can carve between the ribs for serving).

This dish is lightly flavoured so that the pork is the star and not the seasoning, so don’t over do it. This can be served with roasted vegetables and potatoes but at this time of year I like to dish it up with a fresh salad and rice.

SERVES 4-6: PREP: 25MINS: COOK TIME: 1-2HR

Ingredients:

1 x 2.25 kg (5 lb) pork loin, chined and skinned
6 x garlic cloves, cut in half lengthways or chrushed
30g x sage leaves
1lt x (4 cups) milk
2 x grated zest of lemons
1 x juice of lemon
Sea Salt & freshly ground Black Pepper to taste

Method how to prepare Loin:

Preheat the Braai to 200°C (400°F)
Prepare the pork by trimming the fat to leave just a thin layer.
Take the backbone off but leave the rib bones on. These bones and fat keep the pork moist while it cooks.

Take the pork and brown the meat on all sides on the braai.
Add the garlic & sage to a baking tin and place the pork on top of them. Doing this makes a rack for the meat and prevents it boiling in its own juices instead of roasting.
Season with salt and pepper and pour the milk over the pork and bring just to the boil.
Add the lemon zest and drizzle the lemon juice over the loin and roast for about 20 minutes.
Reduce the temperature to 150°C/300°F and cook for a further 1-11/4 hours.
If necessary, add a little more milk every so often, to keep the meat roasting in liquid.
Baste the meat with the juices every 30 minutes.
Do not cover this will make sure that the juices reduce and the fat on the pork becomes crisp.

To see if the pork is cooked take a skewer and stick it into the middle of the meat, count to ten and pull it out. Touch it on the inside of your wrist and if it feels hot, the meat is cooked through. Or you can use a food thermometer if you have one.

Always leave the meat to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Strain the sauce as it will look curdled and serve with the meat. All that’s left to do now is serve with a fresh salad and rice and enjoy with a great chardonnay. This took a little time to prepare and cook but it was definitely worth it. The sage and garlic weren't to strong and did not over power the pork. Just remember that if you want to end up with a great dish you need to start with great meat, until next week happy Braaiing.

Lobster & T-Bone steak on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Surf & Turf on the Braai

June 13, 2013 by Larry Susman in Beef, Big Green Egg, Braai, Fish, Meat, Recipes, Video

Lobster & T-Bone steak on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Well the sun is shining and I’m going to cook a classic South African Braai (when your flush!) of T-bone steak and lobster. Now this is not a everyday dish unless you catch your own lobster and live on a farm but man it makes you smile. I’ve managed to get a fresh local lobster and the steak is not a problem for me fortunately. The only problem is I’m going to have to kill this lobster myself and it keeps on looking at me with wide eyes, lol!

For those of you that have never cooked lobster this will be the worst thing you will have to do, you can hear all those politically correct people having a go at you about this. Just remember that somebody has to do the dreaded act, just do it quickly and as humanely as possible. I think the best way to do this is to take a large sharp knife and place the tip just behind it head, push quickly downwards and bring it forward at the same time. This will instantly kill it and it will not suffer at all. Unfortunately, due to the nerves system the lobster will continue to twitch for awhile but be rest assured it is dead.

SERVES 2: PREP: 5 MINS: COOK TIME: 8 MINS

Ingredients for Surf & Turf:

1 x Large Lobster
1 x T-Bone steak
1 x Juice of fresh lemon
30g x Fresh Dill
20g x Salted Butter
Sea Salt & freshly ground Black Pepper to taste

Method how to prepare & cook Surf & Turf:

Preheat the Braai to 300°C (570°F) or hotter if you can
Cut the lobster in half as described above and remove the air sack in the head and the stomach waste (just like you do with prawns).
Season the steak and the lobster with salt and pepper.
Melt the butter and finely chop the Dill and add with the juice of the lemon to the melted butter.

Brush the lobster meat with the dill butter.
Place the steak on the braai as well as the lobster with its’ shell facing downwards.
Cook for 4 minutes.
Turn them over brush the lobster with the dill butter again and cook for a further 4 minutes.
This will give you medium rare steak and the lobster meat should have a lovely white flesh, with the shells a deep red. Just cook for a little longer on the steak if you want medium or well done.
Finally give the lobster one final brush with the dill butter before serving.

You can watch the video below on how to cook the perfect steak or go to the blog and read how its done.

This meal was a real treat and one I hope to repeat a little more often over the summer. We’re lucky down this part of the world that we still have lobsters along the rocky shore line, hopefully I will come across one or two!! I served this with a fresh salad just to finish the dish off but really you don’t need anything else when you’ve got this combination. It’s amazingly quick to prepare and cook, all you need is a large overdraft!