Peppers Stuffed with Boerewors on the Braai

April 26, 2013 by Larry Susman in Baking, Beef, Big Green Egg, Braai, Food Websites, Meat, Pork, Potjiekos, Recipes, Roasts, Vegetables

Peppers Stuffed with Boerewors on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Hi and welcome to this weeks Braai blog.

The sun's been out and shinning for over a week now and everybody seems a great deal happier so, it's time to try something from the sunny Mediterranean with a twist. This week I'm going to make stuffed peppers/capsicums. I've used three different coloured peppers but you don't have to you can use green, red, yellow or orange. It really doesn't matter what colour they are as its just different stages of ripening. However here is the twist I'm going to make this out of our Beef & Pork boerewors, it just makes this dish feel more South African.

We will be giving away to 2 free packs of this Boerewors to some lucky winners this week. All you have to do is leave a comment in our comment section at the end of this blog.

SERVES 6: PREP: 20MINS: COOK TIME:20MINS

Stuffing Ingredients:

700g Beef & Pork Boerewors (1 of our packs) or minced plain pork or beef if you prefer
6 x Peppers what ever colour you fancy
90ml x Olive oil
1 x onion, finely chopped
100g x pine nuts, roughly chopped
3 x garlic cloves, crushed
40g x parsley, roughly chopped
5 g x rosemary, roughly chopped
2tsp x fennel seeds, ground
55g x fresh breadcrumbs
250g x ricotta cheese
25g x grated Parmesan cheese
1 x egg
grated zest of 1 large lemon

Method of making and cooking the stuffed peppers:

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and cook the onion and pine nuts until the onion is soft and the pine nuts are light golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes more, then set aside to cool.
Take the boerewors sausage meat out of the skins.
Put the herbs, fennel seeds, breadcrumbs, ricotta, Parmesan, lemon zest and egg in a bowl and add the boerewors mince.
Add the cooled onion and pine nuts, season with salt and pepper and mix briefly until all the ingredients are combined.
Cut the tops of the peppers off carefully and then scoop out the insides of all the seeds.
Next spoon the mixture into a pepper so that they come just over the top of the peppers. Repeat with the rest of the mixture and peppers.
Replace the tops back on to the stuffed pepper and they are now ready to cook.
There are a couple of ways that you can cook this dish, I tried both and I think cooking them directly over the braai on a low heat for 15-20 mins is the best. The peppers will protect the stuffing and you will get that charcoal flavour from the braai that we all love. The other way is to place them in a potjie and cook like you would a pot roast for 20-30 mins with the sauce around the peppers or not. Its your choice!

Sauce Ingredients:

800g x tomatoes or
2 x 400 g tins tomatoes
125 ml x Good red wine

Method of making Sauce:

To make the sauce, if you are using fresh tomatoes, score a cross in the top of each one, plunge them into boiling water for 20 seconds, then drain and peel the skin away from the cross.
Finely chop the flesh. Add the tomatoes and wine to the saucepan, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes.
Cover the saucepan and, cook for a further 10 minutes.

Now all you need to do is serve this with some Tastic Rice and the tomato sauce on the side, magic. This makes a change to traditionally stuffer peppers and the boerewors takes on a different flavour with the added herbs, give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

We are going to be giving away 2 Packs of Beef & Pork Boerewors this week so please leave some feed back and you could be 1 of 2 lucky people that get a chance to make this recipe. Also I love to hear what you think about what I'm cooking and please feel free to leave suggestions as to what you would like to see me cook in the coming weeks.

Unfortunately this will only be open to people who live on the UK mainland as we cannot deliver any further afield. However please feel free to leave your comment, no matter where you live in the world, we always appreciate your thoughts . Entries will close on the 10th May 2013 and we will post the lucky winners in the comment section below. So be sure to check back and see if you’ve won.

Until next week Happy Braaiing, Larry

Beef Ribs smoked on
the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Lekker! Beef Ribs on the Braai

March 01, 2013 by Larry Susman in Beef, Big Green Egg, Braai, Food Websites, Hot & Spicy, Meat, Recipes, Smoking

Beef Ribs Smoked on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Howzit all, today I'm going to be cooking Beef Ribs, smoked with hickory chips and slow cooked to perfection. This takes time to cook if you want to get the best from this cut of meat, then you need to be cooking these for about 6 hours. Ask your butcher to cut the beef ribs thick (they are commonly known as 'Jacob's Ladder' ribs in the UK and the USA) because they shrink during cooking but will still leave you with a huge amount of meat to eat. Allow 1 to 2 ribs per person if they are big meat eater otherwise 1 each will be more that enough.

Beef ribs are larger than and more tender and meatier than their pork counterpart, if they are slow cooked. Beef ribs are cut from the rib and plate primals and a small corner of the square-cut chuck section of the animal. A full rack of beef ribs is typically about 18 inches long and ranges from 3-5 inches thick, contains six ribs as well as the intercostal muscles and tendon and a layer of boneless meat and fat which is thick on one end of the rack and thiner on the other.

The rub I'm using this week is taken from the recipe book of the “Salt Lick” restaurant in Texas USA and if you have never heard, been or seen this place then you are missing out. It's a vegans nightmare but for meat loving South Africans (and the rest of you ) it heaven on earth, check it out here www.saltlickbbq.com

SERVES 4-6: PREP: 15MINS: MARINATE 1HR: COOK TIME:4-6HR

Rub  Ingredients:

7.5 tbsp black pepper
1.5 tbsp cayenne pepper
7.5 tbsp Sea salt

Ribs Ingredients:

6 kg bone-in beef ribs cut 3-5 inches thick .
1 x Jimmy's marinade (available from our website)

Method how to prepare and cook Ribs:

Preheat the Braai/BigGreenEgg to 200ºF/94ºC.
Leave the meat out to come to room temperature.
Place the hickory chips in a bowl, cover with water and let soak for at least 1 hour.
To make the rub (you can store the remainder thats not used for use at a later date) pour the cayenne pepper, salt and pepper into a mill or pestle and grind into a course mixture.
Generously rub the ribs with the spices then set aside to rest for 20 mins.

In the meantime drain and scatter the wood chips over the preheated charcoal.
Place the ribs on the grid with a pan of water under the ribs (this will keep the ribs moist and catch any excess fat) and close the lid of the braai, leave to slow smoke/cook for 1-2 hours do not open the braai during this time.
After 2 hours raise the temperature of the braai to 356ºF/180ºC and open the braai up and baste the ribs generously with the Jimmy's sauce, continue to do this every 40 mins for 4 hrs. It is really worth taking your time doing this and the end result will reward you for your patience.

We are giving away 2 bottles of Jimmy's Braai Sauce so you can try this great recipe out.

All you have to do is please leave some feed back and you could be 1 of 2 lucky people that get a chance to make this really great Rack of Beef Ribs. Also I love to hear what you think about what I'm cooking, feel free to leave suggestions what you would like to see me cook. Entries will close on the 15th March 2013.

Bunny Chow on the Braai!

February 15, 2013 by Larry Susman in Baking, Beef, Big Green Egg, Braai, Bread, Curries, Hot & Spicy, Meat, Recipes

Bunny Chow on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

This week I'm going to be making a very Durban dish “Bunny Chow” this is comprising of two things that I have made previously to give one very unique dish. The origins of this dish are disputed but one of them goes as follows (which also provides an etymology for bunny chow) it is that a restaurant run by people known as Banias (an Indian caste) first created the scooped-out bread and curry dish at a restaurant-cum-cafe called Kapitan's on the corner of Victoria and Albert streets in Durban. The food was a means to serve take-aways to excluded people. During the apartheid regime, Indians were not allowed in certain shops and cafes and so the shop owners found a way of serving the people through back windows, etc. This was an easy and effective way to serve the workers. The traditional Indian meal was roti and beans, however rotis tended to fall apart as a take-away item. So they cut out the centre portion of the bread and filled it with curry and capped the filling with the portion that was cut out.

This recipe is great, made form left over curry the next day or freeze and use whenever you need a quick snack. If you haven’t got time you don’t need to make the bread yourself but if you can its worth it, take my word for it. However if you cook this from scratch you will not regret it!

PREP:15 MINS – COOK TIME: 2hrs

Ingredients for making Curry :

1 x pack of werners Curry spices, from Mild to Ex-Hot
500g Meat, cubed to bite size
2 x medium potatoes, peeled and chopped to 2-4 cm (I've added sweet potatoes as well)
3 x medium tomatoes chopped or tin if you're lazy like me
3 x large finely chopped Garlic cloves
2-3 tsp chopped fresh Ginger (i like a bit more personally)
1 x chopped red onion
1 x red pepper chopped
Handful of chopper coriander leaves

Method for making Curry:

Put the meat into a bowl and add the dry Powdered Spices from the pack to the meat and stir with a wooden spoon until all the meat is coated and there is no loose power left. Place aside and leave to marinate for a short while.
Add all the Non-Powdered spices to a tablespoon of olive / vegetable oil in a large saucepan or potjie (dutch Oven) over a medium heat and fry off the spices until the aromas from the spices start to smell wonderful.
Add onions and peppers.
Add the meat and lightly brown for a few minutes. Sirt constantly to stop the meat from sticking.
Add the Garlic and Ginger.
Add the potatoes, tomatoes and then pour some water over the whole lot until it just covers all the ingredients.
Leave to simmer for 1-3 hours at 200°C (400°F) if in a oven or on low heat if on a cooker plate, as i said the longer the better.
Depending on how you like your curry, simmer the water until it evaporates away to the thickness of gravy that you prefer.

PREP:15 MINS – PROVE 2-4HRS – COOK TIME: 25mins

Ingredients for the Brown Rolls: Makes 4 large rolls

500 g Mixed Grain Bread Flower flour if you can the Wessex Mill was fantastic
2 teaspoons of dried yeast or 15g or fresh yeast
320 ml of lukewarm water
1.5 tsp sugar
10g or 11/2 teaspoon of salt
2.5 tbsp of olive oil
Flower (to sprinkle on the cooking surface so that it does not stick)

Method for making the Bread

Pre Heat the Braai to 250°C (480°F)
Mix the sugar and yeast into small bowl and stirring in 90 ml of the water. Leave it in a draft free spot to activate. If it doesn't start bubble and ferment in about five minutes, then you are going to have to start again as this is an important part process. Your yeast must be fresh and active as this is what is going to make your dough rise.
Then mix the flower and salt in a bowl or food processor fitted with a plastic blades, do it by hand it's a lot more fun. Add the olive oil and the remaining water to the flour as well as the balance of the yeast mixture and start to stir until it makes a loose crumbly mix, then roll into a ball and empty it onto flat surface covered with flour. Now you are going to have to knead for at least eight to ten minutes, this helps the bread to start to. If you need to add a little more flour or a few drops of water do so as necessary. The final dough should not be sticky but is dry to the touch.
Next rub the inside of a large bowl with some olive oil, place you dough mix into it and then roll the ball around the bowl and coat with the olive oil. Then cut small crossing the top of the dough with sharp knife and cover with a teacloth or put it in a large plastic bag with space to grow and leave in a draft free area for about 1-1 1/2 hours until the dough has doubled in size. Once it has risen quite substantially, to double its original size, you will need to punch it down to reform it to the size it was originally. You'll notice that it seems to be very light and airy (it will be slightly heavier with brown bread) and if it's like this then you're onto a winner.
At this stage you can now store it for up to 4 hours in the fridge to use later, just remember to bring it back to room temperature before you start to use it. Cut your dough into 4 and roll into balls, then using the palm of your hand you are going to kneed the dough for a second time for a minuet or two. Then reshape and cover with a teacloth or put it in a large plastic bag with space to grow and leave in a draft free area for about another two hours to prove again. I suggest leaving it a t this stage on the backing tray or bread peel that you will use to put it in the braai to cook with. This is so that you don’t have to pick the dough up again which will cause you to know the air out of it and this is where it will sink and you will end up with a poorly risen loaf of bread.
Place it in the braai/BigGreeEgg and close the lid, whatever you do don’t be tempted to open the lid for the first 10 mins of the bake. This will only cause the bread to deflate and sink not only that it also stops the yeast from being baked off. If you don’t allow the heat to kill the yeast you will end up with a severe case of indigestion as the bread will still be fermenting in your chest after you have eaten it.
After about 20 mins or so open the lid up and carefully lift up the bread, turn it on its side and give it a tap with your knuckle. If it sounds like a drum then its cooked if not place it back down and give it another couple of mins to bake.

Once cooked place on a rack to cool for 20 mins at least now get the curry you prepared earlier.

Once cooled cut the top of the roll off but don’t discard it as this will form the lid of your bunny chow. Take the bottom and scrape all the bread out of it so that you create a bread bowl, this is where you will but the Durban Curry place to top on it and serve to you hungry friends and family.

Please feel free to leave your comments below as I love to hear what you think about my cooking and make suggestions what you would like to see me cook in future.

Cheese & Garlic Boerewors Sausage Rolls cooked on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Cheese & Garlic Wors Rolls on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

February 08, 2013 by Larry Susman in Baking, Big Green Egg, Braai, Food Websites, Meat, Recipes, Beef

Cheese & Garlic Boerewors Sausage Rolls cooked on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Howzit, thanks for all your support it's really appreciated and your are growing in number every week, please continue to spread the word. This week I'm cheating a little as the main ingredient is made by me at our factory so I will not be giving out our boerewors recipe as its top secret. But you can also cheat and buy it from us on our website www.biltong.co.uk . Or even better leave a comment at the bottom of this blog and have a chance to be one of 2 lucky people that we will be giving away two packs of boerewors to, so you can make your own. Sorry but this is only open to UK mainland residence as we cannot ship fresh meat out of the country.

What I though I would make this week is something really quick and easy and that you can snack on at anytime of the day “Boerewors Sausage Rolls”. You can cheat even more and buy ready made pastry but we used a very good quick recipe to make your own. I choose our “Cheese & Garlic Wors” as I thought it would be a little different to the norm but you can make it out of type you like so lets crack on.

PREP:15 MINS – PROVE 20mins – COOK TIME: 25mins

Ingredients for Puff Pastry

250g strong plain flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
250g butter , at room temperature, but not soft
about 150ml cold water
1 x Pack of our Cheese & Garlic Boerewors.
This is enough to make about 700g pastry.

Method for making the Pastry

Pre-heat the Braai or over to 200°C (395°F)
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl or clean work surface and roughly break the butter in small chunks. Add them to the bowl and rub them in loosely you need to able see bits of butter.
Make a well in the bowl and pour in about two-thirds of the cold water, mixing until you have a firm rough dough adding extra water if needed. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
Turn out onto a lightly floured board, knead gently and form into a smooth rectangle. Roll the dough in one direction only, until 3 times the width, about 20 x 50cm. Keep edges straight and even. Don't overwork the butter streaks; you should have a marbled effect.
Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out again to three times the length. Fold as before, cover with cling film and chill for at least 20 mins before rolling to use.
Roll the pastry out into a long strip about 15cm wide ready to receive the boerewors.

Method for making the Boerewors (Sausage) Rolls:

It's really simple now, all you have to do is take the boerewors out to the skins (don’t leave this on as the will be tough if you cook the rolls with it on) and roll into mini sausage shapes about 10cm long and 1.5 circumference.
Place them on the pastry and cut across, take the egg yolk mix and brush the open side and fold over. Pinch the edge so that they seal and then score the tops with a sharp knife. Finally brush the tops of the rolls with the egg yolk so that it browns nicely and then place in the braai for 25 mins to cook. Keep an eye on the after about 20mins as you don’t want them to burn.
The juices from the wors will run out and be soaked up by the pastry, wow did this taste great. I would recommend that you make the wors a little longer that the pastry as when the pastry cooks it expands and can leave a gap at the end. Which is what happened to mine but on the other hand, if like me, you like pastry don’t worry lol.

If you would like to win one of the packs of two of our Cheese & Garlic Boerewors then please leave some feed back and you could be 1 of 2 lucky people that get a chance to make this really great South African Snack. Also I love to hear what you think about what i'm cooking, feel free to leave suggestions what you would like to see me cook.

Sorry but this is only open to UK mainland residence (but I would still love to know your thoughts even if you cannot win the prizes) as we cannot ship fresh meat out of the country, please post your comments by the 22nd February 2013.

Chateaubriand
with Dauphinoise Potatoes cooked on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Chateaubriand in the Snow on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

January 25, 2013 by Larry Susman in Meat, Braai, Vegetables, Beef, Big Green Egg, Recipes, Roasts

Chateaubriand with Boulangerie Potatoes cooked on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

“Man” Its freezing out here and I'm cooking on the braai this week in the snow again, I'm definitely meshuggah! This week I'm cooking my version of this classic French dish with some healthy but extremely tasty Boulangerie Potatoes.

Chateaubriand is a juicy-on-the-inside, seared and roasted beef tenderloin (fillet) with wine sauce frequently ordered for a table of two at French restaurants. Which, according to Larousse Gastronomique, was created by personal chef, Montmireil, for François-René de Chateaubriand, the author and diplomat who served Napoleon as an ambassador and Louis XVIII as Secretary of State for two years. This chateaubriand recipe is the traditional version of the restaurant favourite, seasoned very simply, roasted to perfection, and then sliced on the diagonal. Be sure to make the quick shallot and wine sauce and serve the meal with Boulangerie Potatoes.

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

Preheat the Braai/BigGreenEgg to 180°C (356°F)

Ingredients for the Boulangerie Potatoes:

6 large x potatoes, peeled, sliced and placed in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from browning (use floury potatoes such as Russet, King Edward, Maris Piper or Desiree)
2 x cloves garlic
2 x Red onions sliced
30g x Fresh Thyme
20g x Fresh Parsley
300ml x Warm Chicken Stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method of cooking Boulangerie Potatoes:

Peel, slice and place the potatoes in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from going brown. Chop up the onions and saute them in a knob of butter until they soften add the thyme and set aside. Take two small baking dishes (can use just one large) and add a layer of potatoes. Sprinkle them with some of the onion mix and some parsley and repeat until the dish is full. Pore over half of the chicken stock and finally put a couple of knobs of butter on the top to help brown them off. Place in the braai for 1hr at 180°C simple as that.

Ingredients for the Chateaubriand:

500-750g Beef fillet (tenderloin)
20g x Sea Salt
20g x Fresh Black Pepper

Ingredients for the Béarnaise sauce:

2 tbsp x tarragon vinegar
50ml x white wine
1 tsp x white peppercorns
1 x small banana shallot, finely diced
4 x eggs, yolks only
¼ x lemon, juice only
200g x butter, melted
2-3 tbsp x chopped tarragon leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method for the Béarnaise sauce:

Traditionally this dish is served with a Béarnaise sauce but I did not make it as I'm trying to be good lol. We made just a simple Red wine reduction with chicken stock but this is the recipe that I would have used if I was going for it. To make the béarnaise sauce, place the vinegar, white wine, peppercorns and shallot into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by half and remove the peppercorns then pour into a medium bowl.

Add the egg yolks and whisk well, then add the lemon juice. Place over a pan of simmering water and whisk together until thickened and light in colour. Gradually add in the melted butter, whisking constantly. Season with salt and black pepper and add the chopped tarragon leaves. Turn off the heat and leave the bowl over the pan until ready to use

Method of cooking Chateaubriand:

Grind the salt and pepper with a pestle and mortar, its amazing the aroma this gives off. Sprinkle the fillet with this mix liberally and set aside for later.

Once the potato’s have been cooking for 1hr, turn up the braai to 260°C (500°F) and place the fillet in the Braai for 20 mins, turning regularly so that it does not burn. It shouldn’t take any longer that this as this dish is best served rare!

Once cooked remove both the potatoes and beef from the braai and set the beef aside to rest for 15 mins. The potatoes will not go cold as the are in a baking hot dish. As a South african I love rice so we served this up with a helping of Tastic rice and vegetables.

As you can see I only just managed to not overcook the fillet, that is the trick. Its so easy to leave it in the braai for a extra couple moments as you try to decide if its cooked enough. Remember when its resting its still cooking so don’t be tempted to leave it in the braai for a little longer. Please feel free to like and share this blog with other like minded nuts who enjoy Braaiing all year long.