Boerewors Rolls!

November 09, 2012 by Larry Susman in Meat, Braai, Food Websites, Beef, Big Green Egg, Video

Classic Boerie Rolls

The sun finally came out this week for one afternoon anyway, so I thought lets have a classic SA lunch "Boerewors Rolls" what more could you ask for. There's not a great deal to say or do about cooking boerewors but there are definitely things that you should never do to any good boerewors and I will let you in on them shortly. There is also a video about how we make our Wors at the end of this weeks blog, be sure to watch and let us know what you think.

I'm cooking boerewors that we have been making for over 33 years now in our factory and I've been told by many that they think thats its amongst the best there is. WIth 14 different varieties to choose from we think that you should find one that you like or suits you dietary requirements but i am going to cook our Original Beef Boerewors for this blog. You can take a look at the range that we make here www.biltong.co.uk.

For 2 lucky followers who leave a comment below or a tip on how to braai Boerewors (on UK mainland only, sorry) we will be giving away a pack of Boerewors and a bottle of Mrs Ball Chutney so you can enjoy your own lekker lunch. I will not giving you the recipe to our Boerewors as this is a closely guarded family secret but their at 1000's of recipes out there on the internet. If you have a recipe you are willing to share then post it in the comments area below and you might win one of this weeks give away prizes.

Serves 3-4 - Prep: 2 mins - Cook Time: 3-4mins on each side

Ingredients

700g good quality Boerewors
3-4 Rolls or French stick
Mrs Ball chutney any flavour
Salad or any other accompaniments

Boerewors Braaiing Tips

Never, ever prick the skins of good quality Boerewors, all this does is it lets the juices out and you will end up with dry tasteless wors. If you are not lucky enough to be able to get a good quality wors then you will end up with a load of fat in the wors and it will not taste great.
Only turn the boerewors once when cooking, this helps avoid the wors breaking.
Let the wors cook until it caramelises on one side before you turn it, this stops the wors from sticking to the grills and tearing.
Cook the wors in a coil and open it up slightly so that the heat can get to all sides, close it up before turning
Always cook on a braai that is hot enough to crisp the skin and not boil the wors, otherwise this will make the skins really tough.

Win pack of Boerewors and a bottle of Mrs Ball Chutney

We will be giving away a pack of Boerewors and a bottle of Mrs Ball Chutney to 2 lucky followers who leave a comment below or a tip on how to braai Boerewors, leave a recipe or just make a comment (only to residence on the UK mainland, sorry entry closes on the 23rd November 12). That doesn't mean we don't want to hear from you wherever you live, please let me know what you think or have to say.

Watch my video on how we make our Boerewors and cook it to perfection!

Don't forget to leave your comments and win some great goodies, take care until next week...

Milk(Melk) Tart

October 19, 2012 by Larry Susman in Baking, Braai, Food Websites, Big Green Egg, Recipes, Tarts

Milk Tart baked on a Braai!

Welcome once again to another blast from the past, this week I'm going to try to do some baking on the braai. This for most South African Guys is forbidden if not virgin territory, myself included. If somebody had suggested only 3 months ago that I should bake something on a BRAAI I would have looked at them as though they were a Doos (literally the Afrikaans translation for " box " Depending on context, the slang / derogatory version can mean " idiot" this is the polite version). What sort of man "bakes on a Braai" I can hear you all saying and laughing. Well, a desperate man who committed himself to cooking on a braai every week for a year, who's looking for something different to show you every week. OK a "DOOS" thats me lol.

So this week I have tried a recipe from Garth Stroebel book "modern South African Cuisine" which is a great book with fantastic pictures of the food he is making. Garth Stroebel, executive chef for the African Collection of Orient-Express Hotels, is at the cutting edge of South African gastronomy, and a leader in the field of culinary innovation. Winner of numerous awards, he was recently presented with the prestigious Pinnacle Chef Award, for a lifetime achievement in the fields of training and culinary expertise. The Mount Nelson's signature restaurant, The Cape Colony, is a testament to his culinary skills, having been nominated as one of the world's top ten restaurants by Travel Trade (USA).

This has been a very enlightening journey so far and I'm learning fantastic new things along the way and this week is no exception. I have added one important spice to his recipe which I personally think "Milk Tart" should not be without "Cardamom", as I try to remember the taste from my childhood. Having never baked anything before and not being a Chef I had no idea how this was going to turn out, never mind baking this on a braai. So carry on reading to see the results, I took the time to make the pastry myself but you can just used shop bought if you haven't got the time.

Serves 8-10 - Prep: 2hrs for pasty & 20 mins for filling - Cook Time: 20 mins

Method

Sift the flour onto a clean smooth work surface and make a well in the centre
Add the butter which you have cubed up and rub it in with your fingers. Make into a texture that resembles crumbs
Add the egg and mix until the pastry is formed
Rest the pastry for a couple of hours in the fridge covered with cling film

Ingredients for Sweet Pastry

125g plain (cake) flour
50g unsalted butter
50g icing sugar
pinch of salt
1 x eggs

This is enough to make a 22cm tart, with a generous filling of gorgeous milk custard.

Filling Method

Pre heat the Braai or over to 200°C (395°F)
Bring 200ml of the milk, cardamoms and the cinnamon stick to the boil
In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and half of the sugar together, stir in the balance of the milk and stir into a smooth paste
Take the milk off the heat and add to this paste stirring well all the time
Return to the heat and cook until thick, stirring continually

Ingredients for filling

220ml Milk
1 Stick Cinnamon
2 x Cardamom pods
20ml plain (cake) flour
20ml cornflour
Pinch of salt
60g sugar
2 x eggs separated

Take off the heat once again and add the egg yolks, stirring and mix well
Whisk the egg whites until frothy and beat in the rest of the sugar, then fold into the custard mixture
Roll the pastry out to about 22cm, make sure that it is not more than 2mm thick if you can (mine was to thick, I will know better next time), roll onto the rolling pin and transfer to the baking dish
Pour in the custard mixture and bake for 20 mins at 200°C (395°F), dont be tempted to peek at it otherwise the centre will drop. Remove from the braai and place onto a rack to cool.
Serve with some fresh fruit, I used Cape Gooseberries, fantastic

The "Egg" baked this tart to perfection, unfortunately I did not roll the pastry thin enough as you can see in the picture. However that said the pastry had a great taste and was crisp and not soggy in the centre. The recipe for this Milk Tart gives the filling a soufflé type texture which I was not expecting, making this tart very light and not to sickly. The flavour of the whole tart was really good even if I say so myself, thanks to Jan who helped me during this bake as I doubted what I was doing throughout. This texture might not be the traditional smooth filling but it works and will take it to a different level. Give it a go and let me know what your opinion is, please post your comments below in the comment section.

Texan Steak, Blue Bull Steaks or even a Heinke Steek

How to Braai the perfect Steak!

September 28, 2012 by Larry Susman in Meat, Braai, Food Websites, Beef, national braai day, Big Green Egg, Video

Texan Steak Braaied to perfection

Well, what a week we've had in the UK, force 6-8 winds, floods, thunder and lightning how exciting! Anyway I managed to braai this week and what I decided to do was braai a massive pieces of rump steak or what some people call "Blue Bulls Steaks" depending on where you're from. Or as one of my Facebook fans suggested "Heineke Steek" LOL. However we will be selling these on our web site and call them "Texan Steaks" just to keep the peace.

It's a very simple thing to cook a great steak but its just as easy to murder a great piece of meat. If you follow the following simple instructions you shouldn't go to far wrong.

Serves 2 - Prep: 2 minutes (1hr marinating if you must) - Cook Time: 6-8 mins

Ingredients:

1 x 800g Black Gold Rump Steak (300-400g per person) if you are a South African carnivore or less if your from anywhere else, lol.
Sea Salt or a marinade of your choice if you must but these steaks just don't need anything added
2 x potatoes to bake on the Braai
Salads of your choice

Method

Preheat the braai to about 300°C (550°F)
Get the Braai as hot as you can
Idealy you need a lid to cook this way as this stops the flames from rising to high and just burning the meat
Season the meat to your choice (see image below)
If you are using a marinade, always give it at least an hour to absorb the spices
Make sure that the meat is rested and not to cold, don't cook straight from the fridge always let it come up to room temp
The trick when cooking a steak is not to turn it to often, once on each side and the just a quick turn again to put those great diagonal burns in the meat.
For a steak of this size 850g I cooked it only for 4 minutes on each side to get a medium rare steak. Add or subtract a minute on each side depending on if you want to go up or down the cooking scale. This usually works a treat for me, resulting in a steak landing on my plate just the way I want it.
BIG TIP, always let the meat rest for at least 5 minutes after it comes off the braai so that it relaxes and reabsorbs the juices. Be patient and you will be rewarded.

Get a 800g Texan Steak for free!

To launch these steaks on our web site they will be discounted by 15% for the first two weeks that they are on sale, so make the most of this offer if you are a meat lover. Also tell me why (in the comments area below) you think you should be the first to try one of these steaks for FREE and we will send you a 800g steak to try. Sorry but this is only available to people on the UK mainland due to delivery restrictions, entries close on the 4th October 12.

Watch me Braai this 850g Rump Steak

Curry for all Seasons!

September 07, 2012 by Larry Susman in Braai, Food Websites, Beef, Big Green Egg, Recipes, Curries, Video

Beef Durban Curry

Just as I thought autumn was here and we were in for some cold weather, the sun comes back out! Never mind, what I have cooked this week is great at anytime of the year. A Durban Curry, GEE, I can just remember those aromas drifting across the cars in the parking area of the Drive-In back in the old days when my folks took me to see a movie. This is where I first experienced the tradition of a Durbs Curry and Rice, we would park up the car and walk along to the food hut. Where we would queue, for what seemed hours, with that aromatic aroma making our stomachs ache until we got ours. We would then chow down enjoying that unique taste but not really appreciating how good it was, until you look back on it now. Perhaps it is though rose tinted glasses but we would then go and play for a while on the Jungle Gym before the movie started, what a shame my kids can not experience this now days.

For those of you who don't know, Durban Curries are very different to the curries that you have in the UK, they are light, aromatic and not cooked with much oil or ghee. We also eat them with a lot of fruit and salad sambals and a huge helping of Mrs Balls Chutney. A Durban Curry without Mrs Balls is just not acceptable and in some households and could cause a riot.

This is a very authentic curry as it uses dried spices to make the very distinctive flavour, its not a packed sauce as such as you will need to add a few extra ingredients but it is a very easy curry to make with this one shot pack. We have been selling these in our shop and I have made these curries many times before and believe me when I say they taste just like they did back home. I am making a beef one but you can use whatever you like, its great with lamb and even better with mutton. Chicken, seafood or even a vegetable one will also be just as good, so just choose whatever you fancy.

We have teamed up with Werners to promote these during September and you can get 10% off on our website with this code at the checkout SEPT12. Even better we are going to give away 5 sets of Werners Durban Curries and a bottle of Mrs Balls Original chutney to 5 lucky people who write a comment on this blog, see bottom of this article for details.

As I said this is very easy to make but there is a bit of preparation time needed to get this underway. You will have to prepare some rice and symbols to accompany this dish but I will leave that up to you guys to do.

Serves 4 People

Preparation time to chop ingredients 10 mins, cooking time at least 2hrs, the longer you can leave it to simmer the better. Even better make this the day before you want to eat it and just re-heat before serving, this gives the dried spices time to release the aromas throughout the dish.

Ingredients:

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.
Sambals of your choice, we had bananas, melon, onion, peppers, cucumber and tomatoes all chopped up.

Method:

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.

All you need to do is sprinkle the chopped coriander onto the top of the curry and serve on a bed of rice and sambals on the side with some Mrs Ball Chutney.

5 lucky people will win a 4 pack of Werners Durban Curry and a bottle of Mrs Balls Chutney!

All you have to do is leave us some feed back in the comment area below, this is once again an inducement to leave feedback but I really would like to know if we are giving you what you want. So don't be shy, let everybody know what your thoughts are good or bad, I want to know. The lucky winners will be drawn at random by Friday next week and posted on here for all to see.

Watch us cook this on the braai (Big Green Egg)

Rib Fest.

August 24, 2012 by Larry Susman in Meat, Braai, Food Websites, Pork, Big Green Egg

Smoked Pork Ribs 3 different ways.

Look out for this button on their web site in the navigation bar.

Gee, how time flies when your having fun! Big news is we have now sorted out the Special Offer Starter packs so that you can buy the "The Big Green Eggs". Take a look at our site for all the different combinations http://www.biltong.co.uk/Category/biggreenegg . Please note that you cannot order directly on our web site but there is a link where you will be taken to the UK site for the Big Green Egg. All you need to do is enter the Promo Code in the Promo Box and it will list everything for you. If you have any problems just drop me a line or call us on +44 (0)1273 516160.

On to this weeks adventure, I have made Baby Back Pork Ribs and used three different marinades that we sell on line, this is to speed things up for all you busy people, I will be revisiting this again at a later date with some home made marinades and I will compare these against the shop ones them.

Win these marinades free (see details at the end)

All I added was some Hickory wood chips that I had soaked in water for over and hour, which I added to the coals when I put the ribs on to cook. I only used a handful as I did not want to over smoke them and stop the flavours of the marinades from coming though.

This meal is not difficult but it needs a little forethought but will definitely be a family favourite. Ideally you need to marinade your ribs over night but if this is not possible these marinades will give a great result if you can give them at least 30 minuets to work.

Ingredients: Serves as many as you want (if you share!)

3 racks of Bay Back Pork Ribs. Allow one rack of Baby Back Ribs per person (especially if your a South African carnivore)
One of each of the marinades above if you are going to make all 3 types (the Jimmy's and Spur sauces will be enough for at least 3 racks per bottle but the SSA rubs will only do 2 racks)
Hand full of Hickory wood chips
Sweet and normal potatoes
Assortment of salads to accompany (I will post some salad recipes at a later date)

Lay you ribs out in a tray or on a work surface and sprinkle your spices onto the ribs, massage them into the meat for a couple of seconds and then place into a long bag or wrap in cling film. For the wet marinades a bag is really a better bet and will make life a lot easier. Once you have sealed your bags place in the fridge to marinade for as long as possible.

When you are ready to cook take the ribs out of the fridge and allow to come back to room temperature, this helps the meat to relax prior to cooking. Pre-heat your oven or Egg to about 120°C (230°F), sprinkle the wood chipping onto the coals, if you are using the Egg or braai and place the ribs onto the grill. It's important that you diffuse the heat with either a heat diffuse for the egg, a bowl or aluminium tray if you are using a braai, as you want to slow cook this for about 2-3 hours. Place you potatoes, wings and anything else that you are cooking in at the same time and close the lid. Try not to peek at them as this will let out the heat and smoke, trust the fact that you set you braai up correctly and they are not going to burn at that temperature.

I only cooked these for 21/2hrs and turned up the heat to 250°C (480°F) for 20 minuets at the end to crisp up the wings and rib ends, perfection.

You can see that the ribs have taken on a loverly deep rich colour, due to the smoking. I must say that the end result from all three marinades was very good. They all had very different and distinctive flavours. The general opinion from the lucky people who ate these was that they could not choose a favourite. In fact, because there was a mixture it made them all taste even better. The Jimmy's gave that spicy but sweet taste that you would have got from the Black Steers steakhouses in SA (before they closed, god i miss those days!). The Spur Hickory was sticky and very smoky with our added smoke but had that definite Spur flavour that its so famous for. Finally the SSA smoke rub, this was my personal favourite, once again the smoke flavour came out with a very spicy taste with a distinctive burn from the chilli and mustard seeds in the spice rub. If you can make all three you will definitely not be disappointed otherwise it will depend on your mood, sweet or spicy, gee I still can't make my mind up. Enjoy!

2 lucky people will win a pack of each of the marinades used this week!

All you have to do is leave us some feed back in the comment area below, I know this is a bribe but I really would like to know if we are giving you what you want. The stats show that there are hundreds of you looking at this blog each week (we are only 1 month old, so thanks for all the interest). So don't be shy, let everybody know what your thoughts are, the winners will be drawn at random by Thursday next week and posted on here for all to see.

Classic Boerie Rolls

Serves 3-4 - Prep: 2 mins - Cook Time: 3-4mins on each side

Ingredients

Boerewors Braaiing Tips

Win pack of Boerewors and a bottle of Mrs Ball Chutney

Watch my video on how we make our Boerewors and cook it to perfection!

Milk Tart baked on a Braai!

Serves 8-10 - Prep: 2hrs for pasty & 20 mins for filling - Cook Time: 20 mins

Method

Ingredients for Sweet Pastry

Filling Method

Ingredients for filling

Texan Steak Braaied to perfection

Serves 2 - Prep: 2 minutes (1hr marinating if you must) - Cook Time: 6-8 mins

Ingredients:

Method

Get a 800g Texan Steak for free!

Watch me Braai this 850g Rump Steak

Beef Durban Curry

Serves 4 People

Ingredients:

Method:

5 lucky people will win a 4 pack of Werners Durban Curry and a bottle of Mrs Balls Chutney!

Watch us cook this on the braai (Big Green Egg)

Smoked Pork Ribs 3 different ways.

Win these marinades free (see details at the end)

Ingredients​: Serves as many as you want (if you share!)

2 lucky people will win a pack of each of the marinades used this week!

Ingredients: Serves as many as you want (if you share!)