Capon cooked on the Braai

December 21, 2012 by Larry Susman in Meat, Duck, Braai, Vegetables, Chicken, Big Green Egg, Recipes, Roasts

Fancy a change for christmas try a Capon cooked on the Braai

What I love about this recipe is the fast cooking, which turns the capon crisp and golden on the outside and juicy and succulent within. The added bonus is roasting the potatoes and onions at precisely the same time and in the same roasting tin. This is an easy recipe to try if you're planning a treat for Christmas as I am. This week I am doing a trial run for the festive season as I don’t want it to be a disaster on the day. I'm cooking Christmas dinner this year on the BigGreenEgg, lets hope that I don’t mess it up! Otherwise its a curry take away lol.

SERVES 4-8 - PREP: 10 MINS - COOK TIME: 2 - 2.5hrs

Ingredients for the Capon and sauce

1 x Capon 4.6kg / large free range chicken or even your turkey
2 x large lemons, 1 thinly sliced and the other halved
150gm x salted butter
1kg x Desiree potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
3 x large red onions, peeled and quartered through the root
1 x 30g pack fresh thyme (reserve a few sprigs and roughly chop the remaining leaves)
2 x cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 
1 x teaspoon olive oil  Seasoning

For the gravy

425ml dry white wine
Juice of 1 lemon

Method for cooking Capon

Preheat the Braai to 230°C (446°F)
Take a knob of butter and slide it under the skin on the Capon along with some thyme, this will help the breast stay succulent.
Next mix the sliced lemon with the remaining thyme and place it inside the cavity of the capon and position it in the centre of the tin.
Add some seasoning then arrange the vegetables all around.
Add more seasoning, then place the capon on a rack in the middle of a roasting tin, Cover the Capon with some silver foil. Then place it on the centre shelf of the braai and time it for 90 minutes without opening the lid. Then remove the foil and allow the capon skin to crisp up for 20 mins (Because Braai`s vary, test the thickest part of the chicken with a skewer – if the juices run clear it is cooked. If not give it another 10-15 minutes).

Method for making the gravy

Now remove the vegetables to a serving dish and keep warm. Then spoon out the lemon slices into the tin, put a wooden spoon into the cavity and, using a spatula to hold the breast end up, tip the capon and let all the juices run out into the tin.
Transfer the capon to a carving board and leave it in a warm place to rest for 20 minutes.
Next stir the juices in the tin to release any crusty bits and transfer everything to a medium saucepan. Now add the wine, bring it up to a simmer and let it bubble and reduce by half – this will take about 8-10 minutes. Then add the lemon juice, taste and season.
Carve the capon and serve with the vegetables on warm plates.
Add any escaped chicken juices to the sauce then spoon it over the chicken and serve the rest in a warmed jug.

Thankfully this was a test run as I over cooked the capon and the breast of the bird was a little dry, just like the old days when my mother cooked the turkey for the whole morning, lol. Lets hope that I get it right next week as I will be cooking this again along with a roast beef and smoked ham, which I will be making on Christmas Eve.

Thank you all for taking the time to write in and for all your messages of encouragement, I just want want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I hope that you all have a fantastic time wherever you are. Best wishes Larry

Slow Braaied Belly of Pork

November 16, 2012 by Larry Susman in Meat, Braai, Pork, Big Green Egg, Recipes, Roasts

Slow Braaied Belly of Pork with Ginger-Caramel Sauce

This week I will be braaiing a belly of pork which will give you everything you could want from one dish. This has become a dish that every pub and restaurant seems to have on their menu and the reason for this is that its cheap to make. The only problem is that it take a long time to cook as you need to do this nice and slowly so that all the excess fat is melted away.

Serves 4-6 - Prep: 30 mins - Cook Time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients for Ginger-Caramel Sauce

¼ cup of palm sugar
¼ cup water
2 x red chillies cut into slithers
2 x green chillies cut into slithers
1 x root of fresh ginger cut into slithers
2 tbs Thai fish sauce
1 x juice of fresh lime

Ingredients for Pork

3 kg of Belly of pork with ribs left on
2 x Cups of chicken stock
1 x cup of soy sauce
2 x star anise
1 x cinnamon stick
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbs salt
1 tbs juniper berries

Method for making Caramel Sauce

In a saucepan, slowly bring the palm sugar and water to the boil.
Simmer until mixture starts to caramelise.
Add the chillies, ginger, Thai fish sauce and lime juice and cook slowly for 2 more minutes

Method for cooking Pork

Preheat the Braai to 300°C (570°F)
Score the pork in lines about 2.5cm/1 inch apart, just through the skin.
Rub the salt into the skin, this will help it crisp up
Place the pork into a deep pan
Add stock and spice to the pan, place in the braai and close the lid for 15-20 mins, so that it seals the meat nicely
Bring the heat of the braai down to 180°C (355°F) cover and leave to cook for 3-4hrs
Make sure that you check that the stock has not evaporated, if it does add some water to it

You can serve this with mashed potatoes and vegetables or rice and salad, whatever take your fancy. I've gone with the mash and veg as it's turning cold over here now and this makes for a great winters evening dinner.

To serve this you are going to have to dissect the pork into its three different components. Take the meat off the braai (or out of the oven) and leave to sit for 20 mins, this will relax the meat and stop the juices from coming out.

Then slide a sharp knife under the skin and take it off so that you can either put it back on the braai or under a hot grill to crisp up quickly and make the crackling crispy.

Next slide the knife under the main part of the meat but just over the ribs. This will separate the two, see images for this. Cut the ribs up and portion the meat ready to serve.

As you can see this makes for a hearty meal on a cold day, plate up and the pour the Caramel sauce over the meat and potato (definitely not the crackling) serve up the freshly steamed vegetables and you're ready to go. This will lift the whole dish and give it the wow factor.

Give this ago, you will not be disappointed, until next week enjoy......

Braaied "Mad Moroccan Lamb"

November 02, 2012 by Larry Susman in Meat, Braai, Big Green Egg, Recipes, Lamb, Potjiekos, Roasts

Slow Braaied Shoulder of Lamb

Howzit, I hope that I find you all well after the storms this week here in the UK but more importantly in the USA where I know we have some followers and where this blog is hosted. Sorry if you could not access the blog for a short time but the guys who look after this blog did a magnificent job of keeping it up even after the flood in New York where they are based, carrying diesel up 17 floors to the generator that kept the servers going. Many thanks guys, our thoughts go out to all those families who lost loved ones and we hope that everybody recovers form the devastation that "Storm Sandy" caused.

I was going to make Peri-Peri Baby Chicken but I thought that I needed something a bit more substantial this week to keep me warm. So I'm trying a recipe from the boy wonder "Jamie Oliver" and believe me when I say its worth the time this will take to cook. There are three parts to this recipe so lets crack on...

Lamb Preparation:

Serves 6-8 - Prep: 20 mins - Cook Time: 3-4hrs

Method

Preheat the Braai to 220°C (425°F)
Score the lamb in a diamond pattern about 2.5cm/1 inch apart, quite deep so that the spices penetrate though out.
Either grind you spiced in a pestle and mortar or in a electric grind if you have one
Rub the spices all over the lamb top and bottom and make sure that you rub it in well in the groves.
Sprinkle the rosemary on and rub some into the cuts.
Place the lamb in a roasting pan and put in the braai to cook for 2hrs.

Ingredients

1 x 2kg/4.5lb Shoulder of Lamb
2 tsp cumin seed
2 tsp coriander seed
2 tsp fennel seed
2 tsp black peppercorns
2-3 dried red chillies
2 tsp salt
handful of fresh rosemary

Chickpeas Preparation:

Prep: 5 mins - Cook Time: 30 min

Method

Heat some olive oil and fry the onions, cinnamon and herbs with a pinch of salt and pepper for about 15 mins until they soften.
Add the chickpeas with about 425ml of water and the vinegar
Simmer on a medium heat until they all breakdown in to a nice thick consistency, take of the heat for use later.

Ingredients

Olive oil to fry off the following
4 x Large red pinions, peeled and sliced
1 x Cinnamon stick
Bunch of fresh thyme or marjoram leaves roughly chopped
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to season
2 x tins or jars of chickpeas
200ml balsamic vinegar

Couscous Preparation:
Prep: 5 mins - Cook Time: 10 min

Method

Bring The stock to the boil, add the fruit and season, simmer for 5 mins.
Add a shot of olive oil and the couscous then remove from the heat so that it soaks up all the liquid.
When it has all been soaked up and there is no liquid left, poor on to a flat tray drizzle with olive oil and set aside for later.

Ingredients

1.1 Lt / 2 pints of Vegetable stock
250g raisins, dates, apricots, sour cherries or a mix of all of these.
Olive oil
700g couscous
2 x Lemons halved

After about 2hrs the lamb needs to be taken out of the Braai/oven. Turn the braai down to 200°C (400°F) so it's ready for when you put the dish back in. Take the lamb out of the roasting pan and put aside. Pour away the oil and return the pan to a low heat and add a little water, stirring up all those juices that had stuck to the bottom of the pan. Then get a large dish with high sides of about 10-12 cm that will take the lamb and rub olive oil around it. Sprinkle about 2.5 cm of couscous on the bottom and sides, then spoon on the chickpea mixture into the middle. Then take the lamb and place on top of the couscous and pour the meat juices all over the meat. Take the remainder of the couscous and enclose the lamb so that it looks like its in an envelope of couscous. Cut up the lemons and place around the sides. Now get a piece of wax paper and make it wet (not that easy to do but crunch it up under a tap) then rub some olive oil over the wax paper and place on top of the couscous. Cover this with some tinfoil and then its ready to go back in the braai for another 1-2 hrs on a lower heat.

You will know when the meat is done just poke a knife thought the couscous and if the meat falls off the bone easily then it ready to serve. take the whole dish to the table, part the couscous and break the meat off the bone and serve. All the juices run to the bottom of this dish and the couscous absorbs most of it, just serve with some chopped up coriander and red chillies to top it off. Another nice touch is to serve a dollop of yoghurt with this along with a fresh green salad and a sweet chutney.

The spices on the meat are truly amazing and it has quite a kick to it from the chillies, it was really worth the time it took to prepare this and the photos just don't do it justice. There's a lot of work to make this but whoever you serve this up to will really appreciate the effort.

Peking Duck, on a Braai!!!

October 05, 2012 by Larry Susman in Meat, Duck, Braai, Big Green Egg, Recipes, Roasts

Peking Duck Pancake Rolls (Buck Ging Ngap)

Well, the weather has certainly not got any better and thoughts turn to what to braai this week? Something different, "somebody said" but without any further help of what to cook! So I looked through my collection of recipe books (Charmaine Solomon is the inspiration for this) for something that you would not think to cook on the braai and this is how I arrived at Peking Duck.

You may ask why, I haven't to foggiest idea why but I know now that it was a great choice if not foolish. The Chinese have been cooking this for centuries and make it look easy, let me tell you it's not. This will take longer than all the other recipes I've cooked so far put together but if you follow these easy steps it will be worth it.

One Duck, will yield three separate dishes, the crackling crispy skin is eaten with mandarin pancakes (this is the most important course and what is meant by "Peking Duck") the flesh is served separately and the bones are then used to make a soup. I am only going to do the first two as I ran out of time to make the soup but have make the stock ready for another day. This is a variation on the traditional way to make this dish but it saves a lot of time and really works well.

Serves 6 - Prep: 8 hrs marinating - Cook Time: 120 mins

Ingredients:

1 x 2.5kg rousing duck
2 tsp of salt
1/3 cup of vodka (a couple of shots for yourself will help with the time it takes to get this meal ready)
3 x tbs honey
3 cups of water
6 slices of fresh ginger

For Serving

2 dozen Mandarin pancakes (I cheated and bought them from my local Chinese restaurant along with the Hoi sin sauce) who's got that much time that you can make these as well? If you have then let me know and you can pop along and give me a hand, lol
Spring onions sliced into slivers
Hoi sin sauce
1 cucumber cut into long slivers
Fresh steamed rice
Fresh stye fried Bok Choi
Pack of prawn crackers to serve the skin on

Method

Wash the duck, drain well and dry thoroughly, inside and out
Rub the salt all over the duck inside and out
Spoon the vodka over and rub all over the duck place the sliced ginger inside the duck
Leave for 4 hrs to marinade turning the bird from time to time so all the skin is in contact with the vodka at some point
Dissolve the honey in the water, rub this mixture into the skin of the duck not missing any place (they use a red dye but I prefer not to)
You now need to tie the duck, so that you are able to hang it in a breezy place, for at least 4 hrs to dry (the Chinese chefs inflated the skin of the bird before hanging it for 24hrs but that was just beyond my abilities and time limits at the moment) I left it in our large fridge, worked a treat
Preheat the braai to about 190°C (375°F)
Place the duck on a rack over a roasting pan that has hot water in it, the duck must be well above the water
Cook for 30 minutes and the turn the heat down to 150°C (300°F) for a further hour
Then bring the temperature back up to its original temp and roast until the skin is crispy and brown all over

All that needs to be done now is to eat this fantastic bird, start by separating the skin from the meat. It should be really easy if you have crisped the skin correctly, start by cutting along the breast as I have in the photo below. Place the skin sliced onto a bead of prawn crackers, this will soak up the excess fat and will be fantastic when you eat them later.

The first course should be the soup that you made with the bones but as I said I have not done this this time.

Second course is the Peking Pancakes, I served this with the skin a little meat and the spring onion and cucumber, along with a little Hoi sin sauce. Wow, I could not believe how good this actually was and it was cooked on a braai.

Third Course was the flesh of the duck served with steamed rice and fresh Bok choi man this was just as good the pancakes.

This braai is just unbelievable, even a novice as myself is cooking what I consider to be a great meal. I'm sure that without this braai I would just be burning these dishes but who knows perhaps I'm getting better after nearly 8 weeks of cooking. Why not give this a go, if you do, please let me know what you think, we all would be interested to hear your stories.

Fruity Duck

September 14, 2012 by Larry Susman in Duck, Braai, Pork, Big Green Egg, Recipes, Roasts

Stuff a Duck!

Wow! Have we been having some great weather down in the South (of the UK), I hope that you are all still Braaiing away and have not become soft and put them away at the first sign of a cloud. Thanks for all the great comments about last weeks Curry, a lot of you have been trying this and I hope that you have enjoyed following us. We had 5 lots of prizes last week and the lucky winners are Geoff Worrall, Jane Phillipson, Jim Bates, Liz Riches-Jones and Linda Tingvoll please email me your delivery addresses and we will get them to you as soon as we can. One thing I ask, please email a photo of your creations so that I can post them on our Facebook page for all to see.

This weeks creation is quick and turned out to be really tasty, for the amount of effort that went in to preparing this dish you will be pleasantly surprised.

Serves 4 - Prep: 10 minutes - Cook Time: 12-16 mins

Method

Preheat the braai to about 200°C (400°F)
Using a sharp knife, cut a long slit in the fleshy side of each duck breast to make a pocket that you will layer the shallots and apricots in. You will then seal the parcel with a skewer
Mix the honey and the sesame oil together in a bowl and brush all over the duck both sides. Then sprinkle with the Chinese five spice all over.
To make the spring onion garnish, cut lengthways down the stem of each on both sides and leave in ice cold water until the tassels open out. Drain well before using.
Cook the duck over a medium heat of 6-8 minutes on each side.
Remove the skewers and cut in half, serve on a bead of rice with the spring onions to garnish.

Ingredients:

4 Duck Breasts (1 per person) you can substitute pork chops if you prefer
155g / 4oz dried apricots
2 Shallots or red onion thinly sliced
2 tbsp clear honey
1 tsp sesame oil (olive if you don't have)
2 tsp Chinese Five-Spice powder (Contains: finely ground Sichuan Pepper, cassia, fennel seed, star anise and cloves)
4 Spring onions to garnish
4 bamboo Skewers (pre soaked in water for 1hr)

The apricots and onions counteract the richness of the duck and its high fat contents make it virtually self-basting so it stays superbly moist and when you garnish it with the spring onion it looks particularly elegant. I served this once again with some steamed rice, I know, I like rice and if you come from SA you eat a lot of it. Give it a try, its quick and tastes as good as it looks. Just don't over cook it, otherwise you might as well cook your flops!

Fancy a change for christmas try a Capon cooked on the Braai

SERVES 4-8 - PREP: 10 MINS - COOK TIME: 2 - 2.5hrs

Ingredients for the Capon and sauce

For the gravy

Method for cooking Capon

Method for making the gravy

Slow Braaied Belly of Pork with Ginger-Caramel Sauce

Serves 4-6 - Prep: 30 mins - Cook Time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients for Ginger-Caramel Sauce

Ingredients for Pork

Method for making Caramel Sauce

Method for cooking Pork

Give this ago, you will not be disappointed, until next week enjoy......

Slow Braaied Shoulder of Lamb

Lamb Preparation:

Serves 6-8 - Prep: 20 mins - Cook Time: 3-4hrs

Method

Ingredients

Chickpeas Preparation:

Prep: 5 mins - Cook Time: 30 min

Method

Ingredients

Couscous Preparation: Prep: 5 mins - Cook Time: 10 min

Method

Ingredients

Peking Duck Pancake Rolls (Buck Ging Ngap)

Serves 6 - Prep: 8 hrs marinating - Cook Time: 120 mins

Ingredients:

For Serving

Method

Stuff a Duck!

Serves 4 - Prep: 10 minutes - Cook Time: 12-16 mins

Method

Ingredients:

Couscous Preparation:
Prep: 5 mins - Cook Time: 10 min