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......

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...

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.

Carrot Cake, something for the weekend!

October 26, 2012 by Larry Susman in Baking, Braai, Cakes, Big Green Egg, Recipes

Carrot Cake with coconut!

I've continued with the baking theme this week after watching the BBC's "Great British Bake Off" and now I have great respect for those guys. Especially the presentation, "man, that's hard to get these things to look good in photos!"

Last week I seemed to start a bit of a war about the recipe for Milk Tart! Please guys, I've never claimed that anything I'm cooking is the best, the most original, most authentic or anything of the kind. I'm just cooking different things that I like and hopefully some of you will want to try some of the recipes and delights that I braai each week. Please feel free to offer any suggestions, help or even send me your recipes to try. I would love to give them a go and let my followers try them too. Don't be shy, email me any thing you would like me to try to sales@biltong.co.uk or leave them in the comments section below. Next week we are launching our "App" that you will be able to take photos and post them directly to us at a touch of a button as well as follow this blog, get special offers, free goodies and many other things. I will post up links next week so that you can download it straight to your phones.

This week the recipe is one that my wife has been perfecting to "MY TASTE" I think its great, so let me know what you think if you try it.

Serves 8 - Prep: 150 mins - Cook Time: 35-40 mins

Ingredients - Cake mixture

250g carrots, peeled and grated
175g dark soft brown sugar
2 x large eggs
150ml olive oil (not virgin olive oil)
200g wholemeal self-raising flour
1 x tbsp ground mixed spice
1 x tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 x Zest of lemon
50g desiccated coconut

Method - Cake mixture

Pre-heat the Braai or oven to 190°C (375°F)

Lightly grease a baking tin/silicone and line with grease proof paper if not using a silicone mould.
Whisk the sugar, eggs and oil together in a bowl with an electric whisk for 3-4 minutes until smooth.
Sift in the flour, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda, make sure to tip the remaining bits into the mixture as you are using wholemeal flour.
Stir together gently and then add the grated carrot, coconut and lemon peel. Fold in gently.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 35-40 mins.
Its should rise nicely, to make sure that it is cooked do the knife test. Poke a knife into the centre of the cake carefully and with draw, if the blade is clean then its cooked. If not place it back to cook for another 5 mins.

Method - Topping mixture

Just mix the icing sugar into the Mascarpone and add in the lemon juice, tasting as you go.
mix until smooth.
Once the cake has cooled, smooth over the top

Ingredients- Topping mixture

300g Mascarpone
2 x tbsp icing sugar or to taste
1 x juice of a lemon

If you are cooking this on the braai, make sure that you have something directly under the cake tin so that the heat is not directly below. Otherwise you will definitely end up burning the bottom of your cake and you don't want that. If you have any other recipes or suggestions please send them in, I would love to give them a go.

Sorg tot volgende week, wanneer ons terug na die braai vir 'n "hoender fest!" (Take care until next week, when we will be back to the braai for a "chicken fest!")

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.

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......

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!

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

Carrot Cake with coconut!

Serves 8 - Prep: 150 mins - Cook Time: 35-40 mins

Ingredients - Cake mixture

Method - Cake mixture​

Method - Topping mixture

Ingredients- Topping mixture

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

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

Method - Cake mixture