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!

Sweet Potato Crush on the Braai

June 07, 2013 by Larry Susman in Baking, Big Green Egg, Food Websites, Hot & Spicy, Recipes, Smoking, Vegetables

Sweet Potato Crush on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Last week I cooked a rack of spring lamb and served it with this dish and so many of you have asked how to make this. Please forgive me, I should have given you the recipe last week but just took it for granted that the meat is what you were interested in. This was a mistake as there are many of you who are interested in everything that I’ve cooked. This is such a easy recipe and it takes sweet potatoes to a new level, so give it a try, you don’t even have to use the braai if you don’t want to.

Also don’t forget that once again we will be giving away a great prize of a pack of smoking planks to one lucky reader which we used to cook this recipe, see the end of the blog for details.

SERVES 4: PREP: 10MINS: COOK TIME: 20-25MINS

Ingredients Sweet Potato Crush:

2 x Sweet Potatoes
30g x Fresh Mint
30g x Fresh Coriander
2 x Limes
1 x Fresh red chilli

Method how to prepare Sweet Potato Crush:

Cut the sweet potatoes in half and place in a oven proof dish.
Slice the limes in half and place on top of sweet potatoes.
Finely chop the chilli, mint and coriander ready to add to the sweet potatoes once they are cooked.

Method of cooking Sweet Potato Crush:

Preheat the Braai to 300°C (570°F).
Cover the dish with cling film and baking foil if you are placing in the braai or just cling film if you are going to use a micro wave.
Place the dish the braai for 20mins and close the lid.
Or if you want, you can place the dish in a microwave for 15mins on high.
Remove from the heat and uncover.
You will notice that the limes have kept the sweet potatoes moist.
Add the chopped chilli, mint and coriander and using a potato masher lightly crush the potatoes and herbs together.
Place back in the braai for a further 5mins, if you used the microwave you can miss this step out.

I cooked this dish when I made last week’s blog and the cedar planks just gave it a slight smoke flavour and they were divine.

Don’t forget that 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 a pack of these smoking planks for themselves. Entries will close on the 22nd June 2013, please check back to see if you were the lucky winner.

Rack of Spring Lamb on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Rack Lamb with Sweet Potato Crush on the Braai

May 31, 2013 by Larry Susman in Big Green Egg, Braai, Food Websites, Lamb, Meat, Recipes, Smoking

Rack of Spring Lamb on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Well spring has sprung and there are lambs all out in the fields around us in the south of England, so what better time to have a braai with some. I will be using a rack of best end lamb chops, which will be French trimmed, just for appearances, much to my sons dismay. He protested that I was wasting the best bits and I’m afraid that I have to agree, but needs must. I will be serving this with Sweet Potato crush.

How to French Trim Lamb:

First remove most of the fat from the back of the rack, leaving a little bit to flavour the meat as it cooks. French-trim the bones by cutting the fat out around each bone down to the meat. Scrape the bones of all sinew and fat. Cut between the bones and through the eye of the lamb, leaving 1cm of meat still attached at the bottom.

This recipe is very simple and quick and I will be lightly smoking it as it cooks, with BigGreenEgg Cedar Wood smoking planks (which we sell) and fresh rosemary. This is only lightly smoked, as you don’t want to loose the great taste of the lamb. Once again we will be giving away a great prize of one of these packs of smoking planks to one lucky reader, see the end of the blog for details.

SERVES 4: PREP: 15MINS: MARINATE 1HR: COOK TIME: 25MINS

Ingredients for Rack & the Marinade:

2 x Racks Spring Lamb (French Trimmed)
1/2 x Finely chopper Shallot/white onion
4 x Sprigs of Rosemary
2tbsp Olive Oil
2tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
100g Bunch of Rosemary for smoking
1 x Pack BigGreenEgg Cedar Wood Planks

Method how to prepare Marinade:

Mix the oil and vinegar together in a bowl.
Finely chop the onion and sprigs of rosemary and add to the oil and vinegar.
This is now ready to be brushed onto the racks of lamb.

Method how to prepare & cook the Lamb:

Brush the marinade onto the lamb and leave to marinate out of the fridge for 1hr.
Meat is always better if it’s left to come to room temperature before cooking.
Place the Rosemary & Cedar Wood Planks into water to soak for 1hr.
Preheat the Braai to 300°C (570°F).
Cover the ends of the chops with baking foil to stop them from burning when you sear the lamb fat.
Place the smoking planks in the braai for 5mins to warm up and then turn them over ready to place the meat on them.
Sear the lamb racks on their fat side first for 5mins be careful not to burn them.
I like to take the foil off the end of the chops to colour when cooking but others don’t, it’s really up to you.
Place the pre-soaked rosemary on the coals so they start to smoulder.
Place the racks of lamb on the smoking planks and cook for 20mins.
This should be the perfect length of time to cook these to medium rare, pink in colour.
If you have cut the racks (3-4 chops per rack) up into smaller portions then you only need to cook them for 15mins.

Take them off the braai and rest them on the planks for 5mins so that they relax before cutting and serving with salad, rice of potatoes.

This was the first of the Spring Lamb for this year and it so absolutely fantastic. The cedar planks just gave it a slight sweet taste that just added to the smoke from the rosemary and together they were divine.

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 a pack of these smoking planks for themselves. Entries will close on the 22nd June 2013, please check back to see if you were the lucky winner.

Rib Eye Steak on the Braai/BigGreenEgg using Kameeldoring Wood

Rib Eye Steak Braaied with Kameeldoring Wood

May 24, 2013 by Larry Susman

Rib Eye Steak on the Braai/BigGreenEgg using Kameeldoring Wood

Well the sun has decided that it’s not going to shine again this year, or so it seems, but we keep on braaiing. This week I have decided to do something a little different and instead of cooking a new recipe I’m going to braai with some new wood that we have just received from back home, which we are selling on our web site. It’s been over 30 years since I have braaied with this type of wood and I thought it would be great to review what it’s like, or if it makes any difference to the taste of what you are cooking. I’m going to cook a plain “Black Gold Rib Eye Steak” which we sell. I will season with a little sea salt and freshly ground Black Pepper and that’s it but I’m “braaiing” it over some Kameeldoring wood, which hopefully will make some difference!

The common name is Camel Thorn and is loosely translated from the Afrikaans name “Kameeldoring” and comes from kameelperd (giraffe). As early South African settlers gave the tree the name “Kameeldoring” (giraffe thorn) because Giraffes are the trees best friends. They have adapted tongue and lips that can cope with the vicious thorns and high branches and they choose it as one of their favourite foods. The tree can grow up to 17 metres high and its name refers to the fact that giraffe commonly graze on the harder to reach succulent leaves, normally out of reach of smaller animals.

Kameeldoring burns with minimal flame, has an aromatic fragrance and creates serious amounts of charcoal. This is superb cooking wood and is perfect for the braai, as it has an exceptionally long burn time! The wood is dark reddish-brown in colour and extremely dense and strong. It is slow growing, very hardy to drought and fairly frost-resistant. This firewood has extremely low moisture content and possibly the lowest of any firewood in the world. It is baked by the African sun to between 0 to 1 % moisture content! (compare this to domestic air dried woods at around 30% and domestic kiln dried wood at around 18 - 20%!). This makes the wood great fuel for fires, which has lead to widespread clearing of dead trees and the felling of healthy trees and as a result they are now protected in South Africa.

In fact the National Forests Act of 1998 states that:

Forest trees or protected tree species may not be cut, disturbed, damaged or destroyed and their products may not be possessed, collected, removed, transported, exported, donated, purchased or sold - except under licence granted by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (or a delegated authority).

Our Kameeldoring firewood is responsibly cropped with governmental co-operation with local landowners and farmers.

To light the wood all I used was a couple of the natural fire starters from the BigGreenEgg, immediately I was transported back to SA. That distinctive smell of Africa burst out of the flames and I was standing back on the beach in Cape Town around the braai with my cousins. That smoke was just mesmerising bringing back so many happy memories of my early days as a kid growing up in Joburg and spending my holidays down in the Cape with all the family.

It took about 25 minutes for it to burn down to that great white ash that just says “it’s braai time” on went the steaks and in just 6-8 minutes they were ready and on the plate. Man, it took all of my self discipline not to cut into them straight away, always leave your meat to rest for at least 5mins before you eat. The wood had slightly smoked the meat with a distinctive flavour that is hard to describe but it just shouts AFRICA to me. Once again it brought back all the memories of cooking in the sun on the beach with this special wood that is just so different to anything else you can buy or find anywhere in the world. I’m definitely going to use this when I can, or for long as we have stock!

For full instructions on how to cook the perfect steak, watch this video, which I made back last year. However this was using BigGreenEgg charcoal which is the best charcoal that I have come across in the UK, the times for cooking will be the same, it’s just the flavour that will be so different..

If you would like to win a pack of this Kameeldoring wood along with some firelighters to start your own braai just leave some comment below and we will draw, at random, a lucky winner to receive this great prize. Entries are only open to UK mainland residents due to export restrictions I am afraid but don’t let this stop you leaving your points of view. Entries will close on the 8th June 2013, please check back to see if you were the lucky winner.

Moules Marinières on the Braai

May 17, 2013 by Larry Susman in Big Green Egg, Braai, Bread, Fish, Recipes

Moules Marinières on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

Well thanks very much for all your comments and support after my little rant last week, it's great to know that you are so supportive and enjoying this blog. This week I’ve decided to do something a little different and gone Mediterranean and will be braaiing Moules marinières. This is not something I’ve ever tried but Jan has been asking for this dish for a while and I thought why not. OK, it might just be a starter for most South African guys but you can always have a great steak or ribs as a main course!

Living on the south coast of the UK, I have access to really fresh mussels and this is important, the fresher the better. If you are lucky enough to live on a breach where you can go and pick your own, send us a pic so we can all be jealous.

“Tip”

Do not scrub the shells as the colour will transfer during cooking giving an unappetising grey colour to the dish. Discard any mussels that float or remain open when tapped against the side of the sink and never eat any that don’t open after cooking.

SERVES 4: PREP: 10MINS: COOK TIME: 15MINS

Ingredients for the Moules Marinières:

2kg Fresh Mussels
250 ml fish stock

Ingredients for the (Roux) Creamy garlic sauce:

250g butter
100g flour
750ml milk
500ml fish stock
100ml fresh cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 x Cloves garlic, finely chopped

Method of cooking the (Roux) Creamy garlic sauce:

Preheat the braai to 180°C 350°F.
Melt the butter and add flour. Stir until a roux is formed.
Heat together the milk and 500ml of the fish stock, then gradually add them to the roux, stirring, making sure no lumps form.
Add the cream and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add seasoning, garlic and set aside to be added back to the mussels later.

Method of cooking the Mussels:

Preheat the braai to 300°C 572°F.
Wash the mussels under cold running water in a sink, removing any beards and barnacles. “There's no substitute for the sea-fresh taste of fresh mussels. But don't try to cut corners. It's vital that you clean the mussels and remove the beards. The end result is well worth the labour.”
Place an empty saucepan (just large enough to hold the mussels) over a high heat on the braai and allow to get very hot.
Pour in the mussels and a loud hissing noises will be heard, then pour in the 250ml fish stock (this will boil rapidly) and cover immediately with a lid.
After about 5 minutes the mussels will open and most of the moisture should have evaporated.
Reduce the heat, then add the creamy garlic sauce to the saucepan and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Remove the mussels from the saucepan with a slotted spoon, discarding any that have not opened properly. Place in a serving bowl and pour over the creamy garlic sauce. Garnish with the leeks, carrots and chives. All that is left to do is serve with some freshly made bread (see my recipe here) or some shop bought French bread if you are short of time and serve immediately.

It smelt absolutely fantastic, unfortunately as I’m allergic to shell fish I could not try them but the look on Jans’ face said everything :-) . Enjoy, this dish just looks fantastic and it only takes a few minutes to make. As usual please leave any thoughts or suggestions in the comments area below.

Until next week,

Au revoir