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Proving only thats its possible to have a quick braai after work, herewith 1/2 kg of some pretty good sirloin steak. Left almost completely unadulterated, a pinch of salt and pepper a dash of teriyaki sauce for a rapid 15 minute marinade. Coals too hot to hold your hand over for long.
Super result, sourced again from the guys at Blue Rock in Bisley.
Perhaps not a purists rendition, but tried my hand at a Portuguese espetada last weekend.
Large chunks of rump steak interspersed with flat mushrooms and peppers threaded on to long flat skewers. What really fuelled my enthusiasm for the dish was the thought of hanging the skewers inside the smoker, but without the water pan, making sure the heat gets way up. Of course if you don't have a tall smoker like bbq within which to hang these beauties they could just go straight on the braai.
For these I used:
Marinaded the steak chunks in most of the garlic and some olive oil over night. Threaded the skewers as the coals were burning down. Hung them within the smoker using the fish hooks, closed the lid. Put the left over garlic in a small bowl with the butter, melted down to a consistency thin enough to dab on to the skewers with a food brush while they cooked. The coals need to be at their hottest so that vegetables and steak get a little of that seared around the edges look. Took about 15 mins all in, perhaps closer to 8-10 if you did this directly over the coals laid flat on the bbq.
This will probably serve six if you have people around and they have something to go with it, or four blokes with just beer.
After a week of rain, much like Wimbledon, the sun has come out and its time to get out on centre court.
Saturday, desperately tired after a long week so just a quick one, but what a winner. You will need:
Preparation:
Prepare the bbq for indirect cooking, while the coals are getting themselves ready there's more than enough time to do all the prep below.
Set aside 3-4 tablespoons of honey and a helathy glug of olive oil in a small mixing bowl. Finely chop the chilli and rosemary, adding to the honey/oil mix.
Grind the salt and pepper in a mortar and pestle, mix in a few shakes of the Paprika. Slash the chicken breasts diagonally across the skin and rub the pepper, salt and paprika mix into the cuts and over the skin.
Once the coals are ready pop the chicken on to the bbq, close the lid and leave for approx 7-10 mins depending on the size of the chicken breasts. Lift the lid and paint some of the honey glaze on to the chicken, lid down again and repeat after a few minutes, perhaps about 5. The chicken skin should start to darken and even blacken slightly as the honey catches. I'd usually keep a close eye on things at this stage to make sure the breasts dont burn.
Served this with a green salad and some excellent Springfield 'Life From Stone' Sauv. Blanc.
In lieu of current bbq activity, I thought it best to raise the spirits with the memories of a proper SA braai from earlier in the year. First off a fillet or two for the extended family - here's one in close up:
Most would say that fillet is not as tasy as other beef steak cuts, but when seared whole with an olive oil, mustard and black pepper baste, served rare, the discovery of fire makes a whole lot more sense.
Continue reading "Rain delay, previous highlights: Fillet " »
