Cooking and culinary tips/recipes

[DR ◣◢]

First thing to do is to buy a proper gas stove and a good set of solid copper bottom cookware. Thank me later.

 

I will never go back to electric.

 

To determine the temperature of a steak take your forefinger and poke the steak.

 

1. If it feels like the soft part of your cheek it's rare

2. If it feels like the tip of your nose, it's medium

3, If it feels like your forehead, it's well-done.

 

Also make sure to season and oil the steak outside of the pan. Never heat the oil in the pan. Less splatter.

[Helpmytrap]

First thing to do is to buy a proper gas stove and a good set of solid copper bottom cookware. Thank me later.

 

I will never go back to electric.

 

To determine the temperature of a steak take your forefinger and poke the steak.

 

1. If it feels like the soft part of your cheek it's rare

2. If it feels like the tip of your nose, it's medium

3, If it feels like your forehead, it's well-done.

 

Also make sure to season and oil the steak outside of the pan. Never heat the oil in the pan. Less splatter.

+1 on the gas stove. I thought I was going to go nuts little over a month ago when we went on holiday for 2 weeks and had to use an electric stove.

 

I swear the food even tastes better on a gas stove.

[Guest Latent Blue]

Never-fail super awesome best potjiekos recipe!!!!!! If you think you can beat it, I call BS on that...

 

Pot on low heat with dash of olive oil.

Brown one big onion (cut to large chunks)

 

Add bag frozen meat of choice/meat with water: let 0.5cm of the meat not be covered by water.

 

Boil for 45min - stir a few times

Add: 5 tsp of garlic, 5 tsp curry powder, herbs of choice, pepper, and give last stir.

 

Add potatoes. Cook till potatoes soft (dont stir!)

 

Add feggies and packet brown onion soup (dilute in 200ml cold water) cook for 10min

 

Add mushrooms. Cook 5min

 

Dish up!

[flymango]

Pork belly on an open fire

 

Buy a fresh belly from a butcher (about 30 cm X 20 cm), and ask butcher to cut off rib bones and score the skin (NB!!)

Make a generous fire using a hard wood (e.g. kameeldoring)

Grind course salt onto both sides of the belly and some fresh lemon juice (both skin and flesh sides)

Put belly into a rooster and stand it upright next to the naked flames, flesh side first (not too close - about 15 cm from flames)

Keep turning upright rooster NEXT to fire for up to FOUR hours (1/3 time skin, 2/3 time flesh) as fire settles and forms coals (which eventually die down and lose heat)

Be careful not to burn skin (crackling) but allow it to "pop" or "crackle"

 

Serve with creamy mash potato and apple sauce (my wife makes home-made sauce but don't ask me how - Purity Baby food also does the trick).

 

Simple but magic!!

Edited June 10, 2013 by flymango

[dev null]

You okes must come cook for me. My wife is a staunch traditionalist (born in Calvinia). Rys, vleis en aartappels. I can't crit though. The best I can do is a mean mince curry. But I must say it is mean.

Edited June 10, 2013 by Moridin

[Pieter1]

Does any one know of a place in JHB where I can buy Guinefowl meat?

[rouxtjie]

Does any one know of a place in JHB where I can buy Guinefowl meat?

I have seen them at sloan's meat market, just off william nichol...otherwise...you, wagter and a .22, just remember something about you can't hunt and eat in month with the letter "r" in them or something like that

[rouxtjie]

First thing to do is to buy a proper gas stove and a good set of solid copper bottom cookware. Thank me later.

 

I will never go back to electric.

 

To determine the temperature of a steak take your forefinger and poke the steak.

 

1. If it feels like the soft part of your cheek it's rare

2. If it feels like the tip of your nose, it's medium

3, If it feels like your forehead, it's well-done.

 

Also make sure to season and oil the steak outside of the pan. Never heat the oil in the pan. Less splatter.

Can't agree more, when we re-did our kitchen I was in two minds about this but went ahead and bought the top of the line bosch 90cm gas stove...best thing ever, entertaining and catering for lots of people is now a breeze.

 

Oh and great tip on the steak, never ever oil the pan, oil the steak...tip given to me by a chef friend that works at a top resort.

[Tumbleweed]

Can't agree more, when we re-did our kitchen I was in two minds about this but went ahead and bought the top of the line bosch 90cm gas stove...best thing ever, entertaining and catering for lots of people is now a breeze.

 

Oh and great tip on the steak, never ever oil the pan, oil the steak...tip given to me by a chef friend that works at a top resort.

 

I don't use a pan for steak, unless it's to seal a whole fillet for later oven-roasting. I use the grill rather.

[rouxtjie]

I don't use a pan for steak, unless it's to seal a whole fillet for later oven-roasting. I use the grill rather.

Yes true, but then again I almost never fry steak, I braai dem....njom njom njom

Edited June 11, 2013 by rouxtjie

[Tumbleweed]

Yes true, but then again I almost never fry steak, I braai dem....njom njom njom

 

No we're talking!

 

Okay, here's another culinary question…braaiing with wood or charcoal?

[rouxtjie]

No we're talking!

 

Okay, here's another culinary question…braaiing with wood or charcoal?

ooooo my boet gets some hardekool from botswana every now and again....lovely stuff and my first choice, the coals still smolder the next morning after you had a braai. Gives the meat an awesome flavour. But if that isn't available, I would rather use briquetes from woolies than braai with the crap we have in jozi. If someone know of a place that sells the good stuff...post here

[Tumbleweed]

ooooo my boet gets some hardekool from botswana every now and again....lovely stuff and my first choice, the coals still smolder the next morning after you had a braai. Gives the meat an awesome flavour. But if that isn't available, I would rather use briquetes from woolies than braai with the crap we have in jozi. If someone know of a place that sells the good stuff...post here

 

One of the best braais I ever had was on Cycle Mashatu. They got a a branch of a mashatu tree smoldering, and cooked an impala fillet directly on it. Delish.

[rouxtjie]

Another great recipe for the braai

 

Rouxtjies deboned leg of lamb

 

Go to your butcher and ask for a whole deboned leg of lamb. Cost about 200 bucks for a proper size one.

Make marinade...crush 3 gloves of garlic, 100ml of olive olive oil, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, salt, pepper, and 100ml of fresh lemon juice, 100ml of balsamic vinegar.

Rub marinade onto meat...if butcher prepared in a roll with netting, cut net and roll out flat. Leave for at least 12 hours in marinate.

Start your hardekool wood fire, must be hardekool wood...you looking for a fire that isn't too hot but will retain its heat for hours. CHARCOAL or BRIQUETTES WON'T WORK

Braai the whole deboned leg slowly on fire, fat must be crispy(rub salt into fat to draw water out making it easier to crisp) but meat medium

Serve with warm pita, home made humus and tzatziki....

[rouxtjie]

One of the best braais I ever had was on Cycle Mashatu. They got a a branch of a mashatu tree smoldering, and cooked an impala fillet directly on it. Delish.

Its also a hardwood I believe....problem is getting the proper stuff in jozi, also those trees take years to grow so there is a bit of guilt to burn a piece of wood that could have been a very old leadwood. Not alot of them around, but ja...love my braai too much

[NotSoBigBen]

Is there a thread 'blocking' option for cooking klutzes like myself ...... tjoona and Tuc clearly won't cut it