THE VEGETARIAN ALEXANDER SHOULD LIKE THIS!!
Reading about the skilpaatjies braai and Gout ,, Spar in Obs had some the other day .. rich , delicious , and for me no side effects . I love my braai with lamb chops and ribs especially , nothing better than than slightly charred lamb fat .. the only thing that I avoid is uncured pork , seems to deck me if not cooked through properly ..
On the subject of the gout and cutting down on red meat , it's a case of re-educating the palate to appreciate taste , less dressing on salads , less marinade on meat and food etc .. and then experiment and have fun .. my concession to braai is these few meatless treats I also do ..
1. Magic Mushrooms .. take large Brown mushrooms 2-3 inches wide for every 6-8 you make a marinade of a some water + - 10mm in a flat soup mug , olive oil and 1 X Knorr garklic and herb stock cube ... you get to boil in micro then mix well .. 10 – 20 minutes before braaing them ( best time is after the meat is done and waiting in the pot on the side and fire is cooler .. ) you toss them in this marinade allow some to get soaked up toss again and then put them on the grid ... turn regularly for about 5- 10 minutes they should be heated through starting to look brownish on the outside .. ( remember they have a delicate flaviour and overdoing will kill them ) eat them soonest ... Mmmm a kind of vegetarian hamburger .. experiment with the cooking times , do not marinade for too long as they get soggy ,, do not baste with the marinade either they would have soaked up some of it . no More needed ,, remember the re- educated palate .. in the absence of large brown , smaller will do put on a skewer .. BEST of all is if you can get your hands on big or small Portabellini musshies ...
2. Braaied Taters ... take medium sized potatoes with skins on wash then put in a pot of water ,, then throw in salt ,, do not be shy with the salt ,, I use up to ¾ packet of 500 gram salt to a fair sized pot , the intent is to get a bit of a salty crust on the taters .. boil taters till getting soft .. IOW a knife is just easily inserted .. .. drain the salt water and allow the taters to dry in the pot .. you wll then see a bit of a salty crust on them .. you can either then douse and coat with a bit of good olive oil or leave them as is ,, your choice .. either way they nice .. again when the meat is done put them on the grid .. keep them turned they can be done for longer in fact a few grid burns add to the flavour .. even eter is if you got a Weber braai close the lid .. they get a bit of the smoky flavour .. .. the combination of the salt crust the extra time on the grid seem to concentrate the flavour of the taters .. break open and serve drenched with butter or Olive oil . you should need no extra salt or seasoning .. even more delicious is to do the same to Sweet Potatoes .. they come out nice and creamy flavoured ..
3 . braaied butternut .. take big butternut with good firm orange flesh .. the light colured ones are watery and flavourless .. , cut into about 1 cm thick rounds .. remove the peel from the rounds ... again good olive oil ...lay out in a flat square roaster or whatever with some olive oil .. allow each side a minute or two to take up a bit of the oil .. then sprinkle with some Woolies or second best Ina Paarman powdered vegetable stock ,, other wise Vogel herbal salt .. .. not to much remember the
re- educated palate ... when both sides are sprinkled allow to rest a while before putting on the braai . they can be cooked on a griddle on the side of the braai .. baked in the oven .. or as I have also found done gently in the Weber with the lid closed .. .. again they are blessed with the smoky flavour of the weber .. secret keep turning or else they will stick .. again the braaing or baking concentrates the flavour ... the bottom part with the pips I never use .. that gets given to the maid ..
That among a few other things and drinking lots of water to help dilute the booze I like so much be my concessions to trying to maintain some sort of balance ..
Thanks Sandy, The nushrooms look interesting, we just braai them on the fire with dops of Garlic butter.... I'm interested in the salted taters, but heck, thats a lot of salt.......as for the butternut, we have done that a few times before... wuite nice...... I'm taking 2morrow of work and plan to braai over my long weekend sometime, if the weather changes , as it is windy and cool at the moment..... I'll let you know how it goes.....
cheers
Mike
@ Sandy,
.... ok, as it's my birthday today I am taking the liberty of telling you to remember the date, for I am just now informing you that I have decided to invite myself to a birtday dinner at your place for 2009 and we can have all this veggies on the braai! Thank you - I think I have given you enough time in advance to plan it all.
(Just love veggies - I will for sure use the recipies - thanks. Will send you a PM sometime about herbs - sounds like you will know about that too)
Dalene .. yes a happy birthday to you indeed !! many more in health and happiness !!
Herbs and veggies yes fond of them as I am of the lambchops and red wine ...
A Very, Very Happy day to you Dalene. cheers giverose
I've just invited myself to your 2009 B'day at Sandy's place.Can't wait to see you there. discodance
Thanks Diana. So glad you invited yourself. That way Sandy can't blame me for getting his place overcrouded with me inviting guests there..
Sanyd, I think you should start watching this space!
@ Mike you tried the taters yet ?? dont worry about the salt crust .. most of the salt goes down the drain with the cooking water .. that light salt crust in relation to the bulk of the tater is nothing ..
Its the simba /willard/ whoever crisps we should watch out for .. same crust on a sliver of tater .. now thats talking about salt ..
Sandy.......your putting some of us (well me anyway) to shame.....i cant remember the last meal i cooked ha ha ....but it sounds lovely.........i might be at the party too girls.........if i get an invite that is cookin