Pistachio Pavlova with Figs and Honey

January 18, 2013 by Larry Susman in Baking, Braai, Cakes, Big Green Egg, Recipes

Pistachio Pavlova with Figs and Honey cooked on the Braai/BigGreenEgg

It's time for something sweet to cheer us all up, unless you happen to be somewhere sunny! What the hell, lets cheer everybody up with this great desert which I am going to cook on the Braai/BigGreenEgg. This is something that I made up but the main ingredients go together like “pup and wors”, “Samson and Delilah” but its Pistachio, Figs and Honey all set on top of a classic Pavlova. What I hear you say, you cant cook this on a braai! Well let me assure you, you can, if its a "BigGreenEgg" man I think you can cook anything on one of these. I'm almost coming to believe in my ability to actually cook. Who knows, perhaps I will end up on TV as a Celebrity chef lol!!!

Actually, this is very easy to do and looks great when you serve it but even better it tastes absolutely LEKKER. This combination of ingredients just work and it will keep you coming back for more, the only problem is that there are about a 1000 calories in each slice ;-)

SERVES 6-10: PREP: 25MINS: COOK TIME:1-1.5HR

Ingredients for the Pavlova:

6 x Large egg whites
330g x White caster sugar
2 x Tbsp corn flour (optional) if you want a soft meringue
100g x Crushed Pistachio nuts

Method for cooking Pavlova:

Preheat the Braai/BigGreenEgg to 275ºF/140ºC. Line a baking tray with some wax paper to lay the meringue on and lightly oil it with some olive oil.

Place the egg whites in a large clean bowl and using an electric whisk on a low speed, begin whisking. Continue for about 2 minutes until the whites are foamy, then switch the speed to medium and carry on whisking until the egg whites reach thew stiff peak stage. Next, whisk the sugar in on high speed and add 1 dstp at a time until you have a stiff and glossy mixture. Next fold in the Pistachio nuts and the Spoon the mixture onto the baking tray and place in the centre of the Braai. Cook for about and hour. Next shut all the vents so that the braai goes out but leave the meringue in there to dry out, until completely cold.

Ingredients for the Pavlova topping:

16 x fresh figs
100g x Crushed Pistachio nuts
100ml x Honey
300ml x freshly whipped cream
Knob of salted butter

Method for cooking Pavlova topping:

Melt the knob of butter in a frying pan and quickly sauté the figs for just 2 mins. This is just to soften the skin of the figs, poor a couple of spoons of honey over them and take off the heat. Set aside to cool until needed.

Just before you are ready to serve, whip the cream and then spoon onto the centre of the meringue. Next spoon the figs over the cream and sprinkle the crushed Pistachio nuts over the top. To finish it all off drizzle the remainder of the honey all over and serve.

I wasn’t sure how this would work or even if it could be cooked on the braai but I must say it came out fantastically and everybody just loved it. This is going to be one of those dishes that comes out more than once over the next year. All you need to do once you’ve eaten it is go down to the gym for about 3hrs to work it off. Once again please leave any feed back below, this really helps me work out what to do, many thanks. Larry

Quick and easy white and
Brown Bread on the BigGreenEgg!

Fresh Bread Baking on the BigGreenEgg Braai, hmm!

January 03, 2013 by Larry Susman in Braai, Baking, Big Green Egg, Recipes

Quick and easy White and Brown Bread on the BigGreenEgg!

Its still raining out there and all the stats show that its been the wettest year since records began in England and I like a doos decide to Braai every week for a Year!! What more can I say? But the truth is I've loved doing it, thats the braaiing side of things, having to write it up so that you can all see what you can actually cook on a braai apart form the traditional Steak, Chops and Wors has been challenging to say the least. From the feed back so far I think that i'm getting the balance right but if there is anything you would like to see me cook, please feel free to let me know below.

This week I'm going to make some home made bread and it not as hard as you think. I'm making both white and brown so check them both out and see which you prefer. Personally I think the brown it 10 times better. The method for making both is the same but obviously the recipes are different so I will not be repeating the method twice.

MAKES large 800g loaf

PREP: 15 MINS – PROVE 2-4HRS – COOK TIME: 25 mins

Ingredients for the Brown Bread

500g Mixed Grain Bread flour if you can find it the "Wessex Mill" was fantastic
2 teaspoons of dried yeast or 15g or fresh yeast
320 ml of lukewarm water
1.5 tsp sugar
10g or 1.5 teaspoon of salt
2.5 tbsp of olive oil
Flower (to sprinkle on the cooking surface so that its does not stick)

MAKES 4 large rolls

PREP: 15 MINS – PROVE 2-4HRS – COOK TIME: 20 mins

Ingredients for the White Bread

450g of plain all-purpose flour as suggested
2 teaspoons of dried yeast or 15g or fresh yeast
215 ml of lukewarm water
1 tablespoon of castor sugar superfine
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 teaspoons of olive oil
Flower (to sprinkle on the cooking surface so that its does not stick)

Method for making the Bread

Pre Heat the Braai to 250°C (480°F)

Okay, put the sugar and yeast into small bowl and stirring in 90 ml of the water. Leave it in a draft free spot to activate. If it doesn't start bubble and ferment in about five minutes, then you are going to have to start again as this is an important part process. Your yeast must be fresh and active as this is what is going to make your dough rise.

Then mix the flower and salt in a bowl or food processor fitted with a plastic blades, do it by hand it's a lot more fun. Add the olive oil and the remaining water to the flour as well as the balance of the yeast mixture and start to stir until it makes a loose crumbly mix, then roll into a ball and empty it onto flat surface covered with flour. Now you are going to have to knead for at least eight to ten minutes. If you need to add a little more flour or a few drops of water do so as necessary. The final dough should not be sticky but is dry to the touch.

Next rub the inside of a large bowl with some olive oil, place you dough mix into it and then roll the ball around the bowl and coat with the olive oil. Then cut small crossing the top of the dough with sharp knife and cover with a teacloth or put it in a large plastic bag with space to grow and leave in a draft free area for about 1 - 1.5 hours until the dough has doubled in size. Once it has risen quite substantially, to double its original size, you will need to punch it down to reform it to the size it was originally. You'll notice that it seems to be very light and airy (it will be slightly heavier with the brown) and if it's like this then you're onto a winner.

At this stage you can now store it for up to 4 hours in the fridge to use later, just remember to bring it back to room temperature before you start to use it. This is where the fun starts, I'm going to make the white into rolls and leave the brown as one large loaf so cut your dough into 4 and roll into balls, then using the palm of your hand you are going to kneed the dough for a second time for a minuet or two. Then reshape and cover with a teacloth or put it in a large plastic bag with space to grow and leave in a draft free area for about another two hours to prove again. I suggest leaving it at this stage on the baking tray or bread peel that you will use to put it in the braai to cook with. This is so that you don’t have to pick the dough up again, which will cause you to knock the air out of it and this is where it will sink and you will end up with a poorly risen loaf of bread.

All you will need to do now is cut two or three cuts along the dough, this not only makes it look good but helps with the even baking of the bread, just sprinkle some flour over the dough and this will also stop it from burning the top of the bread. Place it in the braai/BigGreeEgg and close the lid, whatever you do don’t be tempted to open the lid for the first 10 mins of the bake. This will only cause the bread to deflate and sink not only that it also stops the yeast from being baked off. If you don’t allow the heat to kill the yeast you will end up with a severe case of indigestion, as the bread will still be fermenting in your chest after you have eaten it.

After about 20 mins or so open the lid up and carefully lift up the bread, turn it on its side and give it a tap with your knuckle. If it sounds like a drum then its cooked if not place it back down and give it another couple of mins to bake.

Once cooked place on a rack to cool for 20 mins at least below you are tempted to break open and eat. That is going to be the longest 20 mins that you will have experienced for a while. The smell of freshly baked bread is just so tempting and will bring back memories of your childhood that you did not know you had. My whole family just loved the brown loaf and said it was better than anything we can buy locally, which is fantastic but now they want me to bake it every other day, Help!

All you need now is some cold fresh butter, none of that margarine crap please and a big dollop of fig Jam, Hmmmm.

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.