Fire up the braai

There are few things as wonderful as the aromas that emanate from a real braai! Whether it’s a sputtering lamb chop with a proper fatty edge, a sweet and sour pork rib or now and then even a flavourful chunk of beef, the effect is always the same … mouths watering and cheeks bulging with yumminess!

To see ribs being perfectly braaied at Flintstone’s castle in the middle of the Namibian Desert is as close to an art form as you can get, though I suppose any meal is fit for a king if served under the starry night sky. If you go to Njoli Square in Port Elizabeth or Mzoli’s in Gugulethu, you can enjoy braaied chicken as warm, tasty and colourful as the people of Africa.

Fortunately vegetarians no longer have to hide away when the braai fires are lit. Skewered tofu and halloumi cheese with crispy vegetables braaied to perfection is the order of the day, and even the most hardened carnivore may be tempted.

Sosatie chops

Traditional sosaties are truly South African and I still find the flavour and colour of a lamb sosatie irresistible. This recipe doesn’t require hours of marinating, and by using chops instead of a leg of lamb, you get to keep the leg of lamb for Sunday’s roast!

For the marinade

• 80 ml cooking oil
• 2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 2–3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 45 ml curry powder, mild or hot to taste
• 5 ml turmeric
• 5 ml ground ginger
• 5 ml ground dried coriander
• 2.5 ml ground cloves
• 100 ml sugar
• 100 ml vinegar
• 80 ml smooth apricot jam or 50 ml golden syrup
• salt and pepper to taste

For the sosaties

• 8 lamb loin chops
• 8 sosatie sticks or metal skewers
• 16 dried Turkish apricots
• 2 large onion, peeled and quartered

For the marinade

1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for about 5 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Pour the cooled marinade into an airtight container large enough to hold all the chops and place the chops in the marinade. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

For the sosaties

1. Skewer one chop onto each sosatie stick, with a piece of onion and a dried apricot on either side. Braai over the coals until cooked to your liking. Drizzle each sosatie with marinade while braaiing. Serve with a banana and yoghurt salad.

Makes 8 sosaties

Rosemary and bacon potatoes

Believe me, you’ll never be able to make enough of these potatoes. They absolutely fly out of the dish, and if one or two are left over, you’ll be sure to see someone slip into the kitchen late at night for another bite!

• 16 rashers bacon
• 16 baby potatoes, washed and parboiled
• 16 sprigs rosemary
• olive oil for drizzling

1. Wrap a rasher of bacon around each potato. Where the two ends of the bacon rasher meet, thread a sprig of rosemary through both ends to secure the bacon. Drizzle with olive oil and braai over luke-warm coals until the bacon is crispy and brown and the potato is slightly caramelised.

Enough for 6–8 people

Spicy potato and sausage dish

You can make this delicious dish as you stand around the braai fire. It can be served as a snack before the braai, but it also makes a great late breakfast.

• 30 ml olive oil
• 1 kg good-quality boerewors (sausage)
• a few bamboo sticks or metal skewers
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 10 ml smoked paprika
• 5 ml chilli flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 large potatoes, washed and cut into cubes
• 125 ml beef stock
• juice of 1 lemon
• 30 ml chopped fresh parsley

1. Place a cast-iron pan over the coals and heat the oil in the pan. Twist the sausage into a spiral and fry it in the pan, turning once to brown both sides. Thread bamboo sticks or metal skewers through the wors spiral, set aside and keep warm. Fry the onion, garlic and spices in the same pan until transparent and then add the potato cubes. Fry until the potato starts browning and then add the beef stock. Cook the potatoes until soft and until all the liquid has cooked away. Remove all the coals from underneath the pan and place the wors spiral on top of the potatoes. Cover and leave to cook slowly using the residual heat, allowing the spices and juices of the sausage to drip onto the potatoes. Serve with a good squirt of lemon juice and the chopped parsley.

Enough for 4 people

You can also cook 500 ml of coarsely chopped cabbage with the potatoes. Just don’t cook it until it’s too soft – the idea is for the cabbage to still be crunchy.

Marinated flat leg of lamb on the coals

This recipe can hardly be called a recipe. The butcher can debone the leg of lamb, and with just five ingredients even the most inexperienced cook can serve up something tasty for his or her family. If you serve it in pita breads, you can easily feed 8 people!

• 2 bottles salad dressing – use the Greek variation with a vinegar base
• a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1.5 kg leg of lamb – ask your butcher to debone it
• salt and pepper (optional)

1. Pour the two bottles of salad dressing into a large glass or stainless-steel dish and add a sprig of rosemary. Place the leg of lamb in the dish and marinate in the fridge for a day or two, turning the meat every few hours. Light a fire and when your fire is ready, season the leg of lamb with salt, pepper and rosemary, place it on a folding braai grid (or use tongs to turn it) and brown it quickly on both sides. Remove some of the coals to reduce the heat. Continue braaiing the meat (and add more coals if necessary) until it is done to your liking. Serve in warm pita breads with fresh lettuce, tomatoes and tzatziki or hummus.

Enough for 8 people

Vegetable sosaties

These sosaties are supposed to be for vegetarians, but carnivores will enjoy them just as much. By all means make a lot of them, because the leftovers can be added to a salad or served with couscous.

• 12 courgettes, topped, tailed and sliced into 2 cm-thick rings
• 12 pickling onions
• 1 large red onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 peppers of each colour, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 12 baby potatoes, cooked but not too soft
• 1 bottle French salad dressing
• 12 sosatie sticks – soaked in water to prevent them from burning

1. Place all the vegetables in a glass bowl and pour over the salad dressing. Refrigerate and marinate for 1 hour. Skewer the vegetables onto the sticks and braai over the coals while drizzling with the leftover marinade. Serve with a green salad and thick slices of whole-wheat bread.

Makes 12 sosaties

Herbed garlic bread

This is the most delicious garlic bread and I can never make enough of it. It’s definitely a favourite among both young and old.

• 1 very long or 2 medium French loaves
• herb butter (see recipe on p. 164)

1. Preheat the oven to 150 °C. Slice the bread halfway through into 1¹⁄₂ cm-thick slices and spread the herb butter lavishly between each slice. Wrap the bread in foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve the bread while it is still very hot.

Enough for 6 people

A pot braai is so companionable

The idea for a pot braai occurred to me one evening when I looked outside and saw the men chatting around the fire while the women were scurrying around in the kitchen. If you have a pot braai, each guest can cook his or her piece of meat to perfection, and you can have everyone’s favourite cut of meat, fish or even chicken ready for them. My favourite meat for a pot braai is a lovely rump steak or beef fillet. You’ll have no anxiety about whose meat needs to be rare, well done or medium – everyone does his or her own thing.

• 4 × 300 g steaks of your choice
• 45 ml good-quality olive oil
• 30 ml balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place all the ingredients into a sealable plastic bag, refrigerate and marinate the steaks for at least 1 hour. Remove the steaks from the fridge and set aside until they have reached room temperature. Give each guest his or her piece of meat to braai to their liking. Serve with a potato bake and salad.

Enough for 4 people

Buy clay plant pots, with their trays, from your nearest nursery, plus a piece of chicken mesh and a bag of briquettes, and you’re ready for a braai. Using tin snips, cut circles of chicken mesh just a bit wider than the top of your pots. Place a piece of firelighter in the bottom of each pot and light it. Then add 4 briquettes and let them burn until they are white-hot. Now place the circle of chicken mesh on top and braai your meat just the way you like it.

Greek lamb burgers with quick tzatziki

Meat is expensive and to use chops, steak and other expensive cuts for every braai can be hard on your wallet. What to do when the craving for a braai overtakes you before payday? Make burgers! Your braai craving will be satisfied and the contents of your wallet will still be completely safe.

For the lamb patties

• 1 kg lamb or beef mince
• 125 ml chopped spring onions – use both the white and the green parts
• 1 egg
• 10 ml salt
• 10 ml coarsely ground black pepper
• 10 ml finely chopped fresh origanum
• 10 ml finely chopped fresh mint
• grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
• 6 bocconcini (mozzarella balls) or 6 blocks (1.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 cm) mozzarella cheese

For the tzatziki

• 500 ml Greek yoghurt
• ¹⁄₂ small English cucumber, with skin retained but seeds removed
• grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
• 10 ml chopped fresh mint
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 5 ml salt
• 5 ml coarsely ground black pepper

To serve

• fresh lettuce
• 2 ripe red tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 6 bread rolls

For the lamb patties

1. Place the mince, spring onions, egg, spices, herbs and the lemon rind and juice in a bowl and mix well. Divide the mixture into 6 portions. Place a bocconcini or a block of cheese in the centre of each portion and carefully shape the patty around the cheese – make sure there are no gaps where the lovely cheese can run out. Braai the burgers over medium coals until cooked.

For the tzatziki

1. Make the tzatziki while the burgers are braaiing. Pour the yoghurt into a glass bowl. Grate the cucumber and press out all the liquid with your hands. Add the cucumber and all the remaining ingredients to the yoghurt, mix until combined and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve

1. Place the lettuce, tomato and patties into the bread rolls and serve with the lovely cool tzatziki.

Makes 6 burgers