Braais

Since the Polar Bear run nothing much has happened, we went down to Capetown last weekend but as I had quite a few things to carry and deliver we had to go in the bakkie. We stayed over with Joe and Annie and much to my Bro Joe's dismay I beat him in both disciplines; pool on Saturday afternoon and cribbage on Saturday night, he was a crushed man!

On Sunday we had a braai, Joe prepared a lovely fillet steak - well probably Annie prepared it and Joe braaied it, but he did a great job.

I must just clarify here that my Bro Joe is not a biker but in spite of that he is a good guy. He did ride motorbikes some 35 - 40 years ago in the BSAPolice but never kept it up.

In the early days when we went to visit he would invite all of his mates around for a braai, light the fire and then stand around talking until someone else took over and did the cooking. Nowadays though, after my patient coaching and tutelage for many years, he is a very competent braaiier and has done some lovely meals. (Joe, if you read this, feel free to leave a comment!) Sunday's meal was a case in point;

The whole beef fillet, I'm not sure what Annie prepared it with but it was delicious. I normally rub it with olive oil, aromat, garlic flakes and Hot English mustard. Joe then placed it on the grid over hot coals and virtually blackened the outside of it, turning it often. He did make a mistake at one point, forgetting to turn it while we were having a beer but it worked out perfectly anyway.
Once it was nicely darkened he sliced it into thick chunks and placed them back on the grill just to seal each side.
You have to admit, he does look like he knows what he's doing.
Both sides of the meat slices were seared and then they were immediately removed and served up with Annie's potatoes, salad, garlic bread and avocado drizzled with balsamic concentrate, what a meal - delicious!
On Wednesday we had one of those lovely calm, warm days that happen often in winter and as we like to take advantage of those days we invited Frank around for a braai in the evening.

First I prepared my potatoes, cutting them almost right through in quarters, I placed them on top of a pat of butter on some tinfoil, then spread more butter on top and into the slices. I then sprinkled with Aromat, black pepper, garlic flakes and mixed herbs before wrapping them well.

I then placed the "parcels" in amongst the coals while my fire was burning, I turned them around and over several times to ensure that they did not burn on one side.
Our main course meat was pork neck chops, lightly marinated with oil, aromat and garlic. While I was busy with the meat "Fatcat" found a warm place to sleep, I had to be careful not to spill any hot coals! Janet made a very nice colslaw and we had a very enjoyable meal - I have to admit I really enjoy a braai but I tend to only want to do one when we have a few people over. I'm not too keen on braaiing just for the two of us.

We have a long weekend, Monday is a public holiday and the plan was to get out on the bike but unfortunately the weather is miserable at the moment, we'll have to see how it developes, I don't really want to go out in the rain unless I have to.This picture came through my email, a good reminder for ATGATT - All The Gear All The Time, those look like very painful skidmarks even though he is smiling! Keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up.