Bake Perfect Boerewors Roll Buns

In the previous blog I shared some ideas for preparing a whole meal on your kettle braai (barbecue). Among the dishes I'd prepared for the braai were some mouthwatering delicious buns for making boerewors rolls. I have developed this recipe specifically to enhance the flavours of the traditional boerewors and everyone who has ever tasted it is in agreement that this makes the good old boerewors roll something noteworthy. Want in on the secret? I share my recipe for these flavourful buns with you in today's blog.

When baking bread on the fire, I always start by mixing my bread dough first, before starting the fire. This gives the dough time to rise. In a large mixing bowl, measure 2 cups (500 ml) white bread flour, 2 cups (500 ml) cake flour, 1 tablespoon (12,5 ml) sugar and 2 teaspoons (10 ml) salt.
Option 1: If you are in a hurry, you can add a packet of Instant Dry Yeast to the dry ingredients. This will speed up the time it takes the dough to rise.

Most of us enjoy a boerewors roll with a tomato and onion relish. That is why the traditional Italian herbs go so well with the boerewors roll. Add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) dried parsley, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) sweet basil and 1/2 teaspoon (2,5 ml) oregano.

Mix the dry ingredients well.

Now add 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water, 1 cup (250 ml) sourdough starter, 1 egg, 50 ml cooking oil and 1 teaspoon (5 ml) crushed garlic to the dry ingredients.
Option 2: If using Active Dry Yeast, add a packet to the water and sugar and allow 10 minutes for it to froth up.

Bring the dough together.

Knead for about 10 minutes.

Flatten the dough with your fingers and shape it into a rough rectangle.

Roll the dough out to about 1 cm thick.

Divide into three.

Then divide into 4 to give you 12 dough squares.

Roll the squares up. Brush the ends with egg to keep it from unrolling.

Space the dough rolls out on a baking tray prepared with non-stick spray and lightly floured.

Cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm dry place.

I absolutely prefer a wood fire. Wood will give a distinctive smoked flavour to the bread that can not be copied by charcoal.

Once the dough is risen, brush the rolls with egg to give it a crisp shiny finish when baked. The egg also adds a little more flavour.

The barbecue is ready when the thermometer shows that the temperature inside the braai is roughly 200-240 °C. Place an empty oven dish on the grill. Line it up with the front leg of the braai.

Place the baking tray with the rolls on the oven dish, in line with the front leg. Lining things up in the kettle braai, results in a more even heat distribution. Putting the oven dish between the fire and the rolls, creates a barrier, preventing the bottoms from burning.

Close the lid and bake for roughly 10-15 minutes. The exact time will vary depending on the exact temperature of your braai. Do not check the braai before 10 minutes have passed.

Remove from the heat when the rolls turn a golden colour.

You should hear a hollow sound when you knock on the bottom of the rolls. This indicates the rolls are ready. If not, simply pop them back in the braai and continue baking. They should be baked well enough not to collapse, at this stage.

Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy with boerewors hot off the grill and a lovely tomato and onion relish. That distinctive smoked taste, combined with the Italian herbs and the hint of garlic, can not be surpassed by shop-bought rolls! Try it and find discover this for yourself! Your friends and family will love you for this.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
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Perfect Wood Fire Braai (Barbecue) Plan

Have you heard it said that you can't build a wood fire in your kettle braai? You can. And what is more, you can use this fire to prepare a complete menu. No doubt you will want to swap out some of the items on my menu for your own preferences, but I share some tips for preparing your whole meal on the fire in today's blog. I bake bread rolls, cook 3 different veggies, 2 types of meat, sausage and 2 whole chickens in a pot on one single fire. Want to know how to stretch your fire? Come braai with me in today's blog.

Before I even build the fire, I mix the dough for my bread/rolls and put this aside to rise. Then I start with the fire. When I build the fire, I start with 4 huge logs at the bottom. I place smaller twigs at the top. These will catch fire more quickly and eliminate the need for using fire lighters. The logs at the bottom is what gives my fire stamina. I then use empty egg boxes to light the fire. I don't treat them with anything. They light without any difficulty and burn long enough to light my smaller twigs. I am very fortunate to stay on a plot with lots of trees that are pruned annually. This is my source of wood. I don't swear by any particular wood, but use whatever is available. I do think that the the wood from thee fruit trees give the food an added flavour, but there is no scientific test to conduct to either prove or refute this theory of mine, so I can't swear to it.

Once the fire starts to subside and make coals, I put the lid of the kettle braai on to determine the temperature. It will probably be too hot to bake the bread. I sprinkle water on the logs to force the temperature down and once it reaches about 220 °C, I put my bread on. Rolls bake for 10-15 minutes on average, and loaves for roughly 40 minutes. It does vary from bread to bread, but that is the average. I place an empty oven dish between the bread pan and the fire to create a thicker bottom for my pan. I will share the recipe for these particular bread rolls in the next blog. These are made with my own recipe that I developed specifically for making boerewors rolls and the taste is a great accompaniment to the wors (sausage). I have shared more blogs about baking bread on the fire. Here are links to some of these blogs:

Baking A Pumpkin Bread With A Sourdough Starter In A Kettle Braai

Baking A Moroccan Ksra With A Sourdough Starter In A Kettle Braai

Making Braai (Barbecue) Bread On An Open Fire

Once the bread is baked, I rekindle the fire by feeding it with a few more smaller twigs. When the fire subsides to make coals, you will find that the temperature will once again have risen substantially. This is when I prepare the potatoes. I wash them properly and then rub salt all over the wet potatoes. The water allows the salt to stick to the potatoes.

The potatoes are then placed directly on the hot grill and the lid is closed. You are ideally looking for a temperature anywhere between 220-260 °C. In the oven, I bake these at 225 °C for 90 minutes. You may need less time on the kettle braai if your temperature is higher.

I then return to the kitchen to prepare the onions. I place a whole onion on a piece of foil, shiny side facing the onion. I put a cube of butter on top of each onion and salt and pepper to taste. You may also wish to add a dollop of garlic. As an alternative, you can prepare the potatoes in the exact same way, including the optional garlic. Another favourite with my family, that I did not make today, is half a butternut wrapped in foil. A cube of garlic, a tablespoon (12,5 ml) sugar and 1/2 teaspoon (2,5 ml) cinnamon is placed inside the hollow part of the pumpkin before it is wrapped in foil.

When wrapping the onions, bring the corners to the middle.

Now bring the remaining corners in, and wrap tightly.

By the time I return to the braai, the potatoes can be turned over. Keep the butter cubes at the top when you put the onions on the braai. This way all of that lovely flavour will melt into the onions, instead of dripping on your fire.

My absolute favourite veggie on the braai, is the sweet potato. Look for young and small sweet potatoes. Wash and scrub them thoroughly.

Place them on the braai as is. They do not need any salt, sugar, butter, or anything else. Even when they come off the braai, I do not add anything. They are simply delicious as is. Even the teenage boys in my life will eat them as is for a stolen snack on their way past the table. They are that good! They usually cook very quickly, although oddly enough, today they needed a bit of extra time.

The veggies are done when they give a little when you grab them with the tongs. That means they are soft and juicy on the inside. It is the perfect time to take them off the fire.

Check your temperature. If it has now dropped to around 120-160 °C, you can put the meat on. I left my T-bone steaks in a mixture of red wine vinegar and coke overnight to tenderize them. Do not salt them before putting them on the grill.

Seal one side and turn over.

Now salt with your favourite braai salt.

Turn them over again and salt the other side. Close the lid on the braai and put your salt away. That should be long enough to braai the meat. I had to keep mine on for longer as I have a couple of people who prefer well done steaks. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to meat. Point is, the kettle braai is really quick with meat. Do not leave it in there for too long.

Not my idea of the ideal steak, but I aim to please my guests. Note that the sausage and sweet potatoes have already come off the grill. Wors (sausage) can easily get too dry if you over-cook it.

I then put the pork steaks on the grill. No salt is added before the meat is sealed.

Salt both sides once the meat is seared/sealed. Pork is ready in no time. Close the lid and hurry to put the salt away. I trim the crackling off the chops and leave that on the fire a little longer.

I wanted to show you the veggies once opened. The potatoes get a bit of butter and ground black pepper. The sweet potatoes and onion does not need anything to be added.

I live in Gauteng where no barbecue is complete without putupap and tomato and onion relish. The pap cooked on the stove for 3-4 hours on a very slow heat.

Once all the food was done, the coals started heating up again as the hard inner parts of the logs started turning to coals. If this does not happen automatically, you can force the heat up again by adding a few twigs. I waited for the heat to reach temperatures above 200 °C and then put my pot with the chickens on the grill. I closed the lid and went inside to enjoy my meal. These chickens will be perfect for tomorrow's dinner. There is more than enough food for today. I simply left the chicken on the grill, only checking the temperature from time to time. Roughly 2 1/2 hours later, the temperature dwindled to 120 °C. This was when I removed the chicken, as salmonella thrives in temperatures between 60-120 °C. Never leave chicken at those temperatures. The chicken was cooked through and falling off the bone. I will share the recipe for this chicken in the blog following the one for the bread rolls.
And that is how you stretch a fire.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.

Making Vanilla Fudge

If there is a single sweet that I find hard to resist, it must be fudge. And nougat. And ... Okay, you get the idea. In any case, fudge is way up there on the list of favourites. I think we are all familiar with the quick and easy microwave fudge. (Or am I mistaken? Should I blog about it?). Yet, every so often, I crave proper old-fashioned stove-top fudge where the sugar and butter has taken its time to caramelize and give me that richly developed flavour that is unmistakable fudge. I share one of my favourite fudge recipes with you in today's blog. The old-fashioned way.

Prepare a dish with non-stick spray before you start.

You will need a large pot with straight sides. Rounded pots force the heat and steam back onto the caramel, causing crystallization against the sides of the pot. Use a pot with straight sides that will allow the steam to escape.

Measure the following ingredients in your pot: 5 cups (1 kg) white sugar, a tin (350 ml) of ideal milk (evaporated milk), 300 ml milk, and 200 g (200 ml) butter.

Keep your vanilla essence at hand. It will be added right at the end.

Slowly heat the ingredients in the pot to dissolve the sugar and melt the butter. Do not rush this. You can stir slowly and occasionally, but do your best to avoid creating sugar crystals against the sides.

Use a wooden spoon to stir with.

Once everything is melted, you can pop your sugar thermometer into the pot. Keep the heat low and bring the mixture to the boil. DO NOT STIR again until the pot has been removed from the heat! Stirring will cause crystallization of sugar against the sides of the pot, preventing even distribution of heat and causing hard and brittle sugar crystals to end up in the fudge.

You will notice gradual colour changes as the mixture continues to heat ever more.

A good sugar thermometer will indicate temperatures, as well as stages.

A golden tip to prevent sweets and jams from boiling over, is to smear butter on the sides of the pot.

If you look closely in this photo, you will note that the mixture does not rise any further than the butter ring on the side of the pot.

Progress photo. These pictures were taken minutes apart. Be patient. If you turn up the heat, the sugar will burn.

The sugar is now approaching the jelly stage. This is when you should turn it out if you want delicious toffee. For fudge, you need to keep at it a  little longer.

 My fudge is now very near the soft ball stage at 240 °C. When it reaches that temperature, I will remove the pot from the heat.

Remove the pot from the heat and add 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla essence. Stir this into the mixture. This is the first time you should be stirring the mixture from the moment the ingredients had all melted. Use a wooden spoon.

Let the fudge sit for +/-5 minutes. Stir again. If it takes on the typical grainy consistency of fudge, it is ready to be poured into the dish you have prepared for it.

Pour it into the dish and flatten the surface with a spatula/palette knife.

Give the fudge some time to cool down, but cut it into squares before it is completely cool and hard. If it turns too hard, the fudge will break when you cut into it.

Once the fudge has cooled altogether, you can lift it from the dish.

You can stack them high and leave them out ...

... or you can put them in a bottle with a ribbon and a cute label. They make the perfect Christmas gift. Or perhaps a thank you gift for a colleague?

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.