Monthly Archives: May 2015

Finding Burger Heaven! (Part 6)

Leave a reply

Choices!

Previously I made mention that we were looking at changing the tomato chutney to brinjal chutney. So yesterday was the perfect opportunity. Dax Villanueva aka Relax with Dax was in our kitchen with Food24 documenting how we make our burger, as we are celebrating not only eating burgers for breakfast but for World Burger Day!

The brinjal chutney was great with hints of smokiness with so much umami characteristics, it lifted the burger taste to a new level. Sweet, sour, savoury, umami layers and layers. It was also the first time we made our burger with Afrikaner Cattle from Vryberg area from the Cloete brothers.

Up to now it was important for us to use only 100% grass fed beef and we have been spoilt for choice. At first it seemed that we were going to have a problem with the supply as we had a momentary lapse during the supply last year. We have used beef from Green Fields in Natal, Boran cattle from Brenaissance and Farmer Angus Beef and not to forget great people like Mpumi, Andy Fenner, Harman and Ryan Boone who have all been instrumental with sourcing right animal for our search.

At one stage we were even re-writing the recipe to bring in a third cut, it just made things worse. Not from a taste point, but rather from a choice point of view.

All the beef tasted was different, distinctly different. Having a recent conversation with Angus he once again highlighted the importance of terroir. This was very evident if you compared all the meat tasted from Natal to the Western Cape and further up north. The meat cannot be ignored, we have to make the right choice, it is after all the most important part.

How sweet is the grass?

View the feature on Food 24:

And the interview with Dax Villanueva:

Follow my journey in Finding Burger Heaven!:

Finding Burger Heaven – Part 5

Finding Burger Heaven – Part 4

Finding Burger Heaven – Part 3

Finding Burger Heaven – Part 2

Finding Burger Heaven – Part 1

Snoek Fritters

Leave a reply
Snoek fritters

Snoek Fritters

 

Snoek Fritters

This is one of those recipes that came together because we needed a bar snack that was fish related, but at the same time highlighted a little of the Western Cape. We combined everything that was good about snoek. It loved chili but it also loved sweet potato, it loved garlic, snoek also loved apricot, butter loved snoek, lemon loved snoek. Combine the butter, apricot jam, lemon, garlic and chili baste on a hot fire and it is the making of a great relationship. As the fish caramelizes with the help of the sugar from the apricot jam with the burnt butter causing the smokiness in the fire, do not be tempted to turn the fish to early ……allow it to have colour. Finish with skin side on fire. This is where all the fun starts, the temptation not to finish the fish before being flaked.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 90 g roasted sweet potato/potato mashed
  • 1 spring onions
  • 10 g parsley chopped
  • 10 g chervil chopped
  • 5 g coriander chopped
  • 7 g oregano chopped
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 eggs
  • ¼ cup bread crumbs little less
  • ¼ chopped onion
  • 30 g chopped apricots dried
  • 1 chillies de-seeded and chopped
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • ¼ tsp lemon and lime zest
  • 10 g butter
  • 5 ml olive oil
  • 220 g snoek (cooked basted and flaked
  • basting for snoek
  • 50 ml apricot jam
  • 1 chilli chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 lemons juiced
  • 50 g butter

Instructions
 

  • For basting bring all ingredients to boil and remove from heat.
  • Open snoek and baste, place under salamander, cook and baste until cooked through
  • when cool flake and remove all the bones, do this while fish is still warm.
  • Cook onions, apricots, garlic and chilli. Allow to cool add to flaked fish
  • Combine potato, eggs, crumbs, snoek, onion mix, spring onions, and herbs. Adjust seasoning.
  • Shape and dust in flour before deep frying.