The South African Braaivleis - Part II: Steak Attack!!

So last week was all about the Braai.  You know there is so much one can do when you braai your meat.  So I have decided to give you a few recipe ideas for meat marinades and sauces:

Herby Steak Rub with Blue Cheese Butter:

I got this recipe from cookbook with my own spin to it. I thought braaing a steak without a little flavouring might be too dull, but also didn’t want to make it to flavoursome as it may clash with the blue cheese.  You just want some nice soft and subtle flavours and then the lovely saltiness of the blue cheese.

Took a few sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage

Zest of a half a lemon

Juice of one lemon

2 Garlic Cloves. 

Freshly ground pepper

Good glug of olive oil

Pinch of chilli flakes

20ml Brown Sugar

5ml Paprika

Finely chop up the herbs and garlic.  Put into a Pestle and Mortar add the Zest of the lemon, pepper, chili flakes and paprika. Bash up until all flavours are released. Add the Olive oil and mix/bash well. Pour lemon juice over your steak.  Once your herb mixture is nice and flavoursome brush it on your meat. Leave to marinade for about 30 min to an hour. 

(Don’t allow the lemon juice to be on for too long as it tends to cook the meat.)

While your steaks are on the braai you can baste the meat with the herb mixture.

Now for the Blue Cheese Butter:

125g soft butter

60g blue cheese

Mix the Blue butter ingredients together in a bowl/food processor until well mixed. It must be smooth. Place the butter mixture onto a piece of cling film and roll it into a sausage shape that is about 5cm thick. Twist the ends and pop it into the fridge for an hour to harden.

While the butter is hardening, make the herby rub and brush onto your steaks and leave them to stand until you are ready to cook.

Grill the steaks to your liking and as it’s about to come off the fire slice a nice knob of the blue cheese butter and place on the meat. Just as it starts melting take it off the braai and serve immediately.

Now that’s how it’s done!!

This is another fantastic recipe – this one is from Jamie Oliver.  I find that this recipe goes extremely well with pork, chicken and lamb.

Blackened Meat Rub:

The Ingredients for the Marinade:

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon of ground fennel (Barship) My husband doesn’t like fennel or anything aniseedy but I cheat and use ground fennel and he hasn’t even noticed - heehee

2 cloves or 1 teaspoon of ground cloves

1 heaped tablespoon sweet smoked paprika

zest and juice of 1 orange

a small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked and very finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and very finely chopped

150ml All Gold tomato sauce

90ml of Balsamic Vinegar

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make your marinade:

Using a pestle and mortar bash or  crush up the cumin, fennel seeds and cloves in a pestle and mortar and mix with the paprika, orange zest and juice, thyme, garlic, tomato sauce and balsamic vinegar.  Season your meat with pepper. Baste your meat until evenly coated and leave to marinate for in the fridge for overnight or at least 6 hours.

Homemade Sparerib Marinade: (Enough to marinade 500g of Pork Spareribs)

2 cloves of garlic

2 onions

250ml All Gold Tomato Sauce

80ml white vinegar

30ml brown sugar

15ml Worcestershire Sauce

5ml English Mustard

2ml Tabasco Sauce

Black Pepper

Peel and crush the garlic the garlic. Peel and finely chop the onions.  Mix the onion, garlic, tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, mustard, Tabasco sauce in a non metal bowl.  Add the meat and turn to coat.  Cover and marinate overnight in the fridge. Remove the meat from marinade and cook on the braai. 

Here is a few other meat marinades and rubs for tasty meat:

Beer Marinade: (Sufficient for 500g of beef, pork, lamb or chicken)

1 clove of garlic

125 ml tomato sauce

250 ml beer

30ml Worcestershire sauce

30ml brown sugar

15ml wholegrain mustard

15ml corn flour

Peel and crush the garlic and mix in the tomato sauce, beer, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, mustard and corn flour all in a non metal bowl. Coat the meat of your choice and allow marinading for a minimum of 3 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

Spicy Italian Rub: (this is really nice on fish)

15ml smoked paprika

freshly ground black pepper

5ml of the following:

- dried marjoram

- dried thyme

- dried basil

- chili powder

- onion salt

Mix together all the ingredients.  Brush your meat with olive oil and then sprinkle with the spicy mixture.

Crusty Steak Rub:

45ml Olive Oil

45ml Dijon Mustard

15ml Worcestershire Sauce

50ml Freshly Ground Pepper

Mix the oil, mustard and Worcestershire sauce and baste on either lamb or beef. Take the pepper and press onto the mustard mixture. Leave to stand for about an hour before cooking.