Heritage Day is coming up (24 September in case you’ve forgotten!) and we all know what that means – it’s National Braai Day!
It’s a day when all South African’s come together to celebrate our diverse culture, and partake in the one tradition that we share across all cultures – the social braai.
If you’re tired of your man cooking the same boerewors and steak every year, then you HAVE to try these more glamourous (and healthier) alternatives this Thursday. Gather your friends and family, put on the rugby, pull out tons of beer, and impress your guests with the best Heritage Day meal they’ve ever had!
THE ‘BRAAI PIE’
Vegetarians and non-meat lovers don’t have to miss out on the fun! The ‘braai pie’ is the perfect meat free alternative.
Ingredients
45ml butter
Onion
15ml all-purpose flour
250g spinach
150g feta cheese
115g (half a tub) cream cheese
3ml nutmeg
Salt and black pepper
250g roll of ready-to-roll puff pastry
Method
Chop and sauté the onion over a medium heat until soft.
Sprinkle the flour over the onions and add the spinach, allowing it to wilt. The flour should help absorb the extra liquid from the spinach.
Crumble in the feta and stir in the cream cheese and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface.
Add the filling onto half of the pastry, leaving the edges open.
Fold the pastry and press the edges together to stop any of the ingredients falling out of the sides.
Place the pie on a braaing grid and bake on the coals until the pastry is golden on both sides.
APRICOT AND MASALA MARINATED SNOEK
If you are a ‘less red meat’ and ‘more seafood’ kind of girl, then this flavoursome snoek is your go-to.
Ingredients
1 large snoek, mildly cured if available
1 -2 can fine apricot jam
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
2 tablespoons masala, spice coarse salt
Method
Sprinkle coarse salt over snoek, and leave for 20 minutes.
Add other ingredients in saucepan, and slowly bring up heat until mixture is smooth and runny. Don’t allow to boil.
Rinse off salt from fish, and place skin side down on tinfoil, doubled over.
Roll up edges of tinfoil to make an impromptu pan, and transfer to braai. Pour sauce all over fish, and braai for about 20 minutes, or until meat turns white and firm.
Serve directly from braai.
For more great recipes, check out our Eat, Drink, Travel section.
