Kitchen Diary

Boerewors (literal translation farm sausage) is such a versatile ingredient to have on hand in the freezer. You can pop it onto the grid over hot coals, into the oven to bake, remove it from its casing and make meat balls to serve with pasta or in soup, or make hamburger patties or any other number of delicious things. Or you can cook it on the stove top like I did last night. This is the method that I enjoy the most. You can zwoosh it up in any number of ways by what you add to the pan…and the beauty of it all is that rich, delicious gravy that you have to pour over your hot mash

Now we all know that there is wors in the fridges at the stores…..if it is labelled just WORS it does not have a high percentage of ground meat in it and can have lots of cereal additives to bulk it up….then there is BOEREWORS….which has to contain 90% and upwards of meat product. That is the real McCoy!  Boerewors comes in a mulitude of flavour (herb and spices)combinations, some nicer than other but it all depends on your personal flavour choices. My family has always enjoy the thick Grabouw boerewors made with ground beef and pork and flavoured delicately with clove and nutmeg. We love it on the braai and always cook more than we need so that we can enjoy the ubiquitous boerie roll the next day for lunch – on a soft hot dog roll smothered in oozy delicious home made tomato and onion smoor. But I digress….back to the stove-top creation. . The surrounding mountains have been covered in a very late Spring dusting of snow, thunder, rain and hail accompanied by icy winds have been the order of the day around here….while the rest of the country has been melting in the midst of a heatwave. At this time of year I am usually complaining about the heat as I bake Christmas cake orders and so it has been very comfortable for me to bake while it is chilly outside! Sorry rest of the country! And we have enjoyed lovely comforting meals like this boerewors with wasabi mash, gravy and steamed green veggies.

BOEREWORS AND GRAVY WITH WASABI MASH AND STEAMED GREEN VEGETABLES

Serves 4

Ingredients:

700g Boerewors

20ml Olive Oil

2 Red Onions

1 Clove Garlic

Few sprigs of Fresh Thyme

100g Cherry or Baby Rosa Tomatoes – whole

Sweet Balsamic Glaze – I used the Verlaque Wild-Flower Honey Infused Balsamic Reduction

Splash of Verjuice to deglaze the pan

10ml NoMU Beef Fond

250ml Boiling Water

20mls Tomato Sauce/Ketchup

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Ice cold cubes of butter – about 50g

Method:

Place the boerewors in a large saucepan or deep frying pan with a glug of olive oil and brown gently on both sides, remove and set aside

Peel and slice the onions (no need to chop),add to the pan with a bit more olive oil and the balsamic glaze and saute gently until limp and transparent

Add the  thyme (I add the whole sprigs and fish them out before serving) garlic and cherry tomatoes and saute a few minutes longer

Deglaze the pan with a splash of Verjuice (you could use red or white wine or even Sherry or Masala) then add the beef stock (mix the fond in the boiling water), tomato sauce, a good grinding of black pepper and the browned boerewors.

Bring to the boil, reduce heat and cover with a lid. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down a bit and the sauce has reduced.

Turn off the heat and stir in the butter cubes  to give a thick glossy rich sauce/gravy

Serve with steaming hot Wasabi Mash and Steamed Vegetables

WASABI MASHED POTATOES

Serves 4 hungry souls

Ingredients:

800g Potatoes – peeled, cubed and boiled in slightly salted boiling water

Milk

Butter

10-15ml Wasabi Paste – I use Wasabi-O  putting the OOOOOH into Wasabi

Ground White Pepper (my secret ingredient in any mashed potato!)

Method:

Boil the potatoes in slightly salty water until just done – never overboil that they turn to mush!

Drain the boiled potatoes completely then add a generous splash of milk (sorry I never measure) and about 50g Butter and return to the heat just to warm the milk and start the butter melting

Remove from heat and mash all the ingredients together, sprinkling on some white pepper and a bit more salt if needed

Serve piping hot with boerewors and vegetables of your choice  – The wasabi just gives extra oomph to the boerewors…like hot english mustard or horsradish does to a rare roast beef sarmie

A simple meal, made real easy!

Enjoy!

browniegirl xx