Hampers for Christmas

Wild Africa Cream 'n Brandy Hamper

Wild Africa Cream 'n Brandy Hamper
A bottle of Wild Africa Cream and a bottle of KWV African Mishale Brandy in a South African gift bag for £27.99. Perfect adult gift.

South African Township Hampers

We have our £15 South African Township Hampers for that little gift to your South African friends. The hamper contains a few South African favourites packed in a South African beer/cider box on shredded newspaper, covered in clear cellophane and a ribbon.

Perfect for that person that you want to give something to, but don't know what - a Secret Santa for instance.

The hamper includes:
Biltong
Nik Naks
Romany Creams
Mrs Balls Chutney
Peppermint Crisp
TV Bar
Fizzers
Fizz Pops

KWV African Mishale Brandy

We now have African Mishale Brandy in stock in our shops for £13.99 per bottle.

The five tribal African spears on the label represent the time taken and complexity of the ageing process.
This well balanced brandy gets its strength and character from a blend of 5 year double distilled pot still brandy and aged grape spirits from the Breede River Valley. Aged in 300 liter French oak barrels, it exudes rich dried fruit flavours with elegant pear and toffee undertones and oak infused complexity that lingers on the pallet from the first sip.

African Mishale won Silver in the International Wine & Spirits Challenge (IWSC) 'Spirit' award 2010.

It is delicious on its own, on the rocks, or over ice with cola.

KWV are one of the world's leading producers of brandy winning awards every year. In the International Wine Spirit Competition in London 2009, KWV brandies won two gold medals and one silver.

"And for no other reason than it’s really rather tasty and South Africa is still on our minds, the African Mishale South African Brandy, 36%vol, South Africa is well worth a punt. Distilled from chenin blanc and colombard and aged in French oak, it is exceptionally smooth with nuts, raisins and even a touch of toffee on the palate. Enjoy it as a base for summer cocktails." Jonathan Ray in Telegraph Online 8 July 2010

Wild Africa Cream Liqueur

From next weekend we will be selling Wild Africa Cream Liqueur in our shops for an extremely affordable £11.99 for a 700ml bottle. The perfect Christmas gift for someone who has everything.


Wild Africa Cream is a tantalising blend of fresh cream, distilled spirit and caramel, yielding a delectable, easy drinking, exotic cream liqueur.

Pap and Cheese Bake

Ingredients

1.2 litres water
5 ml salt
500 ml mealie meal
30-50 ml butter
500 ml cheddar cheese
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 ml black pepper
5 ml dried or 15 ml chopped fresh origanum
15 ml grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
250 ml milk
3 ml salt or seasoning salt

Method

Bring the water and salt to the boil. Add the mealie meal mixing well. Cover with the lid and simmer for 20-30 minutes until done. Stir in the butter and half the cheese. Using a wooden spoon, press half the hot pap into a greased 20 cm X 20 cm ovenproof dish. Arrange half the tomato slices on top and season with pepper and origanum. Cover with the remaining pap and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese and the parmesan over. Beat the eggs, milk and salt together and pour over the pap.
Bake at 180ºC for 80 minutes or until the egg mixture has set. Arrange the remaining tomato slices on top 20 minutes before baking time expires. Serve hot.

Biltong Safety - Buying online

Do a search for biltong on the web and you find quite a few sellers, most of them legitimate butchers. If you search on eBay, there are normally 150 sales at any one time.

eBay charges a subscription fee to have a shop (which is what you need to sell more than a few items regularly on eBay) and then they charge insertion fees and final value fees. Plus, PayPal charge for the payment you receive. So the hidden costs are quite high.

The price of beef has risen dramatically over the last few months. This week I spent about £600 more on the same amount of meat than I did 3 months ago. Biltong has a market value of I'd say between £30-£36/kg. I have seen biltong being sold on eBay for less than £20/kg. This can only mean one thing - they do not have the overheads of a butchery, which includes regular product testing, staff, rent, electricity etc., so presumably making biltong from home. How do they store their surplus biltong? Presumably in a freezer? Cross contamination? Moisture reconstitution?

I sent an email to the FSA (Food Standards Agency) which basically serves the same function as the USDA in the US and asked them about people who sell their biltong online and eBay.
This is the reply I received:

"Thank you for your e-mail about online and distance selling.

Food Business Operators (FBOs) who sell their products via distance selling or over the internet would be subject to the same requirements laid down in the Food Hygiene Regulations (Regulations (EC) Nos 852/2004 and 853/2004) as the FBOs who trade from shops. The FBO has an
individual responsibility to ensure the food is safe to eat. All FBOs are subject to be registered and inspected by the Local Authority and approved under 853/2004 is necessary."

This is all well and good, but my question now is: If you aren't registered with the Local Authorities, who monitors and approves you? Surely, if there are concerns regarding biltong, these unregistered 'businesses', and I use that in the loosest term because they probably haven't even registered as a business, should be high on the 'watch' list.

It seems that in this society, if you are honest and make a mistake, or don't get something quite right, you get punished, or are hassled to the extreme. The people who are 'illegal' from the off get away with so much and even then if/when they get caught, they get a slap on the wrist.

I'm all for getting a bargain, but the big word when buying something is VALUE. Just because the price is cheap, doesn't mean you are buying rubbish, but the reciprocal is also true - paying too much for something doesn't mean it's better. Buying biltong from Harrods or Selfridges doesn't mean you are getting better biltong, but you will pay more. If you are buying biltong because of the price tag, please be aware that there is a reason that they are able to sell so cheap.

Skilpadjies

Skilpadjies

Ingredients

• 500 g lamb’s liver, cleaned very well by your butcher, all veins and gristle removed
• Caul fat, see below*
• 1 large (preferably) red onion, finely chopped
• 3 lemons, zest only
• Velddrif (or Malden) salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Milk
• Toothpicks

Method

• Soak the liver in milk for 40 minutes so that you get rid of that taste that most people, including me, don’t like.
• Place each strip of liver on strip of caul fat onto your working surface.
• Sprinkle with a little very finely chopped onion and cover with the caul fat.
• Alternatively, you can mince the liver and and make round patties, season them add the onions and cover with the caul fat and then as with the strips, season with zest, salt and pepper.
• Braai over hot coals until the fat is deliciously browned and the meat cooked.
• *You will need to cut the liver into long strips and therefore the caul fat must be cut into the same shape, only a little bigger so that can cover the liver and the onion with the fat and make a little packet with it.
• If you are going to make little patties, then cut accordingly.
• Close it with a toothpick.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 Cup white sugar
1/3 Cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 Cup mashed banana
1/2 Cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add butter, eggs, nuts, and mashed banana. Beat until well blended.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Vetkoek

Ingredients


3 kg white bread flour
30 ml salt
30 ml instant yeast
2 litre lukewarm water (you may need more or less)
30 ml oil
30 ml white grape vinegar
30 ml sugar
oil for deep-frying


Combine the bread flour, salt and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl. Mix the water, 30 ml oil, vinegar and sugar together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix and knead well for at least 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic, but still fairly slack. Remove the required amount of dough from the bowl and freeze the rest in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Cover the remaining dough with a sheet of greased plastic and leave in a warm place to rise until double in bulk. Shape the dough into fairly small vetkoek (they increase in size when fried) and fry in deep oil until brown on the outside and cooked inside. (Ensure that the oil is the right temperature – if it's too hot the vetkoek will be brown on the outside but still raw inside.) Serve with a sweet or savoury as a main meal or snack.

Oxtail Potjie

INGREDIENTS


500g Oxtails cut 2 inches thick pieces
10 slices Bacon cut in 1 inch pieces
½ cup Flour seasoned with salt and pepper
1 litre beef stock
1 can tomato paste
1 Bay leaf
6 black peppercorns
6 large leeks, chopped coarsely
2 large onions, chopped coarsely
6 large carrots
20 button mushrooms
1 cup red wine
½ cup sherry
½ cup cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons crushed garlic

METHOD

Dry oxtails with paper towel.
Put seasoned flour in a Ziplock bag, then add the Oxtail and shake to coat with flour.
Heat butter and olive oil and sauté bacon pieces.
Remove bacon and brown Oxtail in resulting fat, remove and drain.
Finely dice 4 of the carrots. Coarsely chop the onions and the leeks.
Add the finely diced carrots, leeks, onions and sauté until softened
Add Oxtail, bacon, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic, tomato sauce, red wine, sherry.
Bring slowly to a boil and cook slowly for 3 - 4 hours.
1 hour before serving cut the remaining carrots into 1 inch pieces, add them and mushrooms and continue cooking slowly.
Just prior to serving, add cream and stir in.
If you want to thicken the sauce mix some cornstarch with the cream before adding.

Biltong and Blue Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

125g Butter
250g Cake flour
2 chicken stock cubes
2 ltr boiling water
500ml Milk
250g grated cheddar cheese
125g Blue cheese
4 handfuls sliced biltong
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Melt butter over a moderate heat. Add in the stock cubes and blend, add in the flour and make a roux. Slowly add the boiling water and milk and keep stirring till you have a smooth sauce. Remove from the heat. Add in half of the Biltong and the cheeses and stir until melted, just before you serve add in the rest of the Biltong.

Serves 6-8

Biltong Pot Bread

DOUGH

240 g Cake flour (500 ml)
20 ml Baking Powder
2 ml Salt
5 ml Mustard powder
100 g Butter
Approximately 100 ml Milk
1 Egg - beaten

FILLING
120 g Ground Biltong (250 ml)
200 g Smooth cottage cheese
30 ml Chopped parsley
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Mayonnaise to moisten
15 ml Lemon juice

To make the dough sift together the dry ingredients. Cut butter into the flour with a knife and then rub it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles dried breadcrumbs.

Beat the milk and egg together. Make a well in the flour mixture and add the liquid gradually. Mix quickly to a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured board and knead lightly until smooth. Roll out into a square approximately 10mm thick.

To make the filling mix all ingredients together and spread over the dough keeping 25mm clear along the edges. Roll up dough like a Swiss roll and seal the edges with beaten egg and water. Wrap lightly in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Carefully cut the dough into 25mm slices and arrange them - cut side down - on the bottom of a greased No.3 cast iron pot. Begin in the center and arrange the remaining slices in a circle. Leave the sides of the pot clear to allow the dough to rise. Grease the inside of the lid with cooking oil or butter and cover the pot. Put the pot over a small fire - put a few small hot coals on the lid and bake for 20 - 30 minutes until the bread is golden brown and cooked. Turn out - cool slightly - and then serve with crisp vegetable sticks and lettuce leaves.

Serves 6

Biltong Potjie

Ingredients


3 Onions
250g Bacon (chopped up)
1Kg Button or Brown Mushrooms
1 Clove Garlic - crushed
250ml Hot Beef Stock
750ml Rice - cooked
750g Biltong sliced
Few sprigs of thyme - leaves picked off the stalks
250g Cheddar Cheese
25g Butter

Directions

Build your fire and allow the coals to become medium hot
Preheat your potjie over the coals
Melt the butter in the bottom of the potjie Add the chopped onions and bacon and saute till the onions are limp & translucent and the bacon is cooked
Add the mushrooms & garlic and saute till the liquid has evaporated and they start to go light brown

Add the beef stock and thyme

Add the cooked rice and the sliced biltong in layers - a layer of rice, a layer of biltong until all used up

Add the cheese in one layer on top. Cover with the lid and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes over low heat coals. If the fire is too hot at this stage the rice will start to burn
When the cheese has melted remove the potjie from the heat, set aside and leave to stand for about half an hour for the flavors to develop.Just before serving use a large wooden spoon to gently stir the potjie so that all the layers are mixed together and evenly distributed.

Serve with salads and pot bread.

Servings: Use a No. 2 sized Pot which serves 4-6

Biltong Spread

Ingredients:

• 125 g smooth cream cheese with chives
• 30 ml mayonnaise
• 30 ml lemon juice
• 60 g grated biltong (125 ml)
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:
Combine all the ingredients and serve sandwiched between slices of bread and toasted in an electric sandwich maker.

Spread on slices of whole-wheat bread and garnished with thin slices of lemon or cucumber.

Spread on bread canapés - cut slices of bread into rounds or fingers, fry in cooking oil until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack then spread with biltong mixture and garnish with sliced olives or gherkins.

Biltong Muffins

Biltong Muffins
• 120 g Wholewheat flour (250 ml)
• 120 g Cake flour (250 ml)
• 200 g Biltong - finely chopped (500 ml)
• 50 g Cheddar Cheese (125 ml)
• 30 ml Baking powder
• 3 Eggs
• 200 ml Milk
• 100 ml Cooking oil
• 5 ml Salt
• 15 ml Lemon juice
Combine all the ingredients and mix lightly. Spoon into greased muffin pans and bake at 220° C for 11 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before removing and serving with butter.
Makes 12

Is your Biltong safe to eat?

Biltong baffles the minds of the Environmental Health Officers (EHO's) here in the UK. It's a meat product that isn't cooked, but it's not raw and neither is it fermented. So what keeps your biltong safe to eat?

Believe it or not, there is a European directive on biltong. South African authorities have also been doing numerous tests around the country, so they are also concerned about the correct manufacturing and handling processes of biltong.

Not to get too scientific, but there is bacteria all around us, some good and some bad. Harmful bacteria like E.coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella, Listeria and non harmful, like moulds. As we all know, bacteria thrive in warm, humid environments which is exactly what biltong is until it reaches a level of 'dryness'. This dryness is down to water content and water activity which along with acid (vinegar), spices (salt) and preservative, Potassium Nitrate (saltpetre) keep the bacteria at bay.

Biltong is also a ready to eat product (RTE) and cross contamination is a cause for concern as well. Even if the raw product going into the machine is clear of harmful pathogens, once it comes out of the dryer it's again at risk of contamination.
Is the biltong handled with clean hands?
Is there any raw food in the vicinity that could come in contact with the biltong.
You need a tiny amount of E.coli to cause a large case of food poisoning.

Most commercial biltong manufacturers use commercial biltong dryers, which is what we use in our butchery, that are made from stainless steel for easy cleaning and use a germicidal fluorescent UV light which kills bacteria in the early stages. The temperature is controlled and monitored whilst the biltong dries. We follow strict HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) procedures which are documented for each process in production and have regular documented microbiological tests done by Food Analysts of the end products and test each batch for water activity and PH.

When you buy your biltong from a shop, is the person handling your biltong clean, preferrably wearing a glove which they then take off when taking your cash? We have all heard stories of what people do with coins and notes.

So, to get back to the original question, is your biltong safe?

Do you know where and how your biltong is made?

Is the premises where your biltong is made, registered with the local health authority?

Do they have a HACCP they adhere to?

Do they have a testing regime in place?

You wouldn't buy cooked food from a dodgy take-away (unless you couldn't walk in a straight line), so why would you buy a ready to eat product where you have no idea how or where it is made. Biltong costs what it does for a reason. If the price is too good to be true, be very aware. There are sellers online on sites like eBay that aren't registered and are selling biltong for less than £20/kg. Be very wary of them. Your cheap biltong might be hanging around for a lot longer than you would have originally liked.

Breyani

Breyani

MARINADE
 5 ml (1 t) breyani whole spice mixture
15 ml (1 t) breyani masala
10 ml (2 t) garam masala
5 ml (1 t) dried chillies, roughly chopped
100 ml plain yoghurt

BREYANI
8 chicken pieces
salt
30 ml (2 T) olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
15 ml (1 T) grated fresh ginger
60 ml (¼ c) chopped fresh coriander
1 bay leaf
1 green pepper, finely chopped
160 ml (3/4 c) water
1 stick cinnamon
500 ml (2 c) cooked basmati rice
250 (1 c) cooked brown lentils
30 ml (2 T) butter
fresh coriander
3 eggs, hard-boiled and quartered

MARINADE
Mix the ingredients.

BREYANI
Season the chicken with salt and pour over the marinade, ensuring all the pieces are covered. Marinate for 20 minutes. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, bay leaf and green pepper for 5 minutes.
Remove the onion mixture and add the water to the pan. Bring it to the boil and put the chicken, marinade and  cinnamon in the pan. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the chicken is done. Return the onion mixture to the pan and add the rice and lentils. Mix well and dot with butter. Cover and leave the breyani to steam for
10 minutes. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with the eggs.

From the You Magazine

Waterblommetjie Bredie

 Ingredients:

1 kg lamb shanks, cut into pieces
15 ml (1 T) cake flour
15 ml (1 T) oil
2 onions, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
200 ml meat stock
20-30 ml (4-6 t) fresh lemon juice
6 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
500 g fresh waterblommetjies
extra lemon juice and zest

Method:
Dust the meat with the flour, shaking to remove the excess.
Heat the oil in a pan and brown the meat in batches.
Remove the meat from the pan and fry the onions until soft and fragrant.
Return the meat to the pan and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Add the meat stock and lemon juice and stir until everything is well blended.
Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add the potatoes and simmer for another 30 minutes.
Add the waterblommetjies and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until they’re done but still firm.
Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and lemon juice and zest.
Serve with rice and roasted pumpkin.


Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 15 min
Cooking time: 1-1½ hours

From You Magazine

Sour Cream Boerewors

Sour Cream Boerewors

Ingredients:
1 kg boerewors
30 ml olive oil
2 onions, chopped
25 ml finely chopped garlic
2 medium-size tomatoes, skinned and diced
5 ml dried thyme
45 ml brown sugar
250 ml sour cream


Method:
Fry the boerewors until golden brown on the outside but juicy inside.
Remove from the pan and cut into 5 cm pieces.
Return the boerewors to the pan and add the olive oil, onions, garlic, tomatoes, thyme and sugar.
Simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the sour cream and simmer for another 15 minutes.
Serve with stywepap (stiff mealie meal porridge) and a green salad (if you can lay your hands on a lettuce).

Johan Badenhorst in the You magazine 

Tant Hessie se witperd / Aunt Hessie's White Horse

1 banana
10 pecan nuts pieces
Bacardi or Gin to taste
Glass of cold milk
Mix in blender for 30 seconds until the foam starts forming

Christmas Pudding

100ml Southern Comfort
100ml Drambuie
500ml Guiness Stout

Add Southern Comfort and then Drambuie into a large goblet. Top up with chilled Guiness.

Charging Elephant Martini

3oz Amarula Cream Liquor
1oz Vodka

Pour into a chilled Martini Glass