Pork | anél potgieter

Crispy braaied pig tails – I know that there are many adventurous and fearless chefs out there… this one is for you!

This dish is certainly not for the dainty, squeamish or occasional outdoor chef that thinks a chop and a lettuce leaf constitutes a real South African barbeque … sorry … I meant braai! 🙂

Potjie’s entry a few weeks ago where he talked about English Chef, Fergus Henderson’s book, “The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating”, struck a chord with me and I think we share the same philosophies when it comes to cooking. Be brave, be daring and never be scared to cook with what you have…whatever you have… It also reminded me that I had about 10 pig tails lying in my freezer. I had bought these a while back from Frankie Fenner after I had seen them being cooked on Masterchef. Back then they looked very scary and they still do – very kind of Avatar-ish!

So with National Braai Day being celebrated in the coming days it provided a perfect opportunity to haul these little, curly porky tails over the coals.

The most important thing for me was to make sure that the tails came out soft but still retained that beautiful pork flavour – oh yes, that they had that crispy crackling to feast on. To soften up the tails I steamed them for 15 minutes then braaied them on the grid over medium coals (charcoal or wood). Keeping it simple, I served it up with my own homemade mustard dipping sauce. It was decadent and delicious – as Jan Spies used to say “ryk, maar lekker” [rich but delicious].

Some advice: If you do come across a few people who are still a little squeamish about eating the pig tails … pass them the salad.

Have a fantastic braai day.

Serves: 4
Steaming and braaiing time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For steaming
4 Pig tails
2 Cloves garlic – roughly chopped
1 Onion cut in quarters
1 Celery stick – roughly chopped
5 Pepper corns
2 Cups of water

For seasoning on the braai
Ground coriander
Salt
White Pepper

For mustard dipping sauce
60g Mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
20g Hot English mustard
1t Chutney

Method
1. Place all the ingredients in a pot and steam for 15 minutes. If you don’t have a steam pot cover the same ingredients in a roasting pan – cover with foil and bake at 190 degrees for 40 minutes till soft. Please remember to top up your roasting pan with water.
2. Take the tails and place them on the grid over medium coals on the braai. Sprinkle with salt, pepper (coarse salt and pepper would be good) and ground coriander. Braai till the skin is crispy and crackly. About 5 miutes a side.
3. Mustard Sauce : Mix all ingredients and serve in a small bowl next to the crispy tails.

Porks sausages + bacon + beer + vegetables – my version of the Irish coddle is one of Rick’s favourite dishes. I am married to a man of Irish descent and what I have learned from our family visits to Ireland – and my husband is that the Irish love beer (Guinness only when in the Emerald Isle) + whiskey + eating potatoes + pork sausages + salmon + they only start a party at 9pm and even if you are around the ripe age of 75 there is still nothing wrong with partying till 4am and passing out on the couch at you friends house if you had too much to drink!! I just love the Irish, it is their spirit, their joviality and perhaps the fact that they are never shy to drink more than me.

For this recipe I have added a few herbs, mustard seeds and some beer and then also added some lemon. I think it’s a bit of modern Coddle and it’s hearty and just perfect in the dead of winter. It is so easy to prepare …everything is in one bowl, meat, veggies etc. So between my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law I think we have come up with a rather decent local version of the Irish coddle! Sleinte!

Serves 4 or 6
Preparation time: 20 min
Cooking time: 1h

Ingredients

6 Pork sausages
4 Garlic cloves finely chopped
125g Bacon finely chopped
4T Olive oil
2 Onions – sliced
2 Celery sticks – chopped finely
2 Large carrots – chopped
2 t Mustard seeds – if you dint have just add 2t mustard
30 g Flour
3 Large potatoes – peeled and cut in quarters
50g Tomato paste
1t Lemon juice
1t Balsamic vinegar
2.5 Cups of stock – I used beef stock
1/2 cup of beer (I used a lager – no Guinness on hand I’m afraid)
2T Chopped parsley
1T Fresh sage (optional)
1t Black pepper corns

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
2. Fry the sausages in an oven proof dish with 2T olive oil. Just brown them and then remove from dish. Now fry the fry the bacon and take out.
3. Add the other 2 T oil and fry the onions till golden brown.
4. Add carrots and the celery and garlic sweat veggies till translucent.
5. Add 30 g flour, let it fry for a minute or two.
6. Now add all the other ingredients.
7. Put the lid on and bake for 1hour.
8. Serve with fresh bread.

anél potgieter

Category Archives: Pork

crispy braaied pig tails = salty + crackly decadence

pork sausage + bacon + beer + veg = modern irish coddle