FOOD REVIEWS
S E U L B N M U T U A E H T BEAT
IOUS RECIPES IC EL D E ES TH H IT W ER M M CELEBRATE THE END OF SU
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ebruary is a tough month. It’s the final month of summer and the festive season is little more than a memory (although our expenses and waistlines don’t seem to understand that!) Thankfully, there is more to celebrate than to be glum about. It is the month that celebrates love, for one thing, not to mention that we still have a whole month’s worth of warm weather to appreciate. The change of season will bring a whole new host of flavourful local ingredients that will be readily available, too. There is still time to embrace the last bit of summer fun in your dishes, while beginning to introduce slightly darker, richer flavours into your menu. Here are a few total crowd pleasers to change up your game with.
HICKEN MANLY C ll feed four people)
(One chicken wi Recipe by Jan Braai
Ingredients: • 1 chicken • 1–2Tbs of your favourite chicken spice or rub • 1 tin of cider, ginger beer, beer, Coke, apple juice or grape juice • 4–8 medium to large potatoes Method: • Open the tin of soda/cider/beer/juice and drink one third of it. Now let the remaining contents in the tin reach room temperature. • Light the charcoal fire. In a kettle braai, this means having two heaps of coals on the sides of the bottom grid and leaving the middle of the bottom grid open. • Ensure that all innards are removed from the cavity of the chicken. • Rub the chicken inside and out with the braai spice. • Push the tin with two thirds of the liquid carefully into the cavity of the chicken.
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• Place the chicken standing upright (with the can inside also facing upright) into the middle of the top grid of the braai and pack the potatoes around it. • Close the lid and bake the chicken for one hour at 180°C. Make sure that the bottom and top air vents are open. Do not open the lid for the next 50 minutes. • After 50 minutes to one hour the chicken will be ready. The skin will be crisp and some of the liquid from the can will have steamed into the chicken making the meat moist and flavourful. • The chicken is done when its internal temperature is 77°C on your meat thermometer, or when the juices run clear when you poke the flesh with a knife. • Take the chicken off the braai, discard the can and its leftover liquid, and let the chicken rest for a few minutes before carving it. • Serve with the potatoes, which will by now have crisp skins and be completely soft inside.
