French-Moroccan Style Food Aboard

The last week saw me yet again playing the sailing instructor to a boat load of young people. Young, healthy people with appetites to match. Put in some physical sailing exercises, anchoring off Grainger Bay for a light lunch, then pulling up the anchor by hand before some more sailing.  Add a dose of the wonderful Cape Town weather at this time of year, and you have five ravenous mouths to feed. Six if you include your favourite sailing instructor.

Not that that is a problem, of course. Part of the course is to do the provisioning planning. This effort naturally includes finding out dietary constraints and then matching the provisions to suit.

In this case we had a crew member not eating red meat. Pork and chicken, yes. But no red meat. Matching this requirement with our standard list of single pot meals could pose a problem. Our food stipend for the week does not amount to much and one does like to keep the food within that budget. Part of learning to make do in a minimalist way.

So boerewors and mash, spaghetti Bolognese and chilli con carne were out of the question. After some deliberation, I remembered that the French has a dish they call cassoulet, made with beans and pork. A stewed dish, eminently suited for preparing on board.  Of course, no proper sailor would go without some spice, so here was some more room for creativity.

The North Africans are famous for their wonderfully flavoured stewed dishes. That gave me the idea of a fusion dish: French-Moroccan style chilli beans and pork. Something away from your standard chilli con carne using beef mince.

For this dish we added some thinly sliced potatoes as starch, thereby making it a one pot dish. The ingredients are kept simple, as we have but a small two-burner gas stove on board and no refrigeration to speak of. A cooler box with ice, I'll have you know. Work space for preparing food is also at a premium.

In addition, I have stopped using cooking oil on board, using butter instead. Partly due to the fire hazard of hot oil on a bouncing and rocking stove, and partly because the butter imparts better flavour. I have also found that people eat smaller portions when I use butter in the cooking. Banting again, no less.

Space is at a premium

You may omit the potatoes in favour of couscous. We did not have any, but it will work well with this dish.


Here the flavours lie in the process as much as in the ingredients. Just mixing it all in and cooking it will not bring out the flavour and you will have a bland dish that burns your tongue.

And thus French-Moroccan style spicy pork stew was born. This quantity will feed six hungry sailors.

Ingredients

750g pork leg chops, cubed to 15mm/½ inch size and trimmed of fat.
1 can red kidney beans
1 can butter beans
1 can baked beans in tomato sauce
1 can whole peeled tomatoes
1 sachet tomato paste
2 medium size fresh tomatoes, coarsely diced
1 onion, chopped
1/3 Green pepper, chopped
2 medium potatoes, sliced to the same thickness as the pork.
1-2 thumbs garlic, chopped and mashed
4 small chillies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 ½ teaspoon cumin powder
Some salt to taste

Small stove and galley area

Pepper to taste
2 dessert spoons butter for frying.

Process

Heat up the pot or pan that you will be using. Add a little butter. Fry the pork in small batches until they are brown. Set the fried pork aside to rest.
Using the same pot, which will now contain a nice layer of caramelised pork, add some more butter and fry the onions and green pepper until brown. They will pick up the caramelised bits of pork. Add the garlic and chillies and fry them for thirty seconds. Add the dry spices and fry these for fifteen seconds, then add the tomatoes, the potatoes and the pork. Reduce the heat when the the pot starts to boil and simmer until the potatoes are done. Check for sufficient saltiness, the potatoes may make the dish somewhat fresh.
Only then add the beans. Drain the fluid from the kidney- and butter beans. The baked beans go in complete with the tomato sauce. Mix thoroughly. The sauce will thicken substantially towards the end, so do make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom and burns.



Allow the dish to cook through, then take the heat away and allow the dish to rest. This may not be easy, as by now the whole boat or kitchen will be pervaded by a delicious aroma.

Bon appetit!


Authored by Johan Zietsman

Last updated on 2015-02-07

Valentines Dinner Soul Food. Something Else: Cassoulet

I almost ran out of ideas this time around for our traditional Valentine's Day dinner. Traditional because we celebrate anything just to have a decent conversation over soul food. And also because restaurant food tends to be very expensive during the second week of February.

The weather is extremely hot at this time of year in the Cape. In spite of this I thought a stewed dish would do the trick just nicely. One is bombarded with ideas for barbecued food and salads, along with recipes for cold desserts. I argued that perhaps one may have a stewed main dish, one with a difference. Then have some delectable sweet stuff afterwards.

So I did some pre-Valentine experimentation.

Michael Ruhlman is a great advocate of slow cooking, especially using the Le Creuset range of cookware. I decided to give the dish he made a try. It is a slow cooked stewed pork dish using three kinds of pork to obtain the mix of flavours specific to this dish.

I am not cooking for a large party, so the ingredients are sized to suit. My version of this recipe is also adapted for faster cooking than the traditional French cassoulet, therefore it does not take an overnight effort or two hours in the oven. I used my buffet casserole from Le Creuset, but you can use any thick bottomed pot. Preferably a cast iron one for its heat retention characteristics.

The pork chops may be any cut. Remove the bones and any excess fat. The bockwurst sausages may be replaced by any spicy pork sausages.

You may vary the amount and type of beans in the dish to suit your fancy. You may also use dried beans, as in the original recipe, in which case you will need to soak them overnight.

The beauty of this dish is that it creates its own stock, therefore no additional stock is required. This is also a departure from the normal stewed dishes so traditional to South African cooking. There is a lot less fat in the dish and the flavours coming from the different fried pork products make a welcome change from the traditional lamb shank or beef potjie. The beans make for a naturally thick sauce, so no shortening is required either.

Ingredients

250 g bacon bits

2 Bockwurst sausages, about 200mm long

400g pork chops, cubed

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves fresh garlic chopped and mashed

1 hot chilli pepper, chopped finely

2 cans broad beans

1 can red kidney beans

3 small tomatoes, chopped coarsely. Leave the skin on, it adds taste.

½ sweet bell pepper, chopped

3 carrots, coarsely julienned

some butter or duck fat for frying if the bacon is not overly fatty.

50 ml soy sauce

freshly ground black pepper

some salt to taste

500ml boiling water as needed

1 cup of rice. You may also use couscous for the starch. This dish has a lot of sauce.

Process

Cook the rice or couscous as per your normal procedure.

Cook the bacon bits and sausages in a pan with some water. Allow the water too boil away, then remove the sausages, take the skin off and cut them into wheels. In the meantime allow the bacon to fry nicely in the fat that cooked out with the water.

If the bacon is not very fatty, add a little butter or duck fat to get a nice brown colour on the bacon. You also need some of the meat to stick to the pan itself. Mind that the pan does not burn. You are creating the essence of the stock for the dish.

Remove the bacon from the pan, then fry the cut up sausages and the pork chops separately in turn until they all have a nice brown hue.

Remove them from the pan, then add the chopped onions and sweet bell pepper and fry them in the now nicely flavoured pan until they are translucent (glassy). Add the hot chilli and mashed garlic and fry for a minute. Add a dollop of water if the pan goes too dry at this stage.

Now add the soy sauce, the chopped tomatoes and all the meat. Add a little water too. The browned bits of meat will by now come off the bottom of the pan and form the stock flavouring for the dish.

In the event that you are using dried beans, add them now. In the case of canned beans, add them after the meat has gone tender. This makes it a little easier on the chef, as the dish will need more water to allow the dry beans to soak up some.

Turn down the heat and simmer this lot for 30-40 minutes. Check frequently that the dish does not burn and add a little water as needed. When the meat is nice and tender, add all the canned beans and carrots and simmer for another five minutes until everything has cooked through. Sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper and stir the dish properly.

Now turn off the flame and pour yourself and your favourite friends a glass of red wine to enjoy while the dish rests. This should take at least twenty minutes. Pour another glass if you drank too fast.

Then dish up.

Bon appetit!

Authored by Johan Zietsman

Last updated on 2013-02-04

Bean pot

In my previous blog post I recommended the puri, or flat bread, to go along with, inter alia, a stewed dish. After some deliberation, the missus and I decided to make a bean pot, as the weather here in the Cape Town area was blustery and cold. Not a big decision when you have a cosy evening at home with your loved ones to look forward to. 

Sometimes the weather does play along with one's experiments!

This recipe is a variation on the traditional South African mutton or lamb green bean stew (groenboontjiebredie for the Afrikaans readers). This one has some canned beans as well, since fresh beans of other types are not really freely available in this neck of the woods. The stew also contains some tomatoes. I like to put a small amount of tomato in the stew, not only to thicken the sauce, but also to provide some small hint of tanginess. This is enhanced by the addition of a fresh hot chili or two. And there is the odd potato or three, very traditional South African style.

This dish is not really suitable for making on board a small vessel at sea. However, one may substitute the meat with home made meat balls, which will reduce the cooking time substantially. The larger yachts and catamarans may have suitable facilities and may be more stable at sea to allow for the long cooking time and store of ingredients. Some of the fresh ingredients may be substituted with the canned variety, making such a variation also more attainable on a small boat at sea.

This dish goes well with a medium bodied red wine.

Ingredients

600 grams stewing lamb or mutton. I used some rib meat and a leg of lamb chop. This gives a nice balance between the fat from the bony parts and lean meat from the leg chop.
3 medium sized potatoes, chopped into medium size chunks.
handful of fresh green beans, chopped into three pieces.
1 can red kidney beans in water
1 can butter beans in water
2 medium sized onions
2 fresh hot chillis, chopped. I used Cerranos.
½ sweet pepper. I used an orange one for the colour effect.
2 cloves garlic, chopped.
2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped coarsely. Thumb size is OK, the dish may be chunky because the beans are.
1 cube beef stock. I used a little sachet of extract, they are also good.
1 cup mushrooms. Any kind or mixed.
Dollop of soy sauce
Some cooking oil

Process

The sequence of the proceedings is king here. You may not get the flavour or texture if you vary the sequence.
Use a casserole or saucepan, depending on your quantities, with a thick bottom and sides, it allows for better heat distribution. I use a cast iron casserole. The food keeps on cooking for the last fifteen minutes after the heat has been taken away, allowing for better development of the flavour as the pan cools down.
Fry the onions, sweet pepper, garlic and chilli in light oil until the onions go a nice brown colour or just before. Remove them from the frying pan. Now brown the meat in the pan, using the leftover juices from the onions. Don't cover the pan with meat, it will only stew in its own juices and not go brown. Fry a little meat at a time if necessary. And it doesn't hurt if the pan scorch a little, it adds to the flavour in the end. Mind not to burn the meat. Add all the meat back when all the meat is brown, together with the onion mix. Add a dollop of soy sauce and simmer for five minutes to allow the flavour to develop. Add the tomatoes, the stock and some water.
Set the heat to low and allow the dish to simmer until the meat is almost soft. Then add the potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are almost soft. Now add the green beans. Simmer for five minutes, then add the mushrooms. Simmer for five minutes, then add the rest of the beans.
Now switch off the heat and leave the dish to rest for another fifteen minutes. This will allow the flavour to develop.
Serve with a flat bread like roti or puri, or with brown and wild rice. The coarse rice makes a good accompaniment to the dish. I had this with the whole wheat puri described in my previous blog post.
Bon appetit!
This post also linked to Yeastspotting!

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12  

Visse en meditasies

2011-12-25 00h10
Kersfees 2011. Hoe het die jaar ten einde gesnel! Hier sit ek êrens op die diep blou see in tropiese hitte wat skrik vir niks. Gelukkig is dit nou nag, en sit mens nie in ‘n plas sweet nie.

Hierdie jaar was vir my baie erg met Werner se oorlye en die gepaardgaande trauma. Dis heelwat vererger deur die trek en die operasie op die knie, met die oor-en-weer vliegery en die uitmekaar wees.

Aan die positiewe kant is daar die aflossing van al die skuld en die ding van aftrede. Die vryheid is ongelooflik lekker. Deel daarvan stel my in staat om my drome te kan nastreef, wat my hier op die boot het.

Ons reis is nou amptelik op enkelsyfers dae vir die restant. Tans is ons nog by die Brasiliaanse kus en wel regoor die Amasone-rivier se monding. Dis omtrent ‘n drie-dag-reis om die monding verby te steek. Maar nou is elke dag nog ‘n mylpaal om af te tel.

Al hierdie is natuurlik soveel stories vir die vaak vir die leek. Die enigste manier hoe ons weet waar ons is, is die GPS en my sekstant en plotte. En selfs die plotte wat ek maak is net ‘n paar strepies op die papier. Daar is geen ander detail op die papier as die lengte- en breedtegrade wat ek teken en name gee, en die strepies en kruisies van ons vordering nie. Die skaal is te klein. Dus, op ‘n manier, as jy nie die strepies en syfers op die papier kan verwys na ‘n groot skaal nie, lyk dit steeds soos die prentjie buite die boot. Blou water reg rondom jou. Jy sal smaak die land het van die aardbol af verdwyn.

Nou begin die Polinesërs se benadering sin maak. Hulle reken die navigator trek die land op uit die see uit. Vir die beeld wat mens sien soos jy naderkom is dit waarskynlik ‘n geldige perspektief. Ons is nou al meer as ‘n maand op die see en het nog net St Helena eiland gesien. Darem ook al ‘n paar skepe. So waar is die land dan? Versink in die see. Die perspektief is so goed soos kan kom.

Vandag, of liewer gister, se opwinding moet die visse wees. Ek het ‘n kunsaas verloor met ‘n vis wat gebyt het. Kort daarna vang ons toe ‘n Dorado op die visstok. Ek het ‘n beurt gekry om die vis te bewerk en was nog besig daarmee toe ons nog twee visse vang. Dié slag was dit baba tunas, een met strepies en een geelvin tuna. Daar was ‘n hatch van vlieënde vissies, en tussen die voëls en roofvis was daar ‘n groot fees. Die dolfyne het selfs meegedoen.

Dit was my beurt om te kook en ek het tamatiebredie met beesvleisblokkies gemaak. Ek het ‘n halwe ui en ‘n kwart soetrissie gebruik uit kosbare voorraad wat kleiner is as die dae wat oorbly. Die bredie het ek voorgesit met bruin rys. Die het groot byval gevind. Renier het selfs ‘n bottel crème soda gaskoeldrank oopgemaak. Ons het almal gesmul. Vir die kersmaal is die Drikus se beurt. Ons gaan hoender kry in ‘n soet-en-suur sous. Klink lekker. Hy en Renier het uitgeruil met die kosmaak wat Renier reken hy kan nie goed genoeg kook om ‘n kersete uit te draai nie. Ons sal die hoofete vir middagete hê, nie aandete soos gewoonlik nie. Ek sien uit daarna.

Ek het vandag klaargemaak met Slave Species of God. Dis ‘n baie interessante boek en mens kyk na die bybel en ander ‘heilige’ geskifte uit ‘n heel ander perspektief. Jou beskouing van vvv’s word ook beïnvloed. Die volgende boek wat ek lees sal sommer net ‘n storieboek wees. Ek sal ook so tentatief kyk na die seilvaart handboek wat Drikus vir my gegee het. Dit dek die sillabus vir die Yachtmaster kwalifikasie.
Ek hoop van harte dat my koplamp se batterye hou, anders gaan ek sukkel in die nag, so met my flits in die een hand.

Authored by Johan Zietsman
Last updated on 2012-12-12