What a fab day – sunny Joburg with good friends, good wine & good food!

We tried out a new recipe today for warthog (I’ve never made or eaten warthog before…) from Shiny Happy People by Neil Roake (I love this cookbook!).

1 leg of venison (bush pig – I used warthog)

5 onions peeled & quartered

2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled & crushed

freshly ground salt & black pepper

olive oil

200ml sherry

225g quince cheese (quince jelly)

Rub meat with olive oil, salt & pepper.  In a large casserole, brown meat on all sides & set aside.  Add onions & ginger to the same casserole used to brown the meat and sauté.  Add sherry to deglaze.  Return the meat to the casserole and add random dollops of the quince jelly.  Cover and slow-roast in a pre-heated oven of 160C For 3-4 hours.

Now, I adapted this recipe slightly by doubling all the quantities (except the onions) because of the huge piece of meat I used.  Also, we roasted it in our Green Egg.

The result – delicious and slightly sweet meat!  Next time I would just add more liquid halfway through the cooking process and have the temperature even lower – maybe at 120C for 4 hours.  The sauce was just a tad bit too reduced for me… But still delicious nonetheless!

Sides:

Mielies (corn on the cob) with butter – always a braai favourite!

Roast beets with balsamic vinegar, olive oil & feta cheese

Scrumptious salad with roasted tomato & Danish feta with avocado – made by my friend Karin

Dessert:

Summer Berry Pavlova

This might just be my all-time favourite dessert – and healthy too! (Just egg whites & fruit… Oh yes, and a bit of cream and sugar too… Just a bit ;))

6 egg whites

pinch of cream of tartar

1.5 cups of castor sugar

1.5 tsp corn starch

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp red wine vinegar

Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.  Add sugar slowly, along with the corn starch & salt until glossy and stiff peaks form.  Fold in vanilla & vinegar.  Place on baking paper, in a round or oval shape.  Bake at 120C for 1.5 hours and let it cool in the oven.

Top with sweetened whipped cream (I use regular cream, whipped with castor sugar), fresh strawberries (cut and sprinkled with castor sugar), blueberries, gooseberries & pomegranate seeds.  Dust with icing sugar, serve & enjoy!

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