Smoked Turkey – South African Style!

The fiancé and I have been watching a few too many festive cooking shows and although Turkey is more a British Christmas tradition than South African, we found ourselves slightly obsessed with the idea of smoking a Turkey over open flames for a few hours…

So we bought a plump 4.something kg Turkey and some wood chips for smoking and got the process started. After defrosting in the fridge for 24 hours (although it’s advisable to defrost for 48 hours), we washed him, patted him dry and started seasoning.

Our South African twist on Stuffing:

4 x Skilpadjies (Spiced lambs liver wrapped in fatty netting), slightly browned on the fire and finely chopped.

4 Fresh Apricots, finely diced.

1 Medium onion, finely diced.

4 Garlic Cloves, finely sliced.

1 tsp Dried Oregano.

2 Tbls Braai Seasoning.

1 Egg.

2 Cups Bread Crumbs.

After seasoning, stuffing, basting every half hour and hot smoking for 4 hours, we ended up with this:

Delicious! (Way too much for two, so needless to say, we’ll be eating Turkey the whole week – yum!)

Happy Festive Season!

Pita Pocket Tapas

We are busy planning our Christmas Menu, and if, like us, you are hosting a lunch event, these pitas are perfect as table snacks or as part of a cold Tapas spread.

Pita Pocket Tapas

Serves 6-8

You will need

Mini Pita Pockets (Buy at least 3 -4 per person)

Buy the little triangular ones or small round ones, and make sure they are fresh and puffy.

2 Spicy Sausages of your choice. Chorizo works well.

Butternut Filling

250g Butternut, cut in small blocks

20ml Olive Oil

5ml Cumin, powdered

Treacle Sugar

Salt

Caramelized Red Onion Filling

1 Spanish Onion, finely sliced

30ml Caramel Sugar or Treacle Sugar

30ml Balsamic Vinegar

Salt

Lentil Filling

1 White onion, chopped

1 Garlic Clove, chopped

1 Tin Lentils, drained

2 Big Tomatoes, chopped

15ml Tomato Puree

60ml Water

Chickpea Dip

1 Can Chickpeas, drained

1 Garlic Clove, chopped

20ml Olive Oil

10ml Lemon Juice

Beetroot

Bunch of fresh young Beetroot

Treacle Sugar

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

How to make it

Pitas

Slice open tops of pitas - you can butter the inside a bit if you wish.

Butternut

Place Butternut blocks on oven tray, sprinkle with Olive Oil, Salt and a little bit of Treacle Sugar.

Bake at 180°C until soft, but not mushy. About 20 min.

Toss every now and then.

Beetroot

Peel and cut into small blocks.

Place on oven tray, sprinkle with Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil, Treacle Sugar and drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar.

Bake at the same time as the butternut (saves some electricity).

Toss every now and then, until soft (not mushy) and glazed.

Caramelized Onion

Place all the ingredients in a heavy bottomed pot or pan.

Cook slowly until caramelized.

Lentils

Fry onion and garlic in pan, when cooked add all the other ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add Salt and Pepper to taste.

Chickpea Dip

Whirr everything in a food processor until smooth.

Season to taste.

Slice Sausages.

To Serve

Dish all your fillings in separate little dishes with the pita pockets on the side.

Guests can stuff their pitas with a little bit of this or a little bit of that.

Tips

• You can buy Mini Pitas at your nearest Spar.
• To save time, buy pre-prepared butternut and just chop them a bit smaller.
• Serve a chilli sauce on the side to add some bite.