24 September, Heritage day. When one thinks ‘heritage day’, one’s mind immediately jumps to boerewors, pap, mielies, poitjie… feel-good, home-made meals that we all enjoy with family.
However, if you’re looking for something a little more upmarket, or something that has a twist on our usual favorites, Executive Chef Alfons Rathje, from The Royal Palm Hotel, gives us two of his favourite recipes.
For those meat loving South Africans, this grilled kudu loin dish will definitely tickle your taste buds.
Ingredients:
- 1kg kudu tenderloin
- salt and pepper
- olive oil for frying
- 20g butter
- 200ml plain yoghurt
- 50g dried cranberries
- 100ml port
- 50ml red wine
- 350ml beef stock
- 40g butter
- 20g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)(grated)
- salt and pepper
Method:
- Marinate the kudu loin for one day in the plain yoghurt and cranberries
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius, on bake
- Season the venison piece
- Heat a little olive oil in an oven-proof frying pan over a high heat.
- Sear the venison piece for 1 minute on each side
- Add butter to the frying pan before placing it in the oven for 5 minutes (medium rare), remove the meat and cover with tin foil in a warm place while you make the sauce. Keep the juices in the pan for the sauce.
- Place the venison pan over medium heat, and deglaze with port and red wine.
- Reduce the liquid by half before adding the beef stock.
- Reduce the liquid again by half before whisking in butter.
- Finally, whisk in chocolate immediately before serving. Season to taste.
Serve the kudu loin with a delicious salad, or if you’d prefer something warmer, roasted vegetables always go well with kudu.
If rice is more your go-to, then this strawberry risotto will definitely make your mouth water. It’s fresh, exciting and delicious!
Ingredients:
- 6 cups of water
- 1 small onion
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1 small carrot
- 80g butter
- 350g carnaroli rice (or arborio rice)
- 1/2 a cup of sparkling white wine
- 250g strawberries
- Salt to taste
- 50g grated parmesan cheese
Firstly, you need to prepare a vegetable broth:
Wash and peel the carrot, celery and half the onion. Place them in a pot and cover with cold water. Place on the heat and bring to a boil. Cook for 20-30 minutes from the boil. Season with salt only at the end.
Next, you must prepare the risotto:
- Carefully wash the strawberries, and remove all leaves. Dice all but 2 strawberries, which you should set aside for garnishing afterwards.
- Melt 1/3 of the butter in a potover medium heat. Then add the other half of the onion, finely chopped, and stir. Once the onion is golden, but before it browns, add the rice. Stir and toast the rice until it absorbs the butter and is almost transparent.
- Add the wine to the pot and stir. Once the wine has almost completely evaporated, begin to add the broth a couple handfulls at a time. wait for the broth to almost compleetly evaporate before adding more broth.
- After 12 or 13 minutes of cooking the risotto, add the chopped strawberries. Stir and continue cooking by adding more broth until done. The rice should need another 4 or 5 minutes.
- Taste the rice for flavour and doneness. If necessary, adjust the salt. As soon as the rice is al dente, remove it from the heat. Stir in the grated parmesan cheese and remaining butter.
- When plating, add some chopped strawberries on top or next to the risotto.
For some extra flavour, try adding a few drops of balsamic vinegar on top of the risotto.
However you choose to celebrate, we wish you a happy Heritage Day!
