Flame grilled!

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a couple of weeks, and believe me when I say it is delicious! Hubby got an amazing cookbook form his bother for his birthday last year, "Ruben Kook, Terug na Toentertyd", it winded up every now and then when I browse for new recipes, and we decided to give this particular one a try.

Adapted from one of Ruben Riffel's recipes...

You'll need some time on your hands to prepare all the separate parts, but it is definitely worth all the effort!

So here we go:

Flame grilled lamb ribs, with a herb crust.  Served with eggplant   

puree and a roasted garlic, sage and red wine gravy on mashed Sandveld potatoes

Herb Crust

1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs 

(TIP: Freeze a few loaves of bread beforehand, 

then grate it for the crumbs)

1/4 cup fresh parsley, rosemary and thyme leaves, chopped

1 tbs whole grain mustard

1 tbs grated Parmesan cheese

Mix all the ingredients

Rub the ribs with olive oil and season with salt, then place them on a plate and cover with the herb mixture, rubbing it onto all the sides.  Leave to rest.

In the meantime light your fire! South African Style!

While your fire is on the go, start to prepare the gravy.

You'll need

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 cup olive oil

8 sage leaves

1 cup good quality red wine

2 cups chicken stock

1 tbs apricot preserve

1 tbs unsalted butter

Boil the garlic gloves for 5 minutes in salt water until tender. Place it in a saucepan, fry it on low heat until golden brown.  Toss the sage leaves into the pan fry until leaves are crisp.

Remove the sage and garlic from the saucepan, add the red wine, chicken stock and apricot preserve.  Let the liquid boil until half of the original portion is left, then chuck in the butter.

While the gravy is simmering away, peel a few potatoes, place in a pot with water and salt to boil until soft.

Eggplant Puree

1 eggplant

1 tbs olive oil

1/4 Greek yogurt

salt and blackPEPPER

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Cut the eggplant in half, then cut a zigzag pattern into the white flesh.  Rub the cuts with olive oil and salt.  Place on a grill pan.  Roast for 5-10min

Remove from the oven, spoon the flesh from the peel.  Add the eggplant pulp with the yogurt into a bowl and blend with a handheld blender.  Flavour with more salt and blackPEPPER.

By this time your ribs should have been roasted to perfection on the fire, for specific time schedule, give hubby a call!  What a fabulous braaier he is!

Mash the potatoes with a dash of milk and a dollop butter.

To Serve 

Place a spoonful of mash onto the plate, spoon over the gravy.  Place the ribs on top of the potatoes, with the eggplant puree on the side, finish the plate with crisp sage leaves and golden brown garlic cloves...