If you consider yourself a true patriot, then you'd better make sure you're braaing on Monday. To help you with some inspiration, Pick n Pay brings you four sure-fire braai winners.

Bean salad

The perfect side dish for a truly South African braai.

Ingredients
1 packet green beans, (300g), tailed
1 can baked beans, (410g)
1 can kidney beans, (410g), drained and rinsed
60 ml chives, chopped, or use salad onions
2 tbsp PnP mayonnaise
1 pinch salt and milled pepper
3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

Method
•    Blanch green beans in boiling water until just cooked but still crunchy. Refresh in iced water.
•    Mix baked beans, kidney beans, chives, mayonnaise and balsamic vinegar together.
•    Season and toss through green beans.

More good ideas
•    Replace kidney beans with a can of PnP mixed beans.
•    Use fat-free yoghurt instead of mayonnaise for a healthier alternative.

Beer can chicken with curried pineapple wedges

This is Cooked star Justin Bonello’s recipe from his book.

Ingredients
2 PnP chickens, country-reared
4 garlic, crushed
1 pinch salt and milled pepper
1 dash PnP olive oil
2 cans beer, or ginger beer, for a booze-free version
1 pineapple, peeled and diced
2 tbsp PnP curry powder
8 medium bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes

Method
•    Wash chickens under cool running water and pat dry with kitchen paper.
•    Mix garlic, seasoning and oil together and rub over chickens.
•    Open beers and perch chickens upright on the cans. Ensure that chickens sit tightly on cans so they won’t topple over.
•    Place chickens on a kettle braai, cover with a lid and cook for about 40-80 minutes, depending on size of chickens.
•    Toss pineapple chunks with a little oil and curry powder.
•    Thread onto skewers and braai until cooked through and slightly charred.
•    Serve chicken with pineapple skewers and beer!
•    The beer boils and steams the flesh, cooking from the inside out, giving it a malty flavour. It will also keep the chicken tender, while the coals crisp the skin.

Curried pork

Amazing on the braai.

Ingredients
800 grams pork mince
60 ml curry paste
80 ml dried Turkish apricots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 grated lemon peel and juice
3 tbsp mint, chopped, plus extra for serving
3 tbsp coriander, chopped, plus extra for serving
1 pinch salt and milled pepper
8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes
1 glug PnP olive oil, or canola oil
Yoghurt sauce
1 tsp cumin seed, toasted
1 tsp ground cumin
125 ml PnP yoghurt
1 pinch PnP salt, or to taste

Method
•    Mix mince, curry paste, apricots, garlic, lemon, herbs and seasoning together.
•    Divide mince mixture into portions and mould into sausage shapes.
•    Skewer onto bamboo sticks and squeeze gently to secure.
•    Brush with oil and fry, grill or braai until cooked through and browned.

Yoghurt sauce
•    Mix spices, yoghurt and  salt together.
•    Serve kebabs with yoghurt sauce, extra herbs and lemon wedges.

Potbrood

Flat-bottomed potjie pots are ideal for ‘oven’ cooking over hot coals.

Ingredients
4 cups PnP self-rising flour
1 tbsp dry yeast
1 tsp PnP salt
1 tsp PnP sugar
1/2 cups water
4 tbsp PnP olive oil
400 grams roasted butternut, (use PnP Traditional Roasted Butternut)
200 grams PnP feta cheese, crumbled
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped

Method
•    Mix dry ingredients in a bowl
•    Add the water and olive oil
•    Mix to form a soft dough then knead well for 5 minutes
•    Roll the dough into a large rectangle (20 x 40cm)
•    Top with butternut, feta and rosemary. Season with salt.
•    Roll into a long sausage shape. Slice into 3cm rounds.
•    Arrange rounds in a greased potjie with a flat lid
•    Allow to rise for 30 minutes until doubled in size
•    Bake bread on a grid about 25cm above medium coals
•    Place 8-10 coals on lid of pot to cook top of bread
•    Cook for 30-35 minutes or longer for larger breads
•    Serve with Pick n Pay ready-made soup

Hints
•    If you don’t have a cast-iron potjie, use a heavy saucepan over slightly cooler coals
•    Replace butternut with vegetables of your choice
•    Bread can also bake in a cake tin at 190˚C for 45 minutes
 
Potjie Pointers
•    Scrub the pot well before you start cooking
•    After the meal, clean the pot then rub with a thin layer of oil to store

Recipes brought to you by Pic n Pay. Click here to enter the Pic n Pay Braai Day competition.