Another lamb potjie

Here we are, it's now officially 2010! So far it has been excellent and I hope that all of you are having as happy a time as we are with our family here. I haven't been for any rides yet but we are planning one pretty soon, my daughter has been reading about my breakfast runs and is really keen to go on one with me. One of the local clubs may have one soon so I will take her along and see how she enjoys it.
In the meantime here is a lamb "potjie" that I did for the family;

Trim the excess fat of some nice lamb knuckle pieces and then sprinkle liberally with Aromat and a soup powder, in this case I used a spicy one and then shake the meat around in a covered dish to make sure they were well covered with the powder. Heat up the cast iron pot with a small pool of cooking oil in the bottom and then brown the pieces of meat well, remove them and set aside. Take one cold Castle lager out of the fridge, open it and drink it because this can be hot work.

Now fry up some chopped onion and green pepper with a good tablespoon of crushed garlic until they are soft and translucent then put the meat back into the pot and give it a good stir.

At this point it is time to start making the gravy, pour a small cup full of red wine into the pot along with about half of one of your friend's beers - try not to waste your own! Now it's about time for the second beer anyway, take another cold Castle out of the fridge.........

At this point it is time for the hard vegetables to go in, I used potatoes and butternut. If you are a regular reader of this blog you may have noticed that I don't use carrots, this is a personal thing because I hate the bloody things but if you like them this is also the time to add them. Now the pot must simmer over a low heat for about an hour.

This is what mine looked like after an hour, now add any other "soft" vegetables you may like to use such as mushrooms, green beans, cauliflower and cabbage etc., give the pot a stir and turn the heat up a bit, just until those vegetables feel soft. If at this stage you find that there is a bit too much gravy throw in about a half a cup of pasta which will help to absorb the excess. I can usually get Janet to bring me another beer while I am busily engaged in preparing the lunch.

No two potjies are ever the same even if you use exactly the same ingredients every time, that is the nature of the pot, they are quite forgiving and while you may make one that is quite bland it will hardly ever be inedible unless you really messed up. This one was delicious served with some fresh ciabatta bread.