Mid week oxtail potjie

Oxtail was on special at our local Spar so I bought a couple of kilos. Another tradition besides the ubiquitous braai here in South Africa is the "Potjie" pronounced "Poy-key" which actually means the cast iron pot in which the stews are made, this is what I determined to do with our oxtail.

Traditionally potjies are done over fires and hot coals dating back from the days of the Voortrekkers when the same cast iron pots were used to make the daily meals. Occasionally I will do a potjie over a fire and purists will vehemently claim that this is the only way they should be done, that the best tasting stews are done the traditional way. Most of the time now I do mine over gas and I challenge anyone to taste the difference between that and a fire cooked pot. Gas is just so convenient and much easier to regulate the heat.

So last week Wednesday I fired up my trusty gas cooker and started cooking at around 12h00. Oxtail needs a long, slow cooking time, at least five hours simmering.

I tossed the meat in flour seasoned with mixed herbs and then browned it off in a very hot pot, once it was all browned nicely I removed it and set it aside.

Into a small amount of cooking oil I then added three small onions and one large green pepper, chopped and fried them off until soft and translucent. I also de-glazed the pot whilst stirring. Once done I added the meat back into the pot and stirred it around.

Next I added a tin of "Hot and spicy Chakalaka" and a tin of chopped tomatoes and stirred that in along with a tablespoon of crushed garlic.

All the while the heat is quite high to maintain a rapid bubbling, lastly I added a packet of Brown Onion soup powder stirred into a cup full of red wine, salt and ground black pepper to taste. Then I turned the heat down and basically let it simmer for four hours, I check regularly to make sure it is not too hot, don't want to burn it, I stir to make sure it is not sticking at the bottom. Smelling damn good by this stage!

Time to add the vegetables at around 17h00. Sweetcorn miellies, potatoes and butternut go in, stir them in and bring the heat up a bit to compensate for all the cold stuff. Once it's hot again turn the heat down a bit then I let it simmer for another hour to an hour and a half making sure the veggies are soft.

This made us three meals each and the left over potjie the next day is even better! Janet doesn't let me live it down if my veggies are not cooked properly so I always make damn sure of them before we serve. I enjoy doing potjies and have done many over the years.

I particularly enjoy doing seafood potjies for my friends. One of my favourites too.

This one was beef shin.

This is chicken and vegetable, quick and easy and delicious.

This one's lamb, we do this often too, I love lamb.

This one is venison; Springbok and Bushbuck mixed and if there are enough friends I will make a pot of traditional Rhodesian "sadza" to go with it, it is miellie meal made so that you can mold it into a ball in your hand without it sticking to you which you then dip into the gravy. A favourite with my ex Rhodie friends.

There you have it; food glorious food.Click on the pictures to see them full size and get your mouth watering.