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.

Pictures from the 1982 and 1983 Buffalo Rally in Port Elizabeth

 Some of these photos might offend sensitive readers, if so I apologize in advance and you should skip this post. The "Buff", as it is still called was a biker's rally back then and the guys, and girls, tended to misbehave every now and then. See if you recognize yourself in these pictures bearing in mind that you were 36 to 37 years younger!

 There was quite a lot of this "nekkid" riding then although I have had the pleasure of seeing topless ladies riding around at the more recent Buffs in Mossel Bay.

 This guy did a lot of wheelies up and down this strip and he was going well until the inevitable happened and he binned his bike.

 Several bikes got dumped, here's a nice 1000cc Goldwing.

Mass ride assembles.

 The author as a young man arriving at the 1983 Buff.

Greeting my mates

"Dimma's Mike-the-bike"

Pissing it up in the hotel

Dirk the Dutchman

Getting ready to ride home.

Traffic cops did good business that weekend.

In 1984 the Buffalo Rally moved away from Port Elizabeth, it was held in Maseru once and then in various places like Bathurst, Queenstown and then it stopped for a few years. I went back when it started up again in Mossel Bay for a few years, my last Buffalo Rally was in 2014. 

It is still an iconic rally and one of the main rallies in the western cape and again at a new venue in Hartenbos, it seems as though every few years the citizens complain about the bikers in spite of a massive cash injection into the town and a new venue has to be found. I may go again but these old bones are not so happy sleeping in a tent anymore!

Westcoast Motorcycle Association toy run 2019

It is fast approaching that time of year when children all over the world receive toys and gifts from Santa and/or from friends and family. Every year bikers get together on the same day at the end of November to take part in a mass ride and to donate toys and gifts for children who are, through various circumstances not as fortunate.

Here in South Africa bikers all over generally get together on the same day to decorate their bikes with toys, join a mass ride to a central venue where the toys are collected and then they party. We are no different. For seventeen consecutive years from 1999 Janet and I rode down to Capetown to take part in the toy run until the W.M.A suggested that local clubs and riders might like to donate the toys locally and so the West Coast run was born.

So it was that around 10h00 on Sunday 24th November we gathered in Vredenburg for a club group ride down the road to Juffroushoogte where the mass ride was to start.

Daan, Road Captain and Bev

Anton and Rinette

Eventually sixteen of us rode together along to the start point, there were already a lot of bikers heading the same way and when we arrived the parking area was already crowded.

Charl, the owner at Juffoushoogte had offered free coffee to the bikers, but most of us headed for the bar, we had a few minutes before the ride.

Time to go and Etienne, Chairman of W.M.A calls the riders in for a briefing; "This is not a race, (which some ignored) stay together, ride in staggered formation and watch out for the short dirt road near the end venue, it was supposed to have been graded but is quite rough."

These photos of part of the group coming over the bridge into Velddrif were taken by Gerrie pieterse.

Over the bridge into Velddrif

Us followed by Anton's Indian

Daan and Bev

Willie with toys on his BMW

Parking up at the golf club

The Golf Club turnoff

This was the second time that the Velddrif Golf Club was used as the end venue and it is well suited, plenty of space and a nice bar and kitchen. There were also a few biker related stalls.

Roleyn, Janet and a young helper

The trailer halfway though the day

Officially there were 148 bikes on the run, most of which will have had two up, also many attended in cars so there were probably between 300 and 400 people. We certainly got the impression that it was a bigger event than last year although we did also notice that many people did not stay but left after depositing their toys.

It was a hot day but it was a fun day and it is good to see that it is growing, last year they counted 120 bikes. This year also there were a lot of Capetown registered bikes so that is also good news. Congratulations to the W.M.A committee and members for a well organized event, may it go from strength to strength. 

Click on these pictures to see them full size and if you want to see the rest of the pictures please visit my facebook page "Braais, beers and bikes".