Bits of Carey

Last weekend we had friends over for a potjie braai and it truly was a great success. Everyone chipped in and together we prepared two potjies, a big green salad, a phenomenal  monster bread and dessert that comfortably fed 10 peeps. It was kind of nice in a way, everyone preparing their ”signature dish” and feeling right at home in our kitchen. I think that’s how get togethers should be!

I thought this post would be quite fitting just before the weekend when most people are still pondering what to do with family and friends.  I suggest do this menu, get everyone involved and have a great time – don’t forget the vino!

The 3 dishes I’m including in this post are a hearty oxtail potjie, a chicken and veg potjie and L&L’s monster bread!

Oxtail potjie

Serves 6 large portions or 10 smaller portions

One of my all time faves. This was a hit.  Succulent, tender and droolworthy!

You will need:

30 ml butter

30 ml canola oil

1.5 kg oxtail, small pieces

seasoned flour

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves, garlic, sliced

1 large carrot, diced

1 large stick of celery

2 sprigs rosemary

12 peeled pickling(baby) onions

250 g baby carrots, peeled (or just 4 large carrots, cut into large chunks)

12 baby potatoes

250 ml strong beef stock

30 ml tomato paste

+- 500 ml of good red wine(I used Shiraz)

freshly ground salt and pepper

Coat the oxtail pieces liberally in seasoned flour.

Heat the butter and oil in your potjie above the coals.

Brown the meat (also seals it) and set aside.

Add the prepared onion, garlic, carrot, celery and rosemary and fry until softened. Add the remaining veggies and heat through. Add the meat back to the pot, followed by the hot stock, tom paste and wine. Cover and simmer gently over moderate heat for 4 hours. Add more wine if the liquid evaporates too rapidly. Season to taste and serve with rice, mash or in our case homemade bread! Enjoy!

Chicken and veg potjie

Serves 8 – 10

I have not made this one before, however, we were pleasantly surprised! Melt in your mouth chicken, tender veg and tomato -y saucy goodness with a subtle white wine undertone. Delish!

You will need:

30 ml butter

15 ml oil
10 pieces of free range chicken (legs and thighs)

1 onion

3 fat cloves garlic, sliced

2 sprigs of thyme or rosemary

12 peeled pickling(baby) onions

45 ml cake flour

250 g baby carrots

1 punnet baby corn

12 baby potatoes(optional)

1 tin whole tomatoes, chopped

150 ml strong chicken stock( Ina or Nomu)

150 ml white wine

10 ml sugar

salt and pepper

Heat the butter and oil in the potjie and brown the chicken a few pieces at a time. Set aside.

Fry the sliced onion, garlic and thyme until softened, then add the baby onions and brown a bit.  Stir in the flour and remaining ingredients(including the chicken). Make sure the baby corn  is on top. Cover and simmer gently over the coals for 1 hour until liquid has reduced to a saucy consistency and the veggies and chicken are tender. Season to taste.

TIP: Get the oxtail potjie on the go, while that’s cooking, prep your chicken potjie ingredients. Proceed with the chicken potjie 1 hour before the oxtail potjie is done. If you only have 1 potjie, do chicken first, then go on with the oxtail. When oxtail is done, heat up the chicken one.

L&L’s monster bread!

Just to let you know, L & L arrived very organised with all their goodies needed to bake the bread(already prepped and ready to go). Out comes 1 kg ready made bread dough (you can get from any supermarket bakery), sauteed onion mushrooms and bacon, cheese, brown onion soup and cream. Very intriguing, so I just stood back and watched them in action…

They rolled the dough out and topped it with the sauteed bacon mushroom and onion mixture as well as grated cheese!

Roll up like a swiss roll. Note at this point, turn it the other way around to prevent it from unravelling. I did not tell them this as I did not want to interfere, it was my turn to sit back for a change and stop being a control freak in the kitchen!

Mix the brown onion soup and cream together and pour over the bread. Top with more cheese.  Note at this point, a baking tray ain’t the best option if pouring the topping over as it just runs off the bread, rather in a deeper pyrex dish or loaf tin.

Pop into a 180 degree celcius oven for 45 minutes. To check if done, tap the bread, if it sounds hollow, it’s done!

And there it is! L & L’s monster bread! It just baked free form on the tray and this was the result. Not quite rolled anymore, more like a mega filled bread, but it was absolutely divine, legendary even! We had slices upon slices and not one crumb was spared. Delicious with the potjies and a great way to to mop up the sauce. Well done guys! Super proud of ya!

L also made a divine green salad with loads of herbs which was refreshing with all this meat and bread going on.

Our other bud, R, was in charge of dessert, she’s a really busy gal, so she brought Woolies apple crumble and served it with freshly whipped cream.

Yes, we ate that too. Good times!

Have a great weekend all!

Happy cooking!

C xx

This is a perfectly substantial dinner in my book, eaten with a slice of buttered toast, what more can you ask for? The best thing is, you can rummage around your fridge and come up with your own filling! Camembert, caramelised onion and tomato, cheese, walnut and grannysmith apple(Yes, it is delish), left over mince, chorizo and mushroom, spinach and feta – the options are endless! We had a couple of juicy tomatoes in the garden ripe for the picking and I thought they would go down nicely in  omelettes paired with some rocket and cheese! Dinner Done!  J devoured it with buttered white toast and I had rye which leads me to this topic, yours truly having a slight wheat intolerance! Yes, a foodie’s worst nightmare, a food intolerance! So you may have noticed that I have not been posting as many pasta and bready dishes…sob..sob. It’s quite understandable that I have been craving potatoes (hence my previous potato obsessed posts) and eating alot of rice! Now this little set back won’t effect my work(because a little taste here and there never hurt anyone)but home cooking has changed somewhat. To be quite honest, I’m feeling quite good without wheat in my system but it WILL NOT stop me from my bready binges and pasta perving FULL STOP

Back to the omelette…

For 1 omelette

You will need:

3 large eggs, beaten

3 shell fulls of water (or +-30 ml)

salt and pepper

Filling:

a handful of cheeseof your choice( I used mature cheddar and some mozzarella for stringiness)

1 small tomato, roughly chopped

a few sprigs of rocket( basil will be fab too!)

salt and pepper

Beat the eggs, water and seasoning together and pour into a lightly buttered hot non stick pan. Turn the heat down to moderate, swirling the pan around until most of the egg is cooked. Must still have a bit of jiggle to it. Still on the heat, add the cheese, followed by the sweet tomato and lastly the delicious peppery rocket. Season.

With a palette knife, lift the “uncovered” side over the filling side. Invert onto a plate and allow to stand for a minute, the steam in the centre will wilt the rocket and melt the cheese completely.

Top with some more fresh rocket

The perfect light dinner!(brekkie or lunch)

Who knows what my next post will be…?

C xx

We take the humble potato for granted and only really have it as an accompaniment. It’s in our stews, the chip to our burgers, the mash to our bangers and the hash to our brekkies. What would we do without tatoes?  I have fond and comforting memories of potatoes mostly in the form of mash. “Mom’s mash” with boerewors and chunky tomato sauce(“smoor”), my late gran’s forte -”wallpaper mash”(sticky and lumpy, it would stick to the plate, no joke! but I loved it) and my “recovery mash” J prepared so lovingly most nights because my stomach couldn’t handle anything else after chemotherapy. I love mash, therefore I love potatoes!

What if the potato was the star of the show for a change? What if I made a big cheesy potato patty and served it with a fresh and light salad complimenting it’s subtle flavours? Here’s what I did…

Cheesy potato and pea patties

makes 4 beeeg patties

You will need:

4 potatoes – peeled, cubed and boiled until soft

1 cup of peas

1 cup grated cheese of your choice( I used mature cheddar and smoked cheese – yum)

1 egg, beaten

salt and pepper

A bit of well seasoned cake or corn flour for dusting

Knob of butter

30 ml olive oil

Drain the boiled potatoes, add the peas, cheese and egg. Use a masher to break down the lumps until the mixture clumps together nicely. Season well.

With floured hands, form into 4 patties and lightly coat with some more flour. Allow to rest for 15 minutes in the fridge.

Heat the oil and butter until it bubbles, add the patties. Fry over moderate heat for +- 6 minutes a side. Should be crispy on the outside and soft in the centre.

Serve with smoke roasted salmon and apple salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.

Smoke roasted salmon and apple salad

125 g smoke roasted salmon, broken into pieces

1 grannysmith apple, thinly sliced(core and all) then halved

small packet of mixed salad greens

olive oil

lemon juice

Toss all the ingredients together!

I love the combination of the creamy, cheesy slightly smokey potato patties with crispy fresh greens, sweet and tart apple and salty smoked salmon.

Enjoy!

9 on the yummo scale!

C x