Oxtail Potjie

INGREDIENTS


500g Oxtails cut 2 inches thick pieces
10 slices Bacon cut in 1 inch pieces
½ cup Flour seasoned with salt and pepper
1 litre beef stock
1 can tomato paste
1 Bay leaf
6 black peppercorns
6 large leeks, chopped coarsely
2 large onions, chopped coarsely
6 large carrots
20 button mushrooms
1 cup red wine
½ cup sherry
½ cup cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons crushed garlic

METHOD

Dry oxtails with paper towel.
Put seasoned flour in a Ziplock bag, then add the Oxtail and shake to coat with flour.
Heat butter and olive oil and sauté bacon pieces.
Remove bacon and brown Oxtail in resulting fat, remove and drain.
Finely dice 4 of the carrots. Coarsely chop the onions and the leeks.
Add the finely diced carrots, leeks, onions and sauté until softened
Add Oxtail, bacon, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic, tomato sauce, red wine, sherry.
Bring slowly to a boil and cook slowly for 3 - 4 hours.
1 hour before serving cut the remaining carrots into 1 inch pieces, add them and mushrooms and continue cooking slowly.
Just prior to serving, add cream and stir in.
If you want to thicken the sauce mix some cornstarch with the cream before adding.

Biltong Potjie

Ingredients


3 Onions
250g Bacon (chopped up)
1Kg Button or Brown Mushrooms
1 Clove Garlic - crushed
250ml Hot Beef Stock
750ml Rice - cooked
750g Biltong sliced
Few sprigs of thyme - leaves picked off the stalks
250g Cheddar Cheese
25g Butter

Directions

Build your fire and allow the coals to become medium hot
Preheat your potjie over the coals
Melt the butter in the bottom of the potjie Add the chopped onions and bacon and saute till the onions are limp & translucent and the bacon is cooked
Add the mushrooms & garlic and saute till the liquid has evaporated and they start to go light brown

Add the beef stock and thyme

Add the cooked rice and the sliced biltong in layers - a layer of rice, a layer of biltong until all used up

Add the cheese in one layer on top. Cover with the lid and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes over low heat coals. If the fire is too hot at this stage the rice will start to burn
When the cheese has melted remove the potjie from the heat, set aside and leave to stand for about half an hour for the flavors to develop.Just before serving use a large wooden spoon to gently stir the potjie so that all the layers are mixed together and evenly distributed.

Serve with salads and pot bread.

Servings: Use a No. 2 sized Pot which serves 4-6