Beef Potjie and potjie event

You might remember from a previous post where I prepared a springbok potjie. Today is also a potjie recipe but it is very easy. What I would like to convey in addition to the meal recipe is an event "recipe". The event in this case is a potjie event.

As with most of my posts this begins with a little rant. I remember my mom going through a lot of effort and stress preparing for the arrival of guests for a meal and/or stay over. Once the guest arrived the entire time would be lots of fun and some of my best memories are from those occasions. In a way it feeds the notion great reward comes with hard work. I recently witnessed this "pre-event stress" and this time tried to argue that all this effort was unnecessary. The general reply was "what would people think off me". This response is also a core problem with people hitting the gym and starving themselves trying to look "good" based on what people "expect", another rant for another time......the vanity effect.

The point I was making is that generally people visit because they want to experience your company, robust debate, catch up, plan, partake in good fortune (baby, wedding), just have fun etc. You as a person or couple or family already bring the main ingredients of a good time, the snacks or meal which causes the major amount of stress is not even discussed or there is a passing comment, "compliments to the chef" which takes all of 1% of the total face to face/event time. These points can be debated but essentially life is too short to sweat the little stuff. Question, " How many people rave about the meat/salad/décor at a braai/barbeque?"..........huh?............I hope my point is made!

Potjie Event Recipe

• Rule 1: Decide on the fly what to place in the potjie and buy those raw ingredients beforehand eg: beef, carrots, oil, potatoes, chicken etc (Marco-ingredients)
• Rule 2: Start fire when guests arrive. I have attached some pictures below on how I start a fire, its clean and takes advantage of the fire's abilities to spread (bush veld fires is an example, little human intervention), this takes about 1 to 1.5 hrs before the heat is raging.

Step 1: Place charcoal (not briquettes) into braai, place blitz on charcoal (I used a old potjie as my braai stand) 

Step 2: Light blitz

Step 3: Let blitz burn out

Step 4: Place potjie on heat source (The fire will spread over time on its own)

• Rule 3: Prepare Potjie with guests (Refer to recipe below)
• Rule 4: Insert Potjie onto fire (weather raging or not)
• Rule 5: Decide on drinks and/or snacks and go pick it up (Generally I offer, cold water, biltong (Jerky) and nuts, normal snacks I have at home) 
• Rule 6: Sit around and chat, throw a ball (of any shape) with the kids/ friends, jump in the pool or whatever the guests came over for, look at the baby, wedding photos, movies (Lord of the rings marathon with Potjie.....what an idea!!)
• Rule 7: Do not disturb potjie until about 3 to 4 hours in, and check if it ready.
• Rule 8:Dish, Eat, continue conversation and have fun.
• Rule 9: Keep dishes to a minimum, hence I enjoy disposable plates and eat with my hands

I know I call them "RULES" they are more suggestions but this process combines the prep and guest visit into one. Also the other plus side is that your guests do not feel inadequate (Unless they are soulless mother fathers) because of your pre-event prep. It is just loads of fun. On to the recipe!

Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp ginger
4 Tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
3 cardamom
1 stick cinnamon
1-2kg beef
2 onion
2 tomatoes
4 sprigs tyme and rosemary
Green beans and carrot (This is your choice and depended on space in potjie)
Sprinkle of salt for end

Method:
Liquidise garlic, ginger, 1 Tbsp coconut oil, salt, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon
Marinate beef in paste from above step
Insert 3 Tbsp coconut oil into pot
Insert onions cut into blocks
Insert beef
Liquidise and insert tomatoes
Tie rosemary and type into bunch and insert into pot
Place green beans and carrots
Sprinkle salt at the end
NB: The prep is layered and to not disturb the potjie with spoon in the middle of the cooking time
Cover and place potjie onto fire
Cook for 2-4 hours depending on potjie depth and intensity of fire
Dish and enjoy!

Chicken Wing "Stir fry"

The question on what determines a stir fry? is it the wok, use of soy sauce, thai paste or that someone from asia should cook it. Ethnically geographically I'm close enough and cook with a wok to warrant the use of the term. I should Google the requirements but I'll leave that to my knowledgeable audience.

We (Wife and myself) received this electric wok (Is the use of an electrical wok cheating, probably) as a wedding present. It is simply one of the best appliances we own and the only wedding appliance that has survived The Cull.

The Cull is spring cleaning on steroids, in a nut shell anything we don't use was disposed off by any means. 15 random appliances including old heaters, pots, pans, brand new cutlery sets even our dining table was cut down. We did make a DIY table that suited our requirements. (I should blog that)

This wok uses about 1.5 KW of energy and generally wok cooking is quite quick, so assume 30 mins cooking time and an Eskom rate of R5.00 pKWh (This is an illustrative cost, actual cost should be lower), which works out to R3.75 for a cooking session. You can also control the heat of the wok and I cook at about 30% of full power so the cost is reduced to R1.25.

This is one of the few times I enjoy food that is cooked quickly. Vegetables change into a vibrant form of their original colour and spice/vegetable/meat flavours combine to form something spectacular.

I chose chicken wings purely because I enjoy them but they have always been fried (Chicken Licken/KFC style). The other plus with chicken wings is that they are quite cheap relative to a whole chicken, 30 p/kg vs 50 p/kg (2014 cost scale).

The question on eating the skin/fat is a debate for all "knowledgeable" people out there. Its weird but observing our "knowledgeable" folk interact on this topic is like watching school yard bullying. Ganging up with like minded opinions (patting each others back), instructing people on "do what I tell you or die" or "do what I tell you because I am a doctor/dietitian/engineer/accountant/school teacher", verbal personal attacks......... this seems like how politicians behave as well, hmmmm.

On to the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp butter
2 tsp garlic (smashed, chopped and diced)
2 tsp ginger (julienne)
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp cloves
1 onion sliced (medium size)
12 chicken wings
2 handfuls string beans (cut to preference length)
1 carrot (cut to preference length) (this was the lat one in the fridge, so I used it)
1 broccoli (broken into florets)

Method:
Turn the wok power dial to 1 or 2 of 6 (16-33%)
Insert butter, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and onions
Saute until onions are soft
Add chicken wings and sear the skin
Insert beans and carrots and cook until chicken is cooked but not so long that the beans lose their crunch
Add broccoli and mix into existing flavors and leave it cook until broccoli green becomes very vibrant and bright
Serve

Enjoy!