Recipe: Oxtail Potjiekos
A flavour of South Africa from Matilda Scarfe
Real Food Festival
Originally from South Africa, Matilda Scarfe lives on the Sunshine Coast where she runs South African styled accommodation and cooks up a range of chutneys, spices, marinades and sauces under the Figtree Cottage label.
Matilda also hosts cooking classes at The Ginger Factory once a year and hosts Gourmet Culinary tours back to her homeland.
This is one of Matilda's favourites. Even people who say they don’t eat oxtail, lick their fingers off and clean their plates with only a few bones left! It is cooked in a 'potjie' or camp oven.
Ingredients
- 30ml oil
- 2 large oxtails
- 4 medium onions, sliced thinly
- 3 tbsp crushed garlic
- 2 red chillies, chopped
- 7 whole cloves
- 4 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 150ml red wine
- 150ml hot water
Cut as much excess fat from oxtail as possible. Heat oil in potjie and brown meat in batches. Remove and set aside.
Add onions, garlic, chilli, cloves, bay leaves, salt and pepper to the pot. Cook for about 15 minuntes or until onions have softened.
Return meat to the pot. Add red wine and hot water, cover with lid and simmer VERY SLOWLY for 3 hours in a kettle barbeque.
Or preheat an oven to 150degC and cook potjie in that.
Vegetables
While the meat is cooking, prepare the vegetables in this order:
- 2 ripe bananas, sliced
- 100g dried peaches, soaked in water, drained
- 6 medium carrots, sliced
- 10 small onions
- 10 baby potatoes
- 4 tbsp chopped rosemary
- 4 tbsp chopped thyme
- 4 tbsp chopped parsley
- 2 tins tomatoes, crushed
Add vegies in that order and cook slowly for another hour. While cooking, mix ingredients for the sauce, add and cook for another 20 minutes.
SAUCE:
20ml chutney – Gourmet Afrika Blatjang Chutney
65ml brown vinegar
20ml tomato sauce
20ml honey
10ml med curry power
Regions
- Noosa, Sunshine Coast and hinterland (QLD)
- Sunshine Coast (QLD)
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The Real Food Festival on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland encompasses what Matilda Scarfe’s South African food is all about – simple, authentic and connects you to the sources or the food you are eating »
The African Cottage, The Rondawel and Kalahari Cottage are situated near the picturesque village of Maleny in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. The cottages are a little ... read more
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