I stumbled across this Ottolenghi style oxtail casserole using ingredients like cinnamon, star anise and orange peel, as well as gremolata as a topping. Seeing that winter is upon us and I had some oxtail in the freezer, I decided to give it a go.
So what constitutes the perfect steak sandwich ? I take a look at some of the main criteria which for me contributes to a good steak sandwich and which should be kept in mind when preparing one.
I recently got hold of some good quality springbok knuckles on my travels and decided to make this dish. The way the meat is prepared is based on Jamie Oliver’sInsanely Good Oxtail Stew Recipe and the pilaf is based on Nagi Maehashi’sRice Pilaf with Nuts and Dried Fruit recipe. Jamie’s recipe I tweaked a bit and turned it into a one-pot dish while adding some ingredients like garlic and onions. Nagi’s recipe I pretty much kept standard, but I decided to work with ingredients at hand.
For those of you that are not familiar with springbok, it is a medium-sized antelope found in South Africa and also the national animal of this country.
Oven Braised Springbok
Ingredients
1kg springbok knuckles or other venison
2 leeks cut in half and then into 2cm pieces
2 carrots cut into 2cm slices
1 onion diced
1 celery stick with leaves cut into 2cm pieces
3 sprigs rosemary
5 sprigs thyme
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
4 bay leaves, fresh if possible
4 cloves
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
100ml red muskadel or port or other sweet wine
400ml venison or beef stock (homemade stock produces a far superior dish)
425g tinned, diced tomatoes
Worcestershire sauce
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method
Preheat a large casserole pot with lid in the oven at 220 degrees Celsius.
Remove the pot from the oven, add the meat, season it with salt and pepper, add a good lug of olive and mix it well.
Put the casserole back in the oven (with the lid) for about 20 minutes.
Remove the casserole from the oven and put it on low-medium heat on the stove. Turn the oven down to 170 degrees Celsius.
Add the leeks, carrots, garlic, onion, celery, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves to the meat, stir well and cook for about 20 minutes with the lid on.
Vegetables added to the meat
Add the flour and cloves, and mix well.
Add the muskadel or wine, tomatoes and stock and mix well.
Turn the heat up and bring to boil.
Put the casserole (with lid) back in the oven for about 4 hours, turning the food over every hour or so.
Remove the casserole from the oven, add a good dash of Worcestershire sauce and let the dish settle for about 30 minutes before dishing up.
375ml chicken stock (once again, home made stock will produce a far superior dish)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cumin
Method
Dry fry the nuts in a pan over medium heat. Be careful not to burn the nuts and note that the almond flakes will toast quicker than the whole pistachios.
Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic and saute until translucent.
Add the rice and fry until mostly translucent.
Add the cinnamon, cardamom, pepper and cumin and stir.
Add the stock, and dried fruit and stir.
Cover with the lid, bring to simmer and then immediately turn the heat down to medium low or low.
Cook for 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. (Try not to open the lid while cooking). Remove the pot from the stove and leave for 10 minutes undisturbed.
Crush the pistachios slightly, add most of the nuts and toss.
Serve with remaining nuts as garnish.
We served the springbok and rice pilaf together with a bottle of Jacaranda Wines No. 47 2018 which is a Shiraz and contributed very well to the spiciness of the dish.
Note
You can basically use any dried fruit. The original recipe uses apricots, sultanas and raisins. The dried fruit mixture I used consisted of peaches, apricots, pear, prunes (pitted) and apples.
We love chicken pie (who doesn’t?). Whether it’s Kotopita (Greek pie in filo pastry) . B’stilla (Moroccan pie with cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and saffron) or a good old South African chicken pie with hard boiled eggs and sago.
We decided to put a twist on the traditional South African version by making it with smoked chicken, pancetta and leeks.
Heritage Day on 24 September is a day where South Africans are encouraged to celebrate their culture. Having a braai (barbeque) is very much part of the South African culture so this day is also known as National Braai Day. Boerewors is probably the most “South African” meat that you can braai so we decided to make our own for the occasion.
I got the original recipe from Jess Pryles for this twice cooked drunken beef short ribs from here, but I altered it quite a bit for our taste. Although this recipe is quite straight forward it does take some time to prepare. This dish is perfect for those cold winter evenings when you crave “comfort food”.
This black mussel and white wine dish is one of my favourite starters to make when we are having people over. It is very easy to prepare and the whole dish can be done under 90 minutes from scratch. As a starter this can easily serve 12 people if you add some bread. Obviously it can also be served as a mains, but be careful, it is very rich.
It’s a well know fact that we South Africans will braai anything. Point in case – braai pie. Braai pie is a pie cooked over the coals – perfect for when you feel like something a bit different from chops and wors. It’s a popular dish to make during camping weekends away and usually prepared as a starter (anything made with pastry should really be prepared before the second bottle of wine is opened). Everyone contributes to the filling and the end result is shared. Adrienne and I like making this at home when it’s only the two of us so that we don’t have to share a single morsel of our braai pie.
As date night and Women’s Day were on the same day this year, I decided to make a three course meal for Tanya. The three meals consisted of sticky chicken wings, kudu sosaties and bread pudding.