Kim and I were judges for the recent Miss Neudamm pagent. Neudamm is an agricultural college just outside of Windhoek.

Kim and friend Esther.




Ester and her boyfriend Dalton.


One of the most catchy artists of the day. They sing a song called "Lets get down to Business!"


Herero cultural group performing. Love the little guy!


Carefully judging the contestants performance.


The girl on the far left won. They all did a great job!

I have started experimenting with cooking pork ribs in recent months and have discovered what an art form it really is. From the dry rub, cooking method to the final baste one must really calculate all of the elements which contribute to that final taste on the palette. There are a vast array of recipes and cooking techniques for getting the perfect rack. I am quite satisfied with following method which is a combination of my favorites online.

Make sure to buy good ribs. I believe that baby back ribs are the finest cut. I once just bought standard adult pork ribs which were so fatty I nearly didn't eat them plus they cost me a fortune.

A dry rub is important to season and tenderize the meat. I like to keep it fairly simple with cumin, cayenne, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. I also add a bit of sugar but on this occasion added far too much, and when combined with the honey in the wet rub, I found the end result far too sweet. So beware unless you like sweet ribs, I prefer them hot and tangy! After you massage the ribs with the dry rub, wrap them in plastic wrap and give them a few hours to get to know each other in the fridge.


I like to cook the ribs for three hours at low heat 90°C (194.0°F), so make sure you get started early or prepare to eat late. Best practice says you should line your pan with foil to avoid cleaning it all week. I cook the ribs dry for the first two hours. Here is what they look like after an hour and a half.


You can get your wet rub ready at any time. If you know of an excellent rib sauce you can use it straight out of the bottle, but I like to blend a variety of sauces and spices to get a complex flavor. I usually do not add the wet rub till the third hour.


Just before serving I usually crank up the heat on the stove just to flash glaze the ribs. If I had a gas bbq I would throw them on for a quick sear to lock in the flavor.


After 3 hours cooking slowly plate the ribs with some potato roasties and fresh veggies. Is your mouth watering?


See how the meat has receded from the bone? That is your guarantee that the ribs are going to be falling off the bone tender.


Make sure to pair the ribs with a fine wine. This South African shiraz is one of my favorite reasonably priced wine.

Labels: Recipes

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The Auas Rorartact club comes together for a social bbq at the local dam. Loads of fun!!!

Spent some time with Kim's mum, sisters, cousins, and friends over the past few weeks.






Kim's mum and sister.

It was my first opportunity to attend and participate in a Potjie cook off this past weekend. The premise is this, a bunch of people get together in teams and rent a spot to cook a Potjie. Whats a Potjie? Good question as it was also mine when I was asked to prepare one.

From Wikipedia
In South Africa Potjiekos (IPA: /pɔɪ/kiː/kɔs/), directly translated "pot food", is a stew prepared outdoors in a traditional round, cast iron, three-legged pot (the potjie) which is found in the homes and villages of people throughout southern Africa. The pot is efficiently heated using small amounts of wood, charcoal or if fuel is scarce, twisted grass or even dried animal dung.

Traditionally, the recipe includes meat, vegetables, starches like rice or potatoes, all slow-cooked with Dutch-Malay spices, the distinctive spicing of South Africa's early culinary melting pot. Purists[who?] say liquid should never be added to the pot and the contents should never be stirred, as the lid keeps all liquids and flavors circulating throughout cooking. It is said[who?] that for a correctly cooked potjie, spices only enhance the taste. Other common ingredients include fruits and flour-based products like pasta. Even beer might be added by more adventurous cooks.

Potjiekos originated with the Voortrekkers, evolving as a stew made of venison and vegetables (if available), cooked in the potjie. As trekkers (pioneers) shot wild game, it was added to the pot. The large bones were included to thicken the stew. Each day when the wagons stopped, the pot was placed over a fire to simmer. New bones replaced old and fresh meat replaced meat eaten. Game included venison, poultry such as guinea fowl, wart hog, bushpig, rabbit and hare.

Broadly speaking, Africans, Afrikaners and English South Africans all cook potjiekos, but lounging around the fire for hours while socializing and enjoying side dishes is most culturally ingrained among the Afrikaners, for whom potjiekos spicing is an esteemed art.

Today there are numerous recipe books and potjiekos chefs, each with their own "secret" ingredients for potjiekos. Several annual potjiekos competitions are held.
Source

The event was held just outside of Windhoek at a mining camp. Kim participated with a team of coworkers and she asked me to come along and oversee the Potjie dish. The entire team did a great job decorating and preparing our spot. Unfortunately all but two of them had any experience preparing a Potjie so Kim volunteered me to run the show. In the end we all worked together to prepare the pot. It actually tasted quite nice, but in the end did not win any awards. I tried our neighbors pot and in comparison to ours, it had a very complex taste.

The Potjie ended up cooking for a about three hours. We started with some onions which sauteed for a few minutes with some oil. We then removed the onions so that they would not go to pieces, and added them near the end. We cooked about 2 chickens worth of chicken pieces. We then added potato, some butternut squash, mushrooms, tomato, some chutney mix, and in the end about a full bottle of white wine.

Kim even prepared costumes for the team with the theme "American Indian". The team name therefor became the Pow-Wows.



The judges came around first to view the table setting and layout of each booth.




Eagle feet for ambiance.


Some of the other camps in competition.






This one was presumably the hillbilly camp.


Yup, and there's the hillbilly's!


This guy was really playing the part, running around to each camp stealing vegetables and snacks. All in good fun, till he got an egg cracked on his head.




Here the Rugby themed team comes together in scrimmage to see who could get the first shot of Jagermeister.


Here we see the Potjie simmering directly over the fire. It is tough to control the amount of heat that the Potjie receives. It can only be done by adjusting the amount or location of the coal. The official Potjie cooking rulebook says that you can not open or stir the pot during preparation. We broke this rules a number of times.


Our neighbors setup. He made a lamb Potjie which was really great.




Pow-Wow Team




The natives are restless.


Judges enjoying our setting. Kim made tacos as an appetizer, Potjie main course, and a pancake with Maple Syrup dessert.


In the end the team won best presentation, best team spirit and best outfits.