A Tuesday for Thomas: A Man and his Potjie

 

 I don't have a lot to say about this.

You basically take everything you have in the kitchen that you want to get rid of.  In Thomas' case, it starts with two, mostly de-boned young chickens, and some root vegetables from the garden.  Then he adds some seasoning (like the curry rub).  He found some cilantro, dried apricots, garlic, and the like in our house.

This seems to be about as traditionally South African as it comes.  At least in our house.  It's a potjie (pronounced poi-key).  It's just a big cauldron you put over an open flame and cook your entire meal in.  Or as much of your meal as you'd like.

 Typically?  You'd probably see potatoes in here, but in our house, we had jicama.  It holds up better than potatoes, and still absorbs the flavor nicely.

We had tons of veggies to add.  Tomatoes, bell peppers, sugar snap peas, zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, you name it.

We also added about a liter of chicken broth, almost a bottle of white wine, some lemon juice, and a million other things to help it simmer.

Then you close the lid and wait.  It takes about an hour and a half.

You don't really open it except for once or twice.

By the time you're done, you have a really hearty stew.  You can't tell where one thing begins and another one ends, really, but it's all super delicious, and it's a great way to not through out a lot of food that tends to accumulate in the drawers of your fridge!

 We just made some Jasmine rice to put it over.  Serve it with a little chutney, and you're in heaven.  If you have multiple potjies, you can bake your bread, side dishes, or whatever other meals you'd like, but as it is, we just have the one.  MMMMMMM!  I hope you're jealous, because even though there was no real recipe, it was amazing, and you can google some anyway, if you're ever so inclined to buy yourself a cauldron!