Namibia (Africa) 6 January 2023

Namibia is located in the continent of Africa. It has Angola to the north, Zambia to the northeast, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to the east, Eswatini and Lesotho to the southeast, South Africa to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and northwest.

The capital is Windhoek.

The official language is English.

The climate is very distinct in relation to the seasons. Temperatures range from 50F to 88F.

The staple foods are ostrich, antelope, zebra, giraffe, oryx, kudu, lamb, beef, rice, peppers, onions, cauliflower, cabbage, pumpkin, potato starch and many more flavors to explore (https://www.exoticca.com/us/africa/south-africa/namibia/gastronomy_.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Namibia

POTJIEKOS (https://afrifoodnetwork.com/recipes/main-course-recipes/potjiekos/):  

            – 4 TBSP knob of butter or oil         

– 1 chili pepper fresh

– 3 garlic cloves finely chopped

– 2 C (500 g) pack of fresh mushroom whole

– 2.2 lbs. (1 kg) stewing beef bone on and cut in chunks

– 2-3/4 C (500 mg) sugar beans, red kidney beans, white kidney beans, haricot beans, black-eyed beans pre-soaked overnight

– 4 carrots, and other seasonal vegetables of your choice roughly chopped

– 2 baby potatoes

– 2 tins sweet corn (mealies) creamed

– 2 C (500 ml) beef stock

– 50 mixed herbs

– salt

– pepper

– 1/2 C red wine optional

  1. Braise onions and mushrooms in butter and flavoured salt.
  2. Add chili and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
  3. Add beef, return the lid and let it steam for 5 minutes.
  4. Add carrots and potatoes and other vegetables. Cover and let it steam for 5 minutes.
  5. Add beans, sweetcorn, 500 ml beef stock, 50 ml mixed herbs and ½ cup red wine (optional).
  6. Cover pot and leave to cook for 20 minutes.
  7. Keep covered and simmer for 1.5 hours, monitoring to ensure that mixture does not dry out.
  8. Add the fresh mushrooms about 20 minutes before serving.

I used a Dutch-oven pan and just kept it on low/simmer. It worked just great! I then made some brown rice, and poured the potjiekos over the rice for a great hearty meal!! I was very happy with how it turned out, and especially the taste!!

SOUTH AFRICAN MELKTART (Milktart) (https://www.food.com/recipe/south-african-melktert-milktart-80049?scale=2):

            – 2 prepared graham cracker crusts

Filling:

            – 4.2 C (1 liter) milk

            – 1-1/4 C cake flour

            – 1 C white sugar

            – 1 tsp vanilla extract

            – 1 tsp almond extract

            – 1 pinch salt

            – 4 eggs, separated

            – 1 TBSP margarine

            – 2 tsp cinnamon

  1. Heat 3 cups of milk to boiling point.
  2. Mix remaining milk, flour, sugar, extracts, salt and egg yolks together and add to hot milk.
  3. Cook until very thick and remove from stove.
  4. Whisk egg whites to stiff peak stage and add to milk mixture after it has been off the stove for 5 minutes.
  5. Stir in margarine and pour mixture into ready-made pie shells.
  6. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
  7. Refrigerate to cool and set.

This might not look very good, but the taste was amazing!!

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