Best Ever Green Bean Bredie or Stew, Mutton or Lamb, Best you will get! Better it does NOT get!

Best Ever Green Bean Bredie or Stew, Mutton or Lamb, Best you will get!

Just wait until you try this! You will think that you’ve died and gone to heaven!

Bredie is an old Cape name for a dish of meat and vegetables stewed together so that the flavors intermingle. The potatoes help thicken the gravy. The meat is mostly always mutton or lamb, but mutton is ideal for bredies, as the long, slow simmering tenderizes it and brings out the full-blown flavor. Recipes for bredies have been passed down through the ages and have changed very little over the years. – Serve with fluffy white steamed rice. This is one of my Top favorite bredies – that I promise!

Servings: 6

Notes:

Meat cuts you may use are Mutton or lamb knuckles, best end leg chops or chump chops, ribs, or neck.

To avoid cooking oils and GMO’s. You may omit the oil and replace with chicken schmaltz or whatever you prefer. Stock or soup powder (optional) may be replaced with your own natural gelatinized chicken stock.

Lovely fat addition to add is sheep tail fat if you can get one.

You may add a very large potato right at the beginning just after sauteing your onions and by the time your stew is cooked the potato would’ve disintegrated – natural thickening of your stew, which will then not require flour for thickening.

I have a rule of thumb and always use equal weights in potatoes to meat and the same for green beans when it comes to stews and bredies.

I usually steam my potatoes in a microwave-sealed container and add them right toward the end save for the 1 potato mentioned above which gets added at the beginning.

Do NOT add any salt or acid or lemon juice until your potatoes and beans have softened to your liking or they will remain hard and not soften.

Mutton is preferable to lamb as it has more flavor and is less inclined to fall apart and become stringy during the long slow cooking process.

Use a very low and gently simmer and remember the faster you cook the meat the more shrinkage you will have with less flavor.

Cooking times for lamb: 2 – 2.30 hours

Cooking times for mutton: 5 hours

If using the wine you may heat and dissolve your stock or bouillon cubes in it.

If pressure cooking lamb – Pressure cook 30 minutes on 1st simmer ring (low pressure).

Red wine is best for color, but you may use a dry white, but the color won’t be as rich.

Ingredients:

1 kg Mutton or lamb best end leg or chump chops

25 ml fat – OR – (sheep's tail fat/chicken schmaltz / 1/2 butter or oil)

2 very large onions (3 medium), chopped

250 ml chicken stock – homemade or made up with bouillon/stock cubes

125 ml of dry red wine

1 kg fresh green beans, stems removed and chopped

4 bay leaves, crushed, torn or crumbled

5 ml curry powder (Rajah Medium)

3 medium cloves of garlic, crushed

Pinch cayenne pepper – just a light sprinkle

6 potatoes

5 ml salt, to taste

Sprinkling rosemary – a light sprinkling to taste

Sprinkling thyme – a light sprinkling to taste

Sprinkling black pepper, freshly ground – a light sprinkling to taste

Squeeze lemon juice to taste if you feel it’s needed

To Serve: 100 g rice per person

Method:

Add meat and fat to the saucepan together with 1 cup water and simmer gently to release the meats natural fats. Top up with just a little water from time to time, so it doesn’t dry out (no more than 125 ml per time) only as needed.

Once meat fats are released – gently brown meat in its own fats.

Roughly chop your onions into your food processor bowl with metal blade on and chop.

Add chopped onions to meat in a saucepan and gently saute and brown.

Add chicken stock or homemade chicken stock, if homemade, continue gently browning a further 3 – 5 minutes.

Add wine followed by the balance of ingredient excluding lemon juice.

Continue simmering until meat is halfway done and then add the potatoes OR you may pre-steam them and add them as soon as the pot is almost done.

When the stew is ready you may add a squeeze lemon juice to taste if needed.

Serve and enjoy!