A pain in the neck...

I have become intimately acquainted with pain over the last 3 months.
What started as a pulled muscle in my shoulder (or so I thought) in Italy when I leaned over the back of the left-hand drive car seat to pick up the back pack has turned into a full-blown pain in the neck. Literally.

Obviously this is not mine. Thank you Edvard Munch. 


There's not much you can do about a pulled muscle except rest it (or so my logic went) and so I did exactly that.
9 weeks later the pain was worse, not better, and Walter put his foot down "Off you go to the rooms, it's time for a doctor to sort you out"
And so I went. I had avoided it because the thought of all the schlepping involved in investigating it froze my brain. Who has the time?

Nothing beats oxtail in the depths of winter

It's the howling wind that sets me to thinking about a luscious, thick oxtail.

Image courtesy of Wicked Cooking School and their recipe looks good too


It has taken me many years of searching to find an oxtail recipe that works for me, and although this one takes 10-12 hours of cooking, the preparation is quick and simple.Ideally you would want to put it on the night before it's due and then wake to that delicious aroma...

I found this recipe on the cookbook.co.za website, and I've provided the link for those who would like to see the original (mine has a few additions, I've marked them with an asterisk). The recipe feeds 4

Slow cooker oxtail stew

Ingredients
4 medium onions, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, roughly chopped*
1 large green chilli, chopped (seeded if you don't want too much heat)*
1 whole oxtail in chunks
2 bay leaves*
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp each of salt, pepper and paprika
125ml Coca Cola
125ml red wine
2 cubes of beef stock
1 packet dry brown onion soup
1 litre water

In a large pot on medium to high heat add the oil and onions. Stir every so often until the onions begin to brown on the edges. Brown the oxtail, a few pieces at a time.Add the chopped garlic and chilli
Add in the salt, pepper and paprika and stir
Add the bay leaves and the wine and coca cola, stir and then leave it to simmer for 5 minutes

Transfer everything to the slow cooker, crumble the beef stock cubes on top and add the packet of brown onion soup (scattered around on top). Add the water (and stir, or things go lumpy) put on the lid and cook for 10-12 hours. On the highveld I've found 11 hours works fine.Serve with your choice of vegetables and mashed potatoes and enjoy...

The masterpiece

Contrary to my family's belief I am not a chef, but I do find recreational cooking quite relaxing. Having watched practically every cooking programme aired (from Cooking with Wooty as a child to the Masterchef series) I like to think of myself as an enthusiastic cook.
But I really can't bake. The combination of a lying oven (temperature-wise) and a somewhat lackadaisical approach to details (looks like about 250g) dooms any baking efforts before I start.
Except for the glorious baked cheesecake.I Googled a recipe while shopping a few weeks back and bought all the ingredients while I was in the store.
Once home, however, I decided the pastry was far too difficult to attempt and fell back on my old favourite of crushed Tennis biscuits mixed with butter for the base. Worked a charm.

It doesn't look anything like the picture with the recipe, but it tasted wonderful and seems idiot-proof.