Green & Gold

Brighten up the flavours on your plate with a generous splash of fresh lemon juice. Add a sprinkling of herbs and you can practically taste spring in the air!

- Johané Neilson

WATERBLOMMETJIE STEW

Dam delicious

Waterblommetjie season in the Boland runs from June to September. Your best bet is camping near a dam where you can buy them fresh, but even frozen, they're fit for royalty especially with loads of lemon juice and fresh parsley.

Ingredients

(serves 6)

• 1,5 kg fatty lamb - neck and rib work well

• ¼ cup flour

• ¼ cup olive oil

• 2 onions, finely chopped

• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

• 3 bay leaves

• 3 cloves

• 1 tsp each ground coriander and nutmeg

• ½ cup dry white wine

• 1½ cups hot beef stock

• 12 baby potatoes, peeled (or use 4 large peeled potatoes, cut into chunks)

• 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into rings

• 1,5 kg waterblommetjies, well rinsed

• Juice of 1-2 lemons

• A handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

Here's how

1 Roll the meat in the flour and season well with salt and pepper. Brown the meat in the olive oil, then remove from the pot.

2 Sauté the onion in the same pot until glossy. Stir in the garlic, bay leaves and the rest of the spices. Return the meat to the pot, add the wine and stock, and let it simmer gently for about an hour, or until the meat starts to soften.

3 Add the potatoes and carrots, make sure everything's covered in liquid, and cook for another 40 minutes - a hard potato in a potjie is a sin...

4 Once the meat and potatoes look tender, add the waterblommetjies on top - break them into smaller pieces if needed. Pop the lid on and let everything simmer together for another 30-40 minutes, just until the waterblommetjies are tender.

5