Butternut and Pear Bredie

Butternut and Pear Bredie
Ingredients
◾2 large onions, chopped
◾250 ml stock
◾4 whole cloves
◾3 whole allspice berries
◾90 ml butter
◾1 kg lamb OR mutton
◾4 cloves garlic, crushed
◾4 sticks cinnamon
◾5 cm piece root ginger, crushed
◾2 kg butternut squash, peeled and cubed
◾1 kg dried pears
◾salt to taste
◾freshly ground black pepper
◾30 ml brown sugar
Method
1.Place onions, stock, cloves and allspice in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer until all the stock has been absorbed
2.Add 45 ml butter and sauté until onions are golden
3.Add mutton, garlic, ginger and cinnamon and braise over medium heat until meat has a rich brown colour and is almost done
4.Add butternut pieces, stir, making sure that the meat and butternut are well mixed
5.Close the saucepan with a close fitting lid and allow bredie to simmer until the butternut is soft
6.Add dried pears and simmer for 5 minutes
7.Add the brown sugar, rest of butter and season to taste
8.Serve with freshly cooked rice.
Tips
1.To concentrate flavours use mutton with a fair amount of fat and bone, 2 cm cubed mutton rib is the best meat to use.
2.Never boil meat in stock or water, this tends to dry out and toughen the meat.
3.Don’t add liquid. The juices from the vegetables will make a thick gravy.
4.Keep the cooking temperature constant, use a medium heat setting, allowing the bredie to simmer gently for a few hours to allow flavours to combine.
5.The flavour will improve if the bredie is made a day or two in advance.