An Adventure of a Life Time and Puff Adder

Part Deux from my post last week, when Mcgyver and I embarked on An Adventure of a Life Time.  After finishing our time at Camp Wag ‘n Bietje, Frikkie loaded us and our gear up, I was comfortable smashed in the “extended” part of his small pick-up.  In retrospect I probably should have just rode around in the back of the pick up, there was certainly more leg room.  But what is an adventure if there isn’t a few uncomfortable moments.

This time we were headed to Thabo Mohathla, located in a town called Campbell, somewhere near Bloemfontein.  The plan was to get a black, copper and white springbok.  If you recall from my other post, a springbok is a type of antelope.  Frikkie said that this area was the best for springbok, “O.K. Frikkie, you are the professional, we trust you”.

We pulled up to Thabo Mohathla, I disengaged myself from the back seat (trust me, it’s not a pretty site to see a middle-aged fat woman try to work herself out of a tight spot).  Once I was safely out, I was able to get a good look at Thabo.  It had a very different feel than Wag ‘n Bietje.  Thabo was more of a farmhouse, less lodge-y and more homey.

We started by meeting Bernadette, she ran the household while her husband, Philip was doing his professional hunter thing.  They have two lovely girls, Ananadia, age 5, with an endless supply of questions and Megan, age 2, a chatter box when given the chance (unfortunately she speaks mostly Afrikaans so we didn’t understand her most of the time).

We were shown our room, had lunch and out on the hunt again, that is why we came.  We hunted a couple of days and McGyver got everything he had come for.  Not only that, our PH talked me into hunting the last springbok.  I ribbed a bit because I was wearing pink, and I crawled like a girl (avoiding all the poop piles and stickers).  In the end I shot my first animal ever at 208 yards, a nearly perfect shot.  Philip said that the springbok I shot, stopped and rubbed it’s eyes and thought “is that a pink springbok?”.  That’s why I had my chance to get it.

Mandatory picture time:

While we were out, we almost got stuck… On another night we actually did get stuck, but it was too dark to take pictures.

Ananadia thought she’d help clean the side view mirror.  Note that she has already wiped the mud once and put here finger right back in mouth, got to to clean the dirt off somehow?  As my mother always said “God made dirt so dirt don’t hurt”.  The fact that I’ve survived is proof of that.

Since we were able to get the hunt done with a day early, Frikkie offered to make us Puff Adder.  Puff Adder is a common venomous snake found in Africa.  Frikkie was not intending on feeding us venomous snake, rather it is a a liver and kidney stuffed colon that is grilled and ends up looking like it’s name sake.

 (source)

It all starts with the prep the day before, the colon has to cleaned, cleaned very, very well.  Say thank you Rhonda for not sharing the pictures.  The day of, the meat and colon were prepped by Frikkie.

After the liver and kidney were cleaned and chopped, Frikkie soaked them again while we went out and did some photos from a blind.   When we got back Frikkie was ready to cook the stuffing.  Frikkie did say that he doesn’t always cook the stuffing first, it depends on the thickness of the colon.  Since ours was from a small springbok that McGyver got, he knew that it would cook fast on the braai.

A taste to be sure it was just right.

I wasn’t sure if I would like Liver and Kidney together.  I like liver, fried in bacon grease with onions or as a pate.  Kidneys, well, I wasn’t quite sure about that.  I had steak and kidney pie and enjoyed it, but it tasted mostly like meat gravy and pastry.

The flavors were really complex, the vinegar cut the pastiness of the liver, and the chutney and a hint of sweetness, giving an overall sweet and sour flavor.  The brown gravy brought it all together.  After we determined that the stuffing was perfect, it was left to cool and we toddled off to our rooms for a nap.  A wonderful, glorious nap.   I slept and dreamed of snakes stuffed with liver and kidneys, basting and roasting themselves in the sun for my dinner.

After a refreshing nap by all (even though Frikkie swore he wasn’t tired, he just wanted to “rest” his eyes, Frikkie was ready to stuff our Puff Adder.

We went out to the lapa, an outdoor entertainment area where we had our braai and drinks.

Frikkie grilled our Puff Adder and Philip cooked the back strap of the copper springbok.

The meal ended the next chapter in our adventure.  Like the rest of our time there, it was not just about the hunting but the hospitality, we couldn’t have felt more welcome.

I have one more post in the works, I am trying to recreate Verity’s Oepsies and I’ll share The Big Hole and Koffiefontein.

Puff Adder by Frikkie

2016-06-13 14:43:04

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Ingredients

1. Fresh liver from a small animal like deer or antelope
2. Fresh Kidneys from a small animal like deer or antelope
3. Milk
4. 1 colon from a small animal like a deer or antelope, well cleaned
5. 2 tbsp. olive oil
6. 1 small onion, sliced
7. 1/2 tsp. crushed garlic
8. 1 to 2 tbsp. Dark vinegar (like malt or balsamic)
9. 2 tbsp. Chutney
10. 1/4 pkg.  brown gravy mix or more if needed
11. Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Begin by soaking the liver and kidneys in water for at least one hour.  Drain the liver and kidneys, peel off the outer skin of the kidneys and remove any veins or tenuous tissue on the liver and kidneys.  Chop and then soak for another hour in milk (this helps remove some of the gamey flavor).
2. After the hours up, drain the liver and kidneys well.  Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add the sliced onions and sauté until the onions are tender and translucent.  Stir in the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.  Add the drained chopped liver and kidneys, cook thoroughly.
3. Add the vinegar, chutney and salt and pepper.  Sprinkle the brown gravy mix on top, beginning with a 1/4 package.  Stir and cook for 1 minute, add more gravy mix to thicken as necessary (the meat mixture should be slightly thicker then gravy).
4. Let cool completely before stuffing colon.  Tie or make a knot at one end of the colon, using a spoon, carefully stuff the colon.  Use your hands to work the filling down.  Once the colon is stuffed, tie or knot the other end.  Grill or braai over a medium  to medium low heat, until browned evenly outside and heated all the way through, about 30 minutes.

Notes

1. (note, I did my best to guess the amounts used, they are all approximate)

The Kitchen Witch https://www.thekitchenwitchblog.com/