Thread: Braised Oxtail.

Here's a recipe for braised oxtail i found in The Times newspaper. It really is superb guys. Goes great with mashed potatoes and a nice bottle of red wine. The secret with this is to cook it until the meat begins to fall off the bone and to let it cool overnight in the refrigerator. Make sure you skim the fat before reheating it.
Enjoy
Joe

You want chunky rounds of tail with a high proportion of lean. Don’t let the butcher palm you off with the small bits that look like dismembered fingers; it’s a lot of weight for not much meaty reward. You can eat this straight away, but, like all braises, it benefits from reheating. Mashed spuds is the thing to sop up the rich juices.

Serves 4
8 chunky rounds of oxtail
2 tbsp plain flour
Salt and pepper
50ml olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 big carrots, finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
4 plump cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
3-4 sprigs of thyme
1 bushy sprig of rosemary
2 large bay leaves (or 3 small ones)
1 whole star anise
1 tbsp tomato purée
500ml red wine
Juice of 1 orange, plus a strip of the peel

Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas Mark 3. Cut off the larger bits of hard white fat from the oxtail. Put the flour in a polythene bag (one without holes in the bottom) with generous amounts of salt and pepper. Throw in the oxtail rounds and shake until they are all dusted with flour.

Heat the oil in a casserole large enough to hold all the meat and vegetables.

Brown the meat in two batches – about 6-8 minutes for each one. Remove from the casserole and keep to one side.

Add the vegetables, herbs and star anise. Sweat over a gentle heat for about 5 minutes until starting to soften, then stir in the tomato purée. Add the browned meat (plus any accumulated juices), wine and orange juice and peel, then season well.

If the meat isn’t totally covered by liquid, place a crumpled sheet of greaseproof paper on top. Bring to a bubble, cover, then place in the oven.

Cook for about 3 hours, stirring halfway through. Depending on the oxtail, it may be ready half an hour earlier or later. Prod it – you want the fat to be soft and gelatinous and the flesh falling off the bones. Check the seasoning and spoon off as much of the fat as you can.

Nice! Thanks for posting it up.

Try it Ben. It is definitely worth it. You need a good sharp knife to remove the hard white fat on the oxtail. Don't use your razors haha

Joe

One of the great meals of my childhood.

Pictures would be awesome. Love me some oxtail.

Sounds great! I do something similar with short ribs when I want to make a really good 2-day stew. Coat a couple pounds of them in tomato paste and aromatics, wrap in aluminum foil and bake at about 250F until they fall off the bone, refrigerate overnight then pop out the bones and use the meat in a standard stew the next day. Most tender stew you can ever ask for.

I have been braising oxtails in a very similar fashion for the last 20 or so years. You just cannot beat the lip smakin goodness of braised oxtails.

Thanks for the post.

Originally Posted by IsaacRN

Pictures would be awesome. Love me some oxtail.

The next time i do it Issac i will post up the pics.

Joe

Oxtail is also the best for making beef stock, especially if you brown it on a hardwood fired grill first.
As CSUDVM alluded to, try substituting beef short ribs for the oxtail and follow the same (or similar) recipe.

Originally Posted by csudvm2003

Sounds great! I do something similar with short ribs when I want to make a really good 2-day stew. Coat a couple pounds of them in tomato paste and aromatics, wrap in aluminum foil and bake at about 250F until they fall off the bone, refrigerate overnight then pop out the bones and use the meat in a standard stew the next day. Most tender stew you can ever ask for.

I do like ribs! What type of herbs/spices do you use as aromatics?

Joe