Real Oxtail Stew

La TERRINE À L’ANCIENNE OLD-FASHIONED OXTAIL STEW

Many people snub their noses at Oxtail, but it truly is a wonderful tasting cut of meat. Oxtail is an all-time winter classic, but just as good on a stormy day when you need some comfort food. There are many ways to prepare this delicious dish, one being in a pressure cooker and the results are pretty good, but to really get a punch of beefy flavor, you need to take your time! I set about preparing it in a very traditional way and I have to say it is the best oxtail stew I have ever had.

The Best Oxtail Stew you’ll ever have!

I always look for a meaty oxtail that isn’t too fatty, but if the beef is too, lean you might loose on flavor. Yes this recipe takes time, but its worth it! So best you make a lot of it because, take my word for it, there is never enough of it. Making it this way leaves you with a rich, dark full profile gravy that one simply can not get with a pressure cooker. Do yourself a favor, even if its just once in your long life, and taste what oxtail should really be like.

To Serve: 8 Preparation time: 60min Cooking time: 5 hours

INGREDIENTS:
2 Large Oxtails
salt and pepper
2 carrots, quartered
4 large onions halved
1 bouquet garni – parsley, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf.
125g butter
2 tots brandy
3 gloves of garlic, roughly chopped and crushed.
75g flour
1.5 liters red wine (go for the good stuff its worth it)
0.5 liter beef stock
1 kg brown mushrooms (Portobello is best)
500 g Bacon cut into lardons
flour and water paste

METHOD:

Preheat your oven at 170 ºC. Season the oxtail with salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, sauté them with the carrots, the onions and the bouquet garni in 60 g of butter until they are a good brown colour. Moisten with the brandy and flambé. When the flames die, add the garlic and flower and mix well. Pour in the wine and the beef stock and mix again. Bring to the boil. Transfer to a casserole and place in the oven for 2 hours.

After 2 hours strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into a bowl and set aside. Discard the vegetables and return the oxtail pieces to the casserole. In a separate sauce pan gently sauté the mushrooms in the remaining butter with the bacon. Add to the casserole with the oxtail pieces.

Skim off any fat that has risen to the top of the strained cooking liquid, transfer to a pan and reduce till halve the quantity – the consistency of a light bodied sauce. When the sauce is ready, pour it over the oxtail pieces and bring to a boil on the stove. Once boiling, seal lid with a flour and water paste – mix a cup of flour and some water with a teaspoon of oil, make paste into a ribbon and dress along the rim of the lid, press the lid onto the pot (after cooking run a thin blade along the lid to break the seal)

Place the casserole in a moderate oven 150 ºC for 3 hours to finish cooking. Serve with your favorite starch, I like samp, but pearl barley is also great.

You can add butterbeans or other vegies with a final 10 min in the oven uncovered if you like

I sometimes make a gremolata with orange zest for at the table – Delicious!

Enjoy!

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