Slow Cooked Oxtail Stew
Some Love it and some hate it but when cooked right Oxtail can make one of the best dishes you’ll ever have! Gone are the days that oxtail only came out of a packet for oxtail soup. God did I hate that stuff! But years on and appreciating this piece of meat that let me tell you is a delicacy in some countries, I’ve learnt how to make one of the nicest casseroles using the Oxtail.
Using simple ingredients, a nice bit of red wine, good beef stock and slow-cooked for 4-5 hours served with creamy mash you will have everyone licking their lips!!
It’s so easy to make and perfect for a busy you!
Ingredients
- 2kg oxtail, chopped into 4cm chunks (ask your butcher to do this)
- olive oil
- 110g bacon lardons
- 25g beef dripping or 2 tablespoons olive
- oil
- 1 large finely chopped onion
- 4-5 medium carrots, chopped roughly into 2/3cm cubes
- 4-5 stalks celery chopped celery
- 250g Mushrooms cleaned and sliced finely
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme
- a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 4 fresh bay leaves
- 4 cloves
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 1tablespoon flour
- 250ml red wine
- 600ml beef stock
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220ºC. Place a large roasting tray in the oven to preheat.
- Carefully remove the hot tray from the oven, then add the oxtail. Season and add olive oil, then toss to coat and place in the hot oven for around 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, on the stove heat the casserole dish and add the onions and lardons for 5 min on medium-low heat
- Add chopped celery and carrots over medium-low heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Roughly chop the thyme and rosemary leaves, then add to the dish with the bay and cook for around 20 minutes on low heat, or until soft and sweet, stirring frequently.
- Remove the oxtail from the oven and set it aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 160ºC
- Add the cloves and flour to the veg, stirring well to combine, then pour in the wine. Add the oxtail and any roasting juices, cover with the beef stock
- Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil, then pop the lid on and place in the hot oven for around 4 hours, or until the meat falls away from the bone, stirring every hour or so and adding a splash of water to loosen if needed.
- Meanwhile cook the sliced mushrooms in a hot frying pan in a little butter for 2-3 minutes. Stir into the oxtail stew with chopped parsley for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
- Remove the pan from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes.
- Remove bay leaves
- Using gloves, take out the meat and strip it from the bones, this happens very easily as it falls straight off the bones from the slow cooking.
- Return the meat to the pan, discarding the bones.
- Season to taste and enjoy with creamy mash and seasonal steamed greens.
Utterly delicious!!
