Connie’s notes
Oxtail may be bought skinless or skin-on. Skinless oxtail will cook in less time because the skin requires a long simmering time to soften. However, skin-on oxtail yields a richer stew. The skin turns gelatinous and acquires the mouth feel of beef tendon when sufficiently cooked. It’s up to you whether to use skin-on or skinless oxtail.
Ingredients
Oxtail
- 1 kilogram sliced oxtail (2.2 pounds)
- salt
- pepper
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ¼ cup olive oil
Stew
- 1 large onion peeled and chopped
- 6 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 cloves
- 2 bell peppers deseeded and diced
- 1 carrot peeled and diced
- ½ cup sliced leeks
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- 2 cups beef broth well seasoned
Optional
- 300 grams button mushrooms (10.5 oz) quartered
- 1 large onion peeled and diced
- parsley to garnish
Instructions
Brown the oxtail
- Rinse the oxtail and dry on a stack of paper towels.
- Sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper and flour.
- Heat the olive oil in a wide thick-bottomed pan and brown the oxtail on all sides.
- Scoop out the oxtail and move to a plate.
Make the stew base
- In the remaining oil, saute the onion, garlic, bay leaves and cloves. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen browned bits, until softened.
- Add the bell peppers, carrot and leeks, and cook, stirring occasionally, for two to three minutes.
- Pour in the wine.
- Add the diced tomatoes and broth.
- Stir and heat until bubbly.
Stew the oxtail
- Add the browned oxtail to the sauce and bring to the boil.
- Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer the oxtail until tender, about four hours. Add more broth, half a cup at a time, if the liquid dries out during cooking.
- The stew can be served when the oxtail is tender. But, if you want to add better texture and extra flavor, do the following.
Finishing touches
- Separate the oxtail from the sauce.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce with the vegetables to make a smooth gravy.
- Pour the sauce into a clean pan, add the oxtail, mushrooms and onion, and simmer for fifteen minutes or so until the mushrooms are cooked through.
- Give the stew a taste and add more salt if needed (not likely if you used well seasoned beef broth) before serving.
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