Oxtail

Recipe for: OXTAIL

Ingredients:

• One Ox tail, jointed
• Flour & seasoning for coating
• One onion, very finely chopped
• One carrot, peeled & very finely chopped
• One stick celery, washed & very finely chopped
• 1 pt hot beef stock
• Sunflower oil for frying

 Method:

1. roll the oxtail pieces in seasoned flour on a plate
2. heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish, and fry the floured oxtail pieces, probably in two batches
3. remove the oxtail from the pan & keep warm
4. add a little more oil to the pan if needed, and add the onion, carrot & celery
5. fry for 5-10 minutes, until beginning to soften
6. add the seasoned flour from the plate you used to coat the oxtail pieces
7. fry for a few minutes to cook the flour, then add the beef stock
8. bring back to the boil, scraping the pan to loosen any bits from frying the oxtail
9. lower the heat to a simmer, then add the oxtail pieces back to pan, pushing them down & in among the vegetables
10. the liquid should almost cover the oxtail pieces, so add a little water if it looks too low
11. transfer the casserole, with a tightly-fitted lid, to a very low oven 120C/ fan 105C and cook for 4-5 hours.  Check after 30 minutes to see if the liquid is bubbling too hard – you want the lowest oven temperature possible that will just make the liquid simmer
12. check every hour or so that the oxtail is cooking slowly & doesn’t need any more water
13. it’s cooked only when the fat on the oxtail pieces starts to render down, and the meat can be pulled away from the bones very easily.  It should be incredibly tender.
14. Pour off the layer of fat which will have gathered on the surface, then serve

What else you need to know:

1. if the meat doesn’t come away from the bones easily it’s not done
2. if there is anything left, the liquor can be used as a soup next day, together with any pieces of meat taken from the bones – chill overnight in the fridge, then spoon off any solidified fat, add a little water – and away you go.
3. you can also take out a few spoonfuls of the vegetable liquor, blitz it with a blender, then return to the pan.  This makes a thick, meaty, warming soup/ broth.