Grass Fed Farm Assured Oxtails

Braised Oxtail recipe

Ingredients

1 oxtail, cut into 4 sections;
1/2 cup chopped carrots;
1/2 cup diced onions;
1/2 cup chopped celery;
1/2 cup chopped leeks;
4 tbsp tallow, lard or butter;
1 lb tomatoes;
8 sprigs fresh thyme;
2 bay leaves;
4 crushed garlic cloves;
1 cup red wine (you can omit the wine if you want to);
4 1/2 cups chicken or beef stock.

Ingredients for the vegetable garnish

1 finely diced carrot;
1 finely diced onion;
2 finely diced celery stalks;
1/2 leek, finely diced;
4 small tomatoes, finely diced;
2 tbsp chopped parsley.

Instructions

- Preheat your oven to 180 C.

- Heat the lard or butter in a pan and brown the oxtail pieces on each side.

- Remove the oxtail and brown the vegetables for the main braising liquid (carrots, celery, onions and leeks). Make sure you stir and scrape off any meat residue in the bottom of the pan.

- Add the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves and garlic and cooked for a couple of minutes.

- Put the oxtail and browned vegetables in an ovenproof casserole and add the wine, if using.

- Boil the wine at high heat until almost evaporated and add enough stock to cover the oxtail entirely.

- Bring the whole preparation to a simmer then cover and put in the oven to braise for about 1.5 hours to 2 hours.

- At this point, most chefs will strain the liquid to remove the small pieces of cooked and mushy vegetables so it looks better. I personally like to leave them in, but it’s up to you. You should definitely remove the bay leaves though. Even cooking for several hours will not soften a bay leaf. We remove them because the edges can be sharp and can scratch your throat, stomach or intestines if inadvertently swallowed.

- Blanch the garnishing vegetables other than the tomatoes in boiling water for about 4 minutes.

- Put the blanched vegetables in the oxtail preparation and simmer for about 2 minutes.