Oxtail Stew Served in Edible Bowls With Edible Spoons
Introduction: Oxtail Stew Served in Edible Bowls With Edible Spoons
Oxtail meat, as the name implies, is the tail of an ox (or a cow). It’s a wonderful cut of beef, flavoursome, reach in collagen and protein. When cooked properly, it will fall off the bone.
One problem with oxtail, for me at least, is that it’s incredibly fatty and I like to remove as much fat as possible. This fat removal process makes this recipe a little bit more elaborate, but it’s worth it in the end.
My grandmother always used to say that a recipe is merely a suggestion and doesn’t have to be followed step-by-step to turn out great. I highly recommend adapting this attitude, it makes things easier if you are missing one ingredient and don’t want to go shopping or if you have to substitute ingredients due to allergies. If you want to reduce the amount of veggies in the stew- go for it, if you want to use different veggies altogether-go for it too. I like to add a lot of veggies to my stew to create one-pot meal and not have to bother preparing any side dishes. I also like to dice my veggies and shred the meat instead of serving it on the bone. That way, you get a bit of everything with each spoonful.
As a bonus I added a recipe for edible bowls and spoons, bowls are made with hot water pastry, which is flaky and buttery, sturdy enough to hold the hot stew, but soft enough to nibble on.
Supplies
4-6 portions:
For slow cooked meat:
1. 2.5 lbs oxtail meat
2. few handfuls of flour for dusting
3. 2 T oil for frying
4. large onion
5. 2 carrots
6. 2/3-1 cup red wine
7. 3-4 bay leaves
8. small handful of dried mushrooms
9. 1 beef pot
10. 2 tsp dry rosemary (or few fresh stalks)
11. 2 tsp dry thyme (or few fresh stalks)
12. 1 tsp celery salt
13. 2 tbs salt
For the stew:
1. 1 lbs mushrooms, cut into quarters
2. 1 onion, diced
3. 863
2 garlic cloves, minced
4. 2 large carrots, diced
5. 2 large potatoes, diced
6. 2 medium courgettes,diced
7. 1 red pepper, diced
8. 1 can chopped tomatoes
9. 2 tbs concentrated tomato paste
10. 1/4-1/2 cup flour for thickening
Step 1:
1. Pat the meat with kitchen towels until dry
2. Coat each piece of oxtail in flour, all sides, top and bottom.
3. Fry for 2-3 min on each side, until each piece of meat is uniformly browned.
Step 2:
1. Peel and cut an onion into large pieces.
2. Either peel or scrub the carrots clean and cut into 1 inch pieces.
3. Once meat is fried, transfer it to a large, oven-safe pot and fry the onions in the pan, using the remaining fat for a few minutes.
4. Add the onions to the pot, pour the wine, add carrots, herbs, salt, mushrooms, bay leaves and a beef pot.
5. Add water to cover the meat (the water level should be about 1 inch above the meat).
6. Give it a stir to distribute everything evenly.
If you don't have a big enough pot to fit all meat pieces in one container, divide the ingredients and use two pots.
Cover the pot with a lid and put in a preheated oven. Cook at 300F for minimum 3 hours.
Mine took 4.5 hours to cook. The rule of thumb is to cook it for at least 3 hours and then check every hour if it's soft enough. Properly cooked meat will be tender, not chewy at all and will fall apart easily. It can take as little as 3 hours, or as long as 6 hours before it's ready.
Step 3:
Once meat is cooked, remove it from the pot and transfer to a plate. Let it cool down before picking the meat from the bones. Use your hands to do it, there are coin-size pieces of cartilage that have to be removed and it's best to do it by hand.
While the meat is cooling, you have to strain the liquid and skim the fat. I like to do it by pouring the broth through a set of sieves. First sieve removes large chunks of vegetables and most of the herbs. 280