Unctuous oxtail, slow cooked and mouth-watering delicious
Unctuous oxtail with giant couscous, slow cooked and served with green vegetables. Inexpensive, packed full of flavour, simple.
PREP TIME: 5 mins
COOKING TIME: 2 hrs – 3 hrs hands-off, low and slow
DIFFICULTY: easy
IDEAL FOR: one-pot meal, family, crowd-pleaser
BUDGET: £
The best kept secret
It couldn’t be a simpler cut to make the most glorious tasting dish.
And the extra bonus to cooking with it, is everyone thinks you’re a magnificent, talented, home cook.
When actually, the oxtail did all the work.
But let’s keep that between us.
I’m still enjoying basking in the amazement of my ‘talent’ from my family.
If you want to know more about oxtail.
And why chefs are using it more (thus making it not the cheap cut it once was).
Then check out my post ‘slow-braised pit beans with oxtail’.
It’s a lovely recipe but also goes into what oxtail is, how to cook it and why it’s SO good.
Plus, also look up my latest tried and tested recipe, ‘oxtail soup with spaetzle’… stunning.
How to prepare oxtail
Reference: Spruce Eats
Oxtail with giant couscous
Ingredients
- 1 – 1.5 kg grass-fed oxtail
- 2 onions, diced
- 2 celery sticks, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 – 3 tbsp tomato paste or 1 x packet rich tomato soup
- 1 ltr beef stock
- green vegetables of your choice – frozen broad beans, fresh courgette, mange tout, etc)
- fresh mint, a handful for the stew + extra for garnish
Instructions
- In a casserole dish on the hob, brown the oxtail in a little of oil. Don't overcrowd so do in batches if you need to. Remove to a plate.
- Add the onion, celery and garlic and toss together in the hot casserole dish.Next, add the tomato paste and half the stock to the dish and cover. Simmer on top of the hob for 2 – 3 hours or until the meat falls from the bones. Be patient.
- Take the meat out of the sauce and when cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bones, discarding excess fat and bones.Allow the sauce to sit (this will allow the fat to rise to the top, so it can be skimmed off) while preparing vegetables.Skim any excess fat, then bring to a simmer and add the vegetables for 3 mins or until cooked.
- Return the meat to the casserole dish with a 1/2 a handful of chopped mint.Warm through and serve with a scattering of fresh mint,Notes:Note: You could do Step 1 – 3 (Brown, Simmer, Prepare) the day before and place in the fridge to let the flavours enhance. Then the next day, you simply re-heat and cook the greens and gnocchi to serve.