Oxtails, properly braised, are one of the most succulent cuts of beef you can have. The name itself may steer many people away from them but believe when I tell you, next time you get ready to use your oven, it should be for this.
The braising method, where a piece of protein, generally tough cuts of meat, is submerged in some sort of savory liquid and subjected to heat from the oven for an extended period of time, allows for the connective tissue found in tough cuts to slowly dissolve rendering the meat “well done” but extremely succulent. Not all cuts benefit from braising of course. A very lean cut, that would generally benefit from a high temperature sear, would probably end up dry and unpalatable.
This is a very straightforward and easy recipe where an otherwise tough cut (oxtails) is turned into a delicious feast worthy of any king.
Ingredients:
3-4 lbs oxtails (you can find them in the freezer section of your local supermarket’s meat department, or ask your butcher to pack them for you)
1 large white onion
2 large carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 lb diced portobellos
or
1/2 lb diced portobello and
1/2 lb cremini mushrooms
or
1 lb creminis mushrooms
1 bottle of Barolo red wine
375 ml (12 fl oz) beef demi glace (you can make your own which is recommended, or actually buy it frozen in the freezer section of most supermarkets)
Salt and freshly crushed black pepper
Vegetable oil
Special equipment:
6 qt dutch oven or cast iron cocotte with lid
large heavy-bottomed or clad frypan
Directions
As in any braise you make, start with the vegetables. Heat the dutch oven over medium heat, add a little oil and add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Sweat for about five minutes or until soft. Add the celery and continue to sweat for another 5 mintutes and then add the carrots and the mushrooms, and again continue to sweat stirring constantly to avoid burning. The mushroom will shed quite some liquid. Continue to cook this way until the liquid has almost all evaporated.
Add 187.5ml (6 fl oz) of the beef demi glace and cover, still over medium heat checking frequently until almost completely reduced and the vegetables look nicely glazed.
Meanwhile, season the oxtails heavily with salt and pepper and when the oil in the skillet or frying pan seems to shimmer, test the temperature by adding one of the oxtail pieces on one of its faces. It should sizzle. Add the rest of the first half and avoid moving them for about 2-3 minutes. They must show little resistance when trying to move them to turn them. This will guarantee you end up with a well browned layer of meat. And this is where the flavor is. Here you can see half of them flipped over and the rest with their natural color.
When they are done, pull take them out of the oven. Pull the meat while still hot using tongs to avoid burning your hands. Separate whatever mushroom you can from the rest of the vegetables and reserve, as well as the leftover bones from the meat.
Add the bones to the vegetables, cover in water and bring to a boil. Reduce by a third and strain. Add this liquid to the meat juice as well as the leftover and rescued mushrooms, and reserve. This will be your “gravy”.
Up until this point you have a tender and succulent meat you could eat “as is” or use in a myriad of ways: smother it with the “gravy” and serve on its own with some potatoes, or with some shrimp or lobster for a decadent “surf and turf”. Sandwiches or tacos of this are amazing. On this occasion I cooked braised oxtails I used the meat to stuff a Tenderloin Roast along with some caramelized chanterelles. You can read more about that here.
Enjoy.
