Culinary Disasters

This piece of meat is exactly what it sounds like the tail.  Don’t be alarmed, don’t freak out, and definitely don’t worry it taste like beef.  The nice thing is the oxtail is a relatively inexpensive piece of meat that when braised or cooked in a soup has amazing flavor. 

I usually would have done it with some red wine but I am still on a Guinness kick.  Feel free to swap the Guinness with your favorite red wine or favorite beer.  

A lot of the tail is bone so I like to plan on 2 lbs a person.  I also like to cook the meat till the meat falls off the bone and then shred it before serving it.  This also makes it easier on the other people eating not having to deal with the bone. 

For this recipe you will need:

• 4 lbs of beef oxtails or 1 tail cut into 2 inch sections
• 1 bottle of Guinness
• 1-3 cups of beef stock
• 1 onion medium dice
• 1 stalk of celery medium dice
• 1 carrot medium dice
• 3 cloves of garlic sliced thinly
• 2 TB of tomato paste
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• 1 TB of rosemary diced finely
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
• 2 TB of unsalted butter
• 2 TB of high temperature oil (I used canola)
• 2 TB of cornstarch dissolved in 2 TB of water

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. 

Salt and pepper the oxtail sections.  Dredge (fancy word for cover) the oxtails in all-purpose flour and shake off the excess.

In a large pan with a lid over medium-high add in the butter and the oil.  In batches of a couple pieces at a time add in the oxtails and brown all over (3-5 minutes a side).  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add in the onion, carrot, and celery with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook till softened (about 5 minutes). 

 

Add in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for another minute.

Add in the Guinness and boil till reduced by 1/3 (about 5 minutes).

Add in the rosemary, thyme, rosemary, crushed red pepper, bay leaves, and oxtails.  Add in enough stock to come about 1/2 of the way up the oxtails (I used about 1.5 cups).

Cover and place in the oven and cook till the meat pulls way from the bone (about 3 hours) and flipping the meat every hour.

Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.  Strain the liquid into a saucepan and discard the solids.

Place the sauce back over medium heat and whisk in the 2 TB of cornstarch dissolved in 2 TB of water to thicken up the sauce.  Bring to a boil and the sauce should coat the back of a spoon easily.  If the sauce is not thick enough then whisk in another TB of cornstarch dissolved in a TB of water.

Shred the meat off of the bone and serve with the sauce poured over top of it.  Since I had some sweet mashed potatoes left over I served the beef on top of that.

Tags: Offal, beef, All //