Oxtail stew à la Sami via Jennie
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Having never cooked oxtail before I jumped at the opportunity when my friend Jennie shared a recipe for oxtail stew on Facebook.
Cooked it, ate it, posted a photo of it which made my friend Sami first comment on how he cooked something similar the other day and then immediately after realising it was actually his recipe!
So credit to the right person, this is Oxtail Stew à la Sami (via Jennie).
While this dish made my flat smell absolutely lovely all Sunday, and I loved how the vegetables and sauce came out, the sherry wasn't all that to my taste. Either I need to find a different sherry (a sweeter one perhaps) or simply use red wine next time.
Will also consider adding five cloves of chopped garlic next time.
Ingredients (feeds 4 easily)
1kg oxtail
150g cubed pancetta
1 medium onion, finely chopped, and
8 shallots, peeled so they remain whole when cooked (i.e. don't cut all the stem off the bottom, just make sure the hard bit with the roots is cut away).
1 pint medium sweet sherry
2 celery sticks, diced
1 carrot, diced
button or chestnut mushrooms
1 tbsp tomato purée
olive oil
1/2 tsp allspice powder
1 tsp smoked paprika (La Chinata)
flour
salt & pepper
bay leaves
herbes de provence
MethodThis recipe requires first frying on the cooker, and then finishing it off in the oven so make sure you have a large pot with a lid that can go in the oven (ie no plastic handles). Or use a slow cooker if you have one.
I did all of the frying described below in the same big stewing pot, in order to retain the dark deposits that are forming while frying. They add so much flavour to the dish. You can of course fry the meat and onion in a separate frying pan and just transfer it to a big stewing pot as you go along.
Order in chaos
Originally uploaded by Manne. Anyway, let's get started. Set your oven to 140 degrees Celsius.
First coat the oxtail in seasoned flour, then thoroughly brown it all over in the oil. Remove from pan and set aside. Then cook the pancetta until it's verging on crispy, set aside.
Pour off some of the oil if necessary but try to retain the dark brown deposits that came off the floured meat as they add flavour to the sauce. Then sweat the chopped onion until it starts to brown and caramelise - but don't let it burn.
You can facilitate this process with a tiny slug of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt.
Once the onion is beginning to caramelise, add the celery and carrot and sweat them until the celery is soft and translucent.
Add a teaspoon of the smoked paprika, about half a teaspoon of allspice and a generous pinch of herbes de provence and the tomato puree. Stir around so the flavours are released.
Put the pancetta and the shallots in the pot, then place the oxtail chunks on top and pour the sherry over the whole lot. It is ok if the oxtail sticks up a bit.
Cover up and leave in the oven for around six hours, or until the meat starts to pull away from the bones. You want it so it's falling off, but not fallen off.
Four hours in, two to go...
Originally uploaded by Manne. Keep an eye on the pot every now and then and shift the oxtail chunks around a bit to make sure they get their fair share of sherry treatment. If the liquid is reducing too much top it up with a bit of boiling water.
Optional: Once done, remove the oxtail bits from the pot and set aside again, then either continue to cook the sauce on 'high' with the lid off for a couple of hours or transfer to a saucepan and reduce until it's nice and thick. (I didn't feel this part was necessary, the sauce came out perfectly as it was.)
I added another half-teaspoon of smoked paprika to add a bit of extra savoury. I also found I needed to add about half a teaspoon of brown sugar to 'balance' the sauce, if I'd used sweet sherry I wouldn't have needed to, but I don't like sweet sherry to drink so I used medium instead.
Serve with a crusty bread, or with some steamed broccoli if you are low-carbing. I steamed the broccoli and then finished it off in the oven with a bunch of
grated Comte cheese on top and a sprinkling of crushed black pepper. Delicious.
When served on the plate you should just have chunks of oxtail and a couple of whole shallots with a bit of sauce spooned over the top, not floating around in it like the classic British oxtail stew style.
A sprinkling of finely chopped parsley or a
gremolata over the top adds a professional touch. The sweet oaky taste of the sherry and the smoky taste from the smoked paprika and pancetta should play off beautifully with the beef.
