Any recipe or blog post about oxtail must start with the obligatory observation – it used to be cheap and now it’s not. True dat. Keep your eyes peeled and find it in Costco or talk to your butcher about a bulk purchase. And no, oxtail does not need to come from an actual beast of burden type ox – like this one on the left. They come from ordinary beef cattle (on the right) – almost all cattle breeds have tails and the tails now have more value.

My oxtail stew recipe is not a ‘one pot slow cooker set and forget’. It’s more of a Julia Child ‘cook things separately and combine towards the end’. I think the depth of flavour and the taste and texture are worth the extra work.

Three major processes for this recipe: slow cook the meat, roast the root vegetables separately then strain the cooking liquid AND make rich gravy. Combine the elements at the end.

I’ve simplified my recipe by not browning (never brown meat you’re going to stew) and I’ve explained several alternatives at the end of the instructions if you’re pressed for time. Ways to save time: don’t pick the meat off the bones (make people work for their food), cook the root vegetables in the sauce and don’t thicken the gravy. It will still taste good. Further explanation at the end.

Let’s cook.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg (3 lbs) oxtails with separated joints
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 25 grams of beef dripping (beef fat adds flavour) or butter
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for roasting the vegetables
• 1 medium onion or 2 large shallots, rough chopped
• 25 mls brandy (optional)
• 1 large carrot, rough chopped
• 1 celery rib, rough chopped
• 3 whole cloves garlic (I omit this – Davinator allergy)
• 1 bay leaf
• Pinch thyme
• 500 ml (2 cups) beef stock 
• 500 ml (2 cups)  red wine
  For roast vegetables
• 2 carrots (150 grams approx) cut into cubes no bigger than 2 cms
• 2 parsnips (150 grams approx) cut into cubes no bigger than 2 cms
• 2 turnips or rutabagas (150 grams approx) cut into cubes no bigger than 2 cms

Instructions

Slow cooking the oxtail

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (375F).
2. Get out one of your deep heavy oven proof cooking pots. Melt the dripping or butter, add the onion and and cook until translucent. Optional step: I add 25 mls of brandy and turn up the heat to burn off the alcohol. It reduces the aromatics from the onion.
3. Add the rough chop carrot and celery, cook for about 5 minutes. Add the red wine. Turn up the heat to burn off the alcohol (lean over and take a deep sniff, you’ll know when it’s gone). Turn heat back to medium and add garlic if using, bay leaf, thyme and beef stock. Bring to a simmer, nestle the oxtail pieces in the liquid. Remove from the heat, put in the oven for 3 hours.
   
   Roast the root vegetables
   
4. Prep your root vegetables, you will put them in the oven when you take the oxtail out.
5. Keep the oven temperature the same.
6. Put your roasting tin in the oven with either olive oil, beef dripping or butter to get the fat nice and hot. Give it about 5 minutes.
7. Add the root vegetables, toss well in the hot fat, return to the oven. Remove after 30 minutes and stir the vegetables with a spatula, return to the oven for another 30 minutes.
8. This can be done at any point because they are added to the warm stew just before serving.
   
   Prep the gravy
   
9. Remove the oxtails from the cooking liquid. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine mesh sieve. Retrieve any meat you missed the first time then throw away the stewed vegetables. Either skim the fat off the top with a spoon, use a fat separator or chill the cooking liquid for several hours so that the fat solidifies, making it easier to remove.
10. Let the oxtail cool to the point where you can handle it. Strip the meat from the bones, work carefully and remove any obvious sinew and gristle. The cartilaginous ends of the cut bone can fall off so keep an eye out for those. Put the meat to one side.
11. Put the skimmed cooking liquid into a pot and boil to reduce. Now it’s time to make beurre manié. You think it won’t work – it does. Here’s a video on the Sauce & Gravy channel on YouTube. (Yes there is a Sauce & Gravy channel). Add the beurre manié to your remaining sauce, whisk vigorously to get rid of the lumps and thicken your sauce.
    
12. When you’re ready to eat, combine the meat, gravy and root vegetables and warm through. Serve with mashed or jacket potatoes and a green vegetable.

Make it simple

Top tips to make the recipe less labour intensive:

• Put the bay leaves and garlic cloves into a bouquet garni or cheesecloth bag.
• Add the chopped and uncooked root vegetable to the stew 90 minutes into three hour cooking time.
• Leave the meat on the bone.
• Do not thicken the sauce – serve with extra potatoes or bread to soak up the extra sauce.

Thank you for reading the blog, cooking the recipes, commenting and sharing. I’m @mamadolson on Instagram & X (Twitter).

Tags: oxtailoxtail stewslow cooked oxtail