After posting a picture of this dish on Facebook, I received a lot of requests for the recipe. Honestly, it's something I just threw together. I was preparing oxtails for the family's Sunday dinner. But instead of braising the oxtails in gravy, with rice and traditional soul food sides, I wanted a soup or stew with lots of veggies.
I did make a slightly more decadent meal for the family -- scalloped potatoes, green beans/cauliflower, corn bread and... the oxtails braised in gravy. But I had the stew and it was fabulous! Below is the recipe as promised.
A few things to note:
Larger oxtails tend to have much more fat than the smaller pieces, so you may have to do some trimming if you get the big ones. Even then there will be a thick layer of rendered fat on top of the oxtails after they're done cooking. The easiest thing to do is just refrigerate the oxtails overnight, skim off the solidified fat and reheat. They'll taste even better the next day anyway.
The other thing regarding this specific recipe is that I made a HUGE pot to easily feed a family of four. Of course, you'll have to scale back the ingredients if you want to make less.
Finally, you don't have to buy the exact same vegetables I used in this recipe. I just chose what I liked and, obviously, you can as well. However, to retain a bit more of their nutrients, I made a concerted effort not to overcook them. I did this by adding heartier or larger chunks of veggies - like potatoes - early on as the stew cooked. I added leafy veggies like the cabbage and kale during the last few minutes since they, of course, cook much faster. But please do whatever suits you.
Oh yeah - your kitchen will get a little smokey when you're braising the oxtails so be sure to have a fan or open some windows. It's worth it, though!
Here's a couple o' pictures of the preparation process. Have fun and I welcome your feedback and/or suggestions!
Sincerely,
Big Ken
- 5 lbs of beef oxtails
- beef stock or bouillon cubes
- ½ cup red wine
- ½ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 large onion (coarsely chopped)
- 5 Russet potatoes (cut in large chunks)
- 1 Delicata squash (cut in large chunks)
- 1 Zucchini squash
- 1 Yellow squash
- 1 bunch of kale
- 1 head of cabbage
- 3 celery stalks
- 3 large carrots
- 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Fresh or dried basil and thyme
- ⅓ cup of canola or vegetable oil
- Trim oxtails of excess fat, if necessary.
- Season oxtails with kosher salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in skillet over high heat and sear oxtails on all sides.
- Place oxtails in a large pot and cover with water (about 2 inches above oxtails).
- Pour off any excess oil from skillet and deglaze skillet with the wine, Worcestershire sauce and a little bit of water.
- Add your beef stock or bouillon cubes to the skillet with the wine, etc., and cook until the stock or bouillon has dissolved.
- Pour contents of skillet into pot with oxtails and cook for 3 hours over medium heat.
- (As the oxtails cook you can taste the broth to see if you need more beef stock, bouillon, or salt)
- Once the oxtails are tender, remove from heat, let cool and refrigerate overnight.
- Next day: Remove fat that has solidified on top of the oxtails.
- Reheat oxtails over medium heat.
- Once the oxtails begin to simmer or gently boil, add herbs, potatoes, Delicata squash, onions, garlic, diced tomatoes. Cook for 15 min.
- Add carrots and celery. Cook for 15 min.
- Add remainder of vegetables and cook for 10 min.
- Enjoy!
