Oxtail Osso Buco

9/28/13 - Boy that was an old post!

Look what I found.

Here is my take on a dish that goes back to times when no piece of the animal was wasted. This is without a doubt the best tasting dish I have made in a long time. Huge comfort food points with this one.

You'll need:



Ox Tails - This cut may be hard to find in your grocery. There is one in Meridian that always has them, and this is the classic way to use them.
AP Flour, black pepper, oil, carrots, celery, potatoes, beef broth, onions, red wine, bay leaf, rosemary, garlic and salt. This is not a quickly prepared meal and you'll also need about six hours time but this dish is worth every minute it takes to put it on the table.



Add a small amount of oil to the Pot and heat to medium high.



Season the Ox Tails with black pepper and lightly flour each.






Brown the Ox Tails at medium high heat, taking time to make certain all sides are browned.





Remove the lightly browned meat and set aside. Slice two medium onions and sauté in the pan. When the onion has caramelized add four cloves of minced garlic.










When the garlic begins to turn translucent return the meat to the pan.



Open the wine and add about half the bottle to the pan to deglaze:





Then add a couple of sprigs of rosemary, three bay leaves and two cans of beef broth. At this point, no salt has been added to this dish. Eventually I will taste for seasoning and decide that the beef broth provided plenty of salt and that none would be needed.



Finally, I add two carrots, a stalk of celery, a teaspoon of black pepper and the lid.





After taking the contents to a low boil, the meat will cook on low for about five hours. This time is needed to tenderize the meat. I checked it twice during the cook and added a cup of water each time. The results of the long slow cook are shown here.





I removed the carrot and celery and deboned the Ox Tails:



There is no way to describe how good this smells and the richness of the beef broth the long cook has produced.

Toward the end of the cook, I peeled and cut up (one inch chunks) three large carrots and cubed maybe six or seven of the new red potatoes into 1 1/2 inch pieces. I like the flavor of the skins of new potatoes, so after removing any questionable spots, I left most of the skins intact. There is also most of a stalk of celery diced and half of a small onion cut into large pieces.





Into the pot.



And after about thirty minutes at a low boil with the lid in place, it is finished.




My bowl.





Spoon view - can't have stew without crusty bread.







And a really good thing - Leftovers!



I do not have the words to describe what a rich beefy broth resulted from the slow cook of these Ox Tails.

Very nice Meridian. Agree. It's one of the most satisfying and delicious dishes to make at home.

I do basically what your method is, but one surprising ingredient I add based on an old America's Test Kitchen recipe for a rustic Italian dish as they described it - turnip roots. They add a spicy flavor that is fantastic.

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I do basically what your method is, but one surprising ingredient I add based on an old America's Test Kitchen recipe for a rustic Italian dish as they described it - turnip roots. They add a spicy flavor that is fantastic.

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Turnips are very underrated. I've started using them in a lot of things, even turnip fries in the air fryer, seasoned with EVOO and smoked paprika and dipped in spicy ketchup.

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You blew it. R2R would have said he "wouldn't feed that shite to his dog.

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Normally he would have but I direct quoted him from that old thread of yours. I think your Osso Buco impressed him so much he would in fact fed it to his dog.

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Too bad the pictures are no longer there

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Click reply to his OP and scroll down to see the post you are replying to. The pics show up.

That works a lot of times but not always. I'm viewing on an iPhone fwiw.

I love oxtails and got my taste for them when I was in dental school in Cleveland. They served them on soul food tuesdays in the cafeteria and they were incredible.

I like to use oxtails to make my beef broth for french onion soup. All that collagen gives the soup a velvety body that is wonderful.

Like osso buco, too bad the price has gone up so much. I blame the internet.

A thread on beef shanks by the lovely and talented LouisianaLady

Please consider this thread if making the beef varietal

Hit the reply button and they show up

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quote:
. Not sure why it didn't get a higher rating:



Red wine typical over white

More of a boil vs braise considering he basically completely submerged the meat in the liquid

He had a great opportunity to remove some of the fat at the end but missed it

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I trimmed some of the fat before browning the pieces and pulled the meat off of the larger pieces before serving. Might do red wine next time.