Deliciously rich oxtail stew recipe, with oxtails braised in red wine and stock, with onions, parsnips, and carrots.
Have you ever had oxtails? Most people I know haven’t even heard of them, which is really quite a shame. Think braised beef short ribs, but with even more flavor, and you’ll get a sense of why those of us who eat oxtail get dreamy eyed when we think about them.
Yes oxtails come from a steer’s tail—a well exercised muscle, marbled with fat. The segments are vertebrae so they have lots of iron-rich marrow as well.
My father, who grew up during the Depression, remembers oxtails as being food for people with little money, because they could be had so cheap. You could get them for pennies a pound.
These days, they’re somewhat hard to come by and no longer cheap (though you can sometimes get a good deal on them at Costco and Asian markets).
As with most tough cuts, oxtail are best slow cooked for several hours. They tend to be fatty, so we like to cook them a day ahead, so we can chill them overnight and scrape off the fat from the top the next day.
We serve the oxtails with the bone-in, though if you want you can easily remove the bones from the meat before serving.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs (1.3kg) oxtails with separated joints
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 2 cups (475 ml) stock (chicken or beef)*
- 2 cups (475 ml) of red wine
- 3 whole cloves garlic, peel still on
- One bay leaf
- Pinch of thyme
- Parsley
- 2 carrots, cut into 1-inch segments, large pieces also cut lengthwise
- 2 parsnips, cut into 1-inch segments, large pieces also cut lengthwise
- 2 turnips or rutabagas, cut into 1-inch pieces
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
*If cooking gluten-free use homemade stock or gluten-free packaged stock.
