Braised Oxtails

[Mikey]

Years ago when I worked in a German restaurant in San Diego the owner had a rotating soup of the day, which sometimes was oxtail soup. I always liked that soup but had never tried doing anything with oxtails until last week (actually they're beef, but whatever).

After looking over several recipes online (there is quite a variety) I decided to go with a simple braise using the "holy trinity," or sofrito in Italian cooking. I had a bag of dried porcini mushrooms in the pantry and decided to add those as well.

Oxtails seasoned with S&P





Browning on all sides with some EVOO





Ingredients for the braise. There's also a can of diced tomatoes, a sprig of fresh rosemary and a couple of bay leaves.





Everything gets incorporated on the stove. Then it goes in the oven at 300 deg for a couple of hours.





Once the meat is ready to fall off the bone, you take it out of the oven, pull the meat apart and discard the bones, add the meat back in and simmer for another 30 minutes. Served over some rotini pasta with some crusty bread on the side.




It was really tasty but I had to spoon about 3/4 cup of fat off the top before serving. I think I'll try the same recipe with short ribs next time.

[HighPlainsGrifter]

mvscal should be here with a hot collagen take any minute now.

[Mikey]

Or scold me for not doing something the “right” way.

[mvscal]

Remember when oxtails used to be a cheap throwaway cut? But, yes, they make a very silky broth from all of that collagen. My beef stock is bones and a little oxtail.

You could try a mix of short ribs and just a bit oxtail and, for Pete's sake, toss your pasta in the sauce. (There's your obligatory what did I do wrong). Always toss your pasta.

[Mikey]

Remember when oxtails used to be a cheap throwaway cut? But, yes, they make a very silky broth from all of that collagen. My beef stock is bones and a little oxtail.

You could try a mix of short ribs and just a bit oxtail and, for Pete's sake, toss your pasta in the sauce. (There's your obligatory what did I do wrong). Always toss your pasta.

I did. The sauce may have been a little thin but it was swimming just below the surface.

[Mikey]

Remember when oxtails used to be a cheap throwaway cut? But, yes, they make a very silky broth from all of that collagen. My beef stock is bones and a little oxtail.

You could try a mix of short ribs and just a bit oxtail and, for Pete's sake, toss your pasta in the sauce. (There's your obligatory what did I do wrong). Always toss your pasta.

I remember when tri-tip was a pretty cheap, uncommon cut mostly known (and not very well) for Santa Maria style bbq.

Another one that amazes me is Chilean “sea bass,” which is not bass at all, but Patagonian tooth fish, and literally a throw away until some fish wholesaler renamed it about 50 years ago. Now it’s like the darling of the fine dining set and they’re getting ridiculous prices for in stores. I tried it a few times 20 years ago when it was still cheap and was not all that impressed. For what they’re getting now I won’t touch the stuff. There are a lot of cheaper, better alternatives.

[mvscal]

I did. The sauce may have been a little thin but it was swimming just below the surface.

OK. This is not intended as criticism, so remain calm. I got this idea from J Kenji Alt. I don't really know what to call it and does require a little bit of extra work, but not that much and I think it's worth it. I do it when I make beef stew. I just cut the chuck roast in half so I can remove it easily and then cut it into pieces later.

You proceed as you did, but just before the meat falls off the bone, you remove it, strain off the mushy veg, run the broth through a fat separator and reserve the fat. In meantime, you prepare another batch of veg and lightly saute that in the reserved fat and add flour to make a roux, add back the strained broth and meat and, well, you can figure it out from there.

[Mikey]

No offense taken this sounds like a doable upgrade. Another potential variation might be to separate the fat and then process the broth and mushy veggies with an immersion blender. Still make the roux and extra veggies.

[mvscal]

Yep. That works. Main idea is two shifts of veg. One to season the broth and one "al dente" bunch for the finished stew.