Slow Cooked Oxtail Stew
It’s the time for comfort food and your lidded BBQ can be used as a slow cooker. I cooked this scrummy stew in my Kamado Joe Jr, which is very economical on charcoal and retains the heat for a very long time. Oxtail benefits from a long cook and if you can wait to eat it the following day, once the flavours have had chance to mingle together, it tastes even better reheated. It’s a fairly economical cut of meat – get your butcher to cut it into pieces if it is in one whole tail piece. It’s very tasty and the fat disintegrates into the sauce making it lovely and rich. The meat should fall off the bones.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
1 oxtail (approximately 1-1.5kg)
2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 large carrots, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp dried thyme or a few fresh sprigs
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp tomato puree
500ml beef stock
300ml red wine
Salt & pepper
Olive oil for frying
Method
1. Trim off any large pieces of fat from the oxtail; most will break down during cooking.
2. Place the seasoned flour on to a plate along with the oxtail and coat well.
3. Set up your BBQ for direct cooking and find a large pan (cast iron works well).
4. Pour in a glug of olive oil and put in the oxtail pieces, turning them to brown all over. Remove from the pan and put on to a plate.
5. Tip in the onions, celery and carrots into the same pan along with a little more olive oil and sauté for a few minutes, scraping any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add in the chopped garlic, bay leaves, thyme and seasoning. Cook for a further 5 minutes until just soft and lightly browned.
6. Pour in the beef stock, red wine and add the tomato puree. Give it a good stir and return the oxtail pieces into the pan.
7. Change the BBQ to indirect heat and cook for about 4-5 hours at about 130°C, stirring occasionally and adding a little more stock, if needed. The meat should be falling off the bone and the sauce should have thickened. Remove the fat from the surface if you don’t want to stir it into the sauce.
8. Serve with buttery mashed potato to help soak up the delicious sauce, seasonal greens and a glass of red wine.
More Recipes Ideas from Sue Stoneman
Method
1. Trim off any large pieces of fat from the oxtail; most will break down during cooking.
2. Place the seasoned flour on to a plate along with the oxtail and coat well.
3. Set up your BBQ for direct cooking and find a large pan (cast iron works well).
4. Pour in a glug of olive oil and put in the oxtail pieces, turning them to brown all over. Remove from the pan and put on to a plate.
5. Tip in the onions, celery and carrots into the same pan along with a little more olive oil and sauté for a few minutes, scraping any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add in the chopped garlic, bay leaves, thyme and seasoning. Cook for a further 5 minutes until just soft and lightly browned.
6. Pour in the beef stock, red wine and add the tomato puree. Give it a good stir and return the oxtail pieces into the pan.
7. Change the BBQ to indirect heat and cook for about 4-5 hours at about 130°C, stirring occasionally and adding a little more stock, if needed. The meat should be falling off the bone and the sauce should have thickened. Remove the fat from the surface if you don’t want to stir it into the sauce.
8. Serve with buttery mashed potato to help soak up the delicious sauce, seasonal greens and a glass of red wine.
