I’ve loved Oxtail (Bull’s Tail) since I was a child: I liked the warm heartiness and decidedly meaty flavour of canned Oxtail Soup, one of the famous 57 varieties! As I grew older I got to experience the delights of Mulligatawny and then the joy of real oxtails.

Anyway, we’ve just returned from a trip to various Spanish cities so I thought I’d put up a version of a common Andalucian dish, seemingly more common further north. This can be cooked on the hob but to my mind that means I’ve got to go and have a stir every now and again and I can’t help but dip a wodge of crusty bread in if I’m stirring it.

Ingredients

MARINADE:

• 3 1/2 lbs oxtails, cut into rounds (my butcher calls them rings)
• Saffron threads, if you like, or have them
• 3 carrots, finely diced
• 2 onions, diced or 4 small leeks, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bottle Spanish red wine

STEW:

• 4 good glugs of olive oil (you might need another glug or two)
• 25 beef suet optional
• 1 red sweet pepper, sliced
• 2 tablespoons tomato concentrate/paste or passata
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Finely chopped parsley, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

The day before you want to eat marinate the beef: 12 hours minimum (but I’ve done this several times now and 2 days is also okay – it’s that kind of recipe)

MARINADING: Trim the obvious fat from the oxtail pieces. If you have them press a couple of saffron threads into the top of each oxtail round. Add the chopped vegetables (including the garlic) to the pan and pour in 1 bottle of Spanish red wine, or more if needed; the liquid should just cover all the ingredients – if you are a little short top up with water, vegetable stock, beef stock or another bottle of red wine. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

MAKING THE STEW: Remove the oxtails pieces from the marinade and set aside. Drain the marinade from the vegetables and reserve both the liquid and the strained vegetables.

1. In a deep heavy pan with a lid (I use the Le Creuset casserole pan), heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the suet, if using, and cook down for a couple of minutes.
2. Add the reserved strained vegetables and sauté until lightly caramelised, roughly 10 minutes.
3. Add the peppers and continue to slowly caramelise all the ingredients together for 15 minutes longer.
4. Scoop the vegetables out and put to one side leaving the oily juices in the pan.
5. Add the oxtail ‘rings’ to the hot fat and seal the meat all over once and put to one side – they are not going to be ‘browned’ much but merely sealed a little. Don’t stress just colour them up a little. You may need to do this in two or more batches and add a litlte extra oil
6. Add the vegetables back to the pan.
7. Add the reserved marinade. The liquid should just barely cover the oxtails. If needed, top up the liquid with water or beef stock. (Don’t use more wine).
8. Add the tomato paste.
9. Cook in the over on a slow, low heat (120C) until the meat from the tails is falling off the bone but still succulent and moist, about 4 hours.
10. Check the seasoning of the stew with salt and pepper.
11. Garnish with finely chopped parsley and/or chives,

If you are serving as a main meal serve with roasted potatoes, vegetables of your choosing and crusty bread as you will need something to mop up the beefy juices and licking the plate is considered rude at most dinner parties.

If you are serving as tapas you are good to go!

Variants:

We like to add a chilli to the stew for a bit of background warmth.

Mexicanish: Double up the onions and add two (or more) sliced red chillies to the vegetables list, an hour before cooking finishes add 2 tins of (cooked) kidney beans and a tablespoon of cumin and if you want 1oz (25g) of dark chocolate  (I also add sweet corn too but that’s a smugglers trick). Great in a burrito.

For a more English version add celery to the vegetables list and throw in a couple of snapped bay leaves

For an Asian version add a stick of cinnamon and 2 star anise to the marinade (pull them out before you serve)

Make a soup from the left overs: retain the meaty portions: blitz the liquid part and rub the meat off the bones into the liquidised juices. One of the best oxtail soups I’ve had.

Soup 2: Stir in a big dollop of your favourite (or left over) curry paste to the liquid and flake the meat in now for a half decent Mulligatawny. For some reason I thought of Spike Milligan while I was writing that.

Apparently lots of folk serve oxtail with mashed potatoes. Eek! I have my own teeth I don’t want meat and veg that I can eat with a spoon! I suppose it’s up to you. Or if you know someone in a sick bed …. …. Yes I know I used to liquidise something very similar when my daughter was weaning but that is ages ago now.