Oxtail Stew

What can be more delicious than the smell of oxtail slowly stewing in its own juices? Here's a recipe for this underrated classic, taken not from Mrs Beeton but from a worthy successor, Leiths, the London cookery school established in the 70s by the very talented South African, Prue Leith who, incidentally, calls herself a fraud - a 'good' but not a 'great' cook. So there is hope for us all!

Ingredients for 6

4 pounds oxtail
all purpose flour
3 tbsp sunflower oil
12 oz carrots
12 oz onion
few sprigs thyme
2 garlic cloves
1/2 bottle dry red wine, such as Merlot or Pinot Noir
1 pint good meat stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp sugar
1 tin chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper

Method

Heat oven to 300 F. Wash and dry oxtail, trim off excess fat, cut into 1 1/2" lengths. Season flour with salt and pepper, and toss the oxtail pieces in this mixture. A bag is useful for this process.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and brown the oxtail, a few pieces at a time, evenly on all sides. Remove each batch to a plates when ready. Deglaze pan in between batches by pouring off excess oil, adding a little water to the pan and scraping up the sediment. This can be returned to the mix later as long as not burned.

Peel carrots and cut into thick slices. Halve and peel the onions, then cut into wedges through the root. Heat a little more oil in the pan and brown the vegetables evenly. Chop thyme leaves, peel and crush garlic.

Pour wine and stock over browned vegetables. Add herbs, garlic, sugar, seasoning. Add tomatoes, bring to boil, then reduce to simmer. Reap turn oxtail to pan. Cover and cook in oven 3-4 hours until very tender and coming away from bone. Reduce oven temperature if necessary during cooking time to maintain no more than a very gentle simmer.

Remove oxtail and vegetables. Allow cooking liquid to sit for 30-40 minutes so fat rises to the surface. Skim off fat. Taste sauce, heating again to reduce volume if a more intense flavor is required.

Remove and discard carrots, onion and bay leaf. Return oxtail to pan and reheat gently to serve.

This is delicious with creamy mashed potato and some freshly steamed root vegetables.