2 Oxtails
salt and pepper
2 carrots, quartered
4 large onions halved
1 bouquet garni - parsley, thyme and bay leaf.
125g butter
2 tots brandy
3 gloves of garlic, crushed.
75g flour
1.5 liters red wine (go for the good stuff its worth it)
0.5 liter beef stock
1 kg brown mushrooms
500 g Bacon cut into lardons
flour and water paste
Pre-heat your oven at 170 ºC. Season the oxtail with salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, sauté them with the carrots, the onions and the bouquet garni in 60 g of butter untill they are a good brown colour. Moisten with the brandy and flambé. When the flames die, add the garlic and flower and mix well. Pour in the wine and the beef stock and mix again. Bring to the boil. Transfer to a casserole and place in the oven for 2 hours.
After 2 hours strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into a bowl and set aside. Discard the vegetables and return the oxtail pieces to the casserole. In a seperate sauce pan gently sauté the mushrooms in the remaining butter with the bacon. Add to the casserole with the oxtail pieces.
Skim off any fat that has risen to the top of the strained cooking liquid, transfer to a pan and reduce till halve the quantity - the consistency of a light bodied sauce. When the sauce is ready, pour it over the oxtail pieces and bring to a boil on the stove. Once boiling, seal lid with a flour and water paste - mix a cup of flour and a cup of water with a teaspoon of oil, make paste into a ribbon and dress along the rim of the lid, press the lid onto the pot (after cooking run a thin blade along the lid to break the seal) Place the casserole in a moderate oven 180 ºC for 2 hours to finish cooking. Serve with ur favorite starch, I like samp. Enjoy!
