Beer braised Oxtail in 5 stages

For so many, January is the bleakest of months: long and drawn out it appears to offer little but interminably short, cold and damp days and weak winter suns that barely warm. I, normally a true glass-half-empty Celt, beg to differ.

If December is the yin then January is the yang. A break from old to new. A contrast to the exhaustive, interminably long party period, with its enforced jollity. Booze, one month’s habit of choice, teetotalism, the reactive response (I cough lightly here); riotous hedonism to reflective calm.

It is a month of resolutions: annoying little things full of good intent and well-meaning but, they promise improvement. Days are getting lighter and crocuses, those flecks of brightness in a bleak landscape, force themselves through frozen ground offering a hint of Spring to come (we have yet to do Winter, I know).

More contrasts come from flavours in the dish I have decided to make: Oxtail. A low and slow dish that having just come from the gym (yes, a resolution) reflects my ability to move. Here, I have combined the sweet, earthy rich meat with a malty, umami sauce.

My stomach says add cobblers: plain cobblers; thyme cobblers; Cheddar cheese cobblers, even, heavens forfend Stilton cobblers, but my head, ever sensible points to the “carborific” richness that the dish and the doughy lumps would bring that I opt for potatoes. You, on the other hand, may disagree. So if you have buttermilk, flour and butter (lard) to mix and shape then please feel free.

Ingredients

1 Oxtail

1 Onion diced    

1 Carrot diced

2 Celery Sticks diced

2-3 Cloves Garlic pureed

500ml Stock (Chicken, Veal, Beef)

500ml Beer (I used Bath Ales) something with a malty flavour and a citrus finish

3 Tbsp Malt Vinegar

1 Tbsp Tomato Puree

1 Tbsp Miso Paste

3-4 sprigs of Thyme (optional)

Flour for dusting mixed with ¼ tspn mustard powder

Oil for frying

Salt and Pepper for seasoning

Parsley for garnish (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 150C, 300F, Gas 2

Stage 1

Sweat the diced carrot, onion and celery in a frying pan and before decanting into a casserole stir in the garlic puree to heat through. Add tomato puree and Miso paste to the mix. Add thyme sprigs if using.

Stage 2

Pour some oil into your hand and rub over the oxtail pieces. In the same frying pan as the vegetables, fry the outside of the oxtail to get a caramelisation. Then sprinkle the meat with flour and add to the casserole. I have to admit that my preference in most of my sauces is not to use flour, however, given the amount of fat that ekes out of the tail it is better to use it rather than try to separate it at the sauce stage (yes, there is a sauce stage).

Deglaze the pan with the beer, pour into the casserole along with stock. Stir, cover with lid and place in the oven for about 4 hours or until the flesh looks like it will drop off the bone.

Stage 3

When the meat is cooked, remove from the oven and carefully capture the sauce by sieving it or using a colander into a large pan.

Gently separate the veg from the oxtail pieces, return the oxtail to the casserole and keep in a warm place. Set the vegetables aside. (I use the vegetables in couscous or bulgar wheat for weekday lunches rather than throwing it away. You may want to just keep them in the stew, in which case see below).

Stage 4

Take the sauce in the pan and, noting how much is left, reduce to thicken by boiling it vigorously until you get a creamy reduction. (Add the vegetables now if retaining them. Lower the heat and stir in gently for a couple of minutes to warm through. The reason being that they are already well cooked and may not withstand the reduction process without disintegrating and causing a more soup like sauce).

Stage 5

Pour the sauce over the meat in the casserole. Serve with potatoes, cobblers or another side dish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley or thyme leaves.

A marvellously meaty meld for January, it is a rich mix of flavours, but the result is a gently malty mouthful. The beer blends with the musty fermented umami tang of the miso paste. Herbs lift it and tomato puree mellows it. Mustard, pepper and the smallest zing from the malt vinegar add slight hints of spice, and the meat, well, the meat is soft and sweet, as it should be.