OX TAIL STEW

OX TAIL STEW.

Like so many of my recipes, this is another adaption of something that I grew up on. Like a lot of families, we didn’t have a lot of money back in those days so my parents were pretty good at feeding us top notch food on a poor mans budget. We honestly never knew this until we were older, we were so well provided for. We ate cheap cuts of meat made into stews with loads of veggies, mum made all of our clothes herself or got them from op-shops and our holiday’s consisted of us getting loaded into the back of dad’s patrol troopie to set off on camping adventures. If you ask me, pretty much the best growing up experiences a girl could ask for.

Over the course of this chilly season I’m going to bring you series of winter-warming recipes that I grew up eating and since it is now FINALLY ‘trendy’ again to get into these alternate meat cuts, what better time to do it.

This recipe I actually made in a camp-oven at North Straddie recently and I’m hoping that the few bevy’s I had before hand hasn’t made me forget some of the ingredients. Eeeeeek!

So for an absolutely killer Ox Tail Stew you will need:

6-8 x oxtail cuts

3 x garlic cloves – peeled.

1 x medium brown onion – finely diced

1 x celery heart - diced finely.

3 x large carrots – 1 x diced finely, the other 2 roughly chopped into 1 inch segments

2 x large parsnips- roughly chopped into 1 inch segments

2 x medium turnips – roughly chopped into 1 inch segments

1 x tsp Massels beef stock powder

2 x cups of red wine

2 x tins of whole tomatoes

1 x tin of cannellini beans - drained

2 x bay leaves

1 small bunch of Thyme

1 x cup of water to top up liquid if needed

Salt and Pepper

EVOO

What to do:

Preheat you slow cooker or whack you camp oven a nice bed of coals. This can also be done in a casserole pot on a low heat.

Now this first part is optional but I highly recommend it. In a fry pan {or preheated campoven} combine some EVOO, the garlic, diced celery and carrot and oxtails and some salt and pepper. This is the ‘browning’ of the meat and I really think it makes a difference to how most stews turn out. The veggies create a bit of a ‘stock –base’ and this adds additional flavour. Cook these until the oxtails are nicely browned on both sides and you can start to smell that ‘stocky’ smell from the veggies.  No transfer these into your slow cooker, casserole pot and pop the lid on and leave them for a bout a half hour. If you’re using a camp oven, just pop the lid on and let everything simmer away for the same amount of time. Lift the lid every ten minutes or so and give all of the ingredients a bit of a move about with some tongs.

Now, this is the hardest part.

After the half hour has passed remove the lid and add everything else to your pot. Give it a good mix and put the lid back on.  Add more salt and pepper if you want to, I always do.

Cooking time is up to you. For a camp oven and slow cooker – 6 hours minimum, 8-10 hours if you can. Just lift the lid every few hours and give things a stir and top up with a bit of additional water {or wine} if needed.  Camp oven guys and gals, you will just need to top your coals up 1 or 2 times, I also add a decent shovel of coals on top of the lid.

The stew is ready to eat when the meat is falling off the bones. You can serve this as is, with some mashed sweet potato or bread and butter. What ever you do, I assure you it will be a crowd pleaser. 

Enjoy x