Oxtail with a hint of Italy

What is Oxtail to you? A stew that is too rich, too stringy, too... well, just “too”? A circle of Hell from Dante’s Inferno? Perhaps it is more Paradiso, a dish that leaves the diner looking as doe eyed and tongue-lollingly lovingly as the taurean provider itself (apologies for mixing my metaphors).

Maybe it is the richness of the meat, after long hours of being slow cooked? Maybe it is the rich sauce created from stock, wine and marrow from the bones rendered down to a rich emulsion? Or maybe it is the visceral joy of lifting the portions by hand, loudly slurping and gnawing to get all the meat off while juices run freely down the chin and palm, leaving you feeling rather dirty but as smug as a renaissance prince,  that makes it just a little more pleasurable? Who knows? However, oxtail is such a dish combining the genteel with the overtly barbaric.

Divine Comedy? Dante? Italy? Well, I am putting the tang of Italy into my Oxtail dish by adding balsamic vinegar to the sauce, the acidity from this should help break down the fibres of the meat though in reality there isn’t very much (and let’s not forget there is all that wine too) but at least it will add a dark rich mellowness to the stock and wine.

Nor can I be satisfied with a sinfully plain mash, or dare I say it, ‘crushed’ potatoes. No, I have opted to add yet another circle of richness in this comedy of culinary errors: Polenta mash.

Woodbine’s Oxtail with an hint of Italy

1 Oxtail

1 Carrot diced

1 Onion diced

1 Celery stick sliced

2-3 Garlic cloves minced

500 ml Beef (or Chicken) stock

500ml Red Wine

2Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1Tbsp Tomato Puree

150g polenta (quick cook or prepare to stir for hours)

300ml full fat milk

300ml chicken (or vegetable) stock

50ml cream

50g Parmesan Cheese

Parsley for garnish

Oven to 130C (275F, Gas ½)

Stage 1:

Fry the vegetables in a sauté pan, carrots first as they take a bit longer then add the celery and onion. When done stir in the garlic and heat through before removing it all to a casserole.

Stage 2:

Ensuring the pan is hot, season the oxtail pieces and then sear in the pan until browned all over. Do three to four pieces at a time but don’t over crowd the pan. You want the meat browned not a sweated grey. Add to the casserole. Deglaze the pan with some of the wine. Pour into the casserole.

Stage 3:

Mix the balsamic and the tomato puree together and pour into the casserole. Add the remaining wine and the stock. Put the lid on and place the casserole into the oven for 4 hours.

Stage 4:

Strain the oxtail once cooked (carefully removing the meaty bones as the meat should be about to drop off) pouring the sauce into a clean pan for reducing. Put the meat and vegetables back in the casserole (if you want a sauce with no vegetables then they can be more roughly chopped at the preparation stage as you will discard them at this point) and keep in a warm place (the oven off and door ajar works). Once done, return the sauce to the casserole

Stage 5:

While the sauce is reducing, bring the milk and stock to a boil and add the polenta stir until it is done and then add the cream to loosen it and the cheese to give it some extra flavour. This should still be thick enough to pour but not to run (and will thicken even more as it cools).

To serve drop a dollop (can there be any more gluttonously adhesively satisfying a word than that) of the polenta off centre of a warm plate and then a piece of the oxtail quirkily to the side at a jaunty angle. Spoon the sauce around and garnish with chopped parsley. Alternately, pour all the polenta onto a meat plate, place the meat on top and the sauce around.

Gnaw, slurp and handle the food as much as possible like a true Borgia: Divine.