For your next pot roast dinner try something different, like this fabulous Oxtail Bourguignon.
How do you start your week with a simple roast chicken and end it with Oxtail Bourguignon? I don’t know. That’s how I fly in my house! I realized I was getting burned out in the kitchen and I needed to jump start myself out of my rut. I found this recipe in my February 2011 issue of Bon Appetit. And when I saw the oxtails at my local Vietnamese market (Lucky Seafood, for you San Diegans), I knew I had to make this dish.
I had never eaten oxtail before, but my husband had. He was very excited when I told him what I was making. I love braising meat, it is the base to every Persian stew. I was up for the ox tail challenge!
Who would have thought there would be so much meat on an oxtail?
Although the recipe asked for Burgundy wine, I was told that a good Pinot was basically the same thing. I am not a wine fanatic, sorry friends, so it was good enough for me.
Just like Beef Bourguignon, you start with bacon and browning the meat.
Then you add your bouquet garni, onions and carrots. A little beef broth and you simmer the oxtails while you clean the house, pick up toys, watch some tv, or whatever.
The recipe said you only needed to simmer for about 3 hours. Our meat wasn’t falling off the bone as we had hoped, so I cooked it a wee bit longer. This would be great made the night before, because the leftovers were mind-blowingly fabulous.
Instead of pearl onions, shallots were dropped in at the end with big chunks of carrots.
Served with mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and some homemade crusty bread (thank you bread machine) and we had happy tummies.
Perfect for those cook fall or winter nights…
And, I didn’t tell the kids what the meat was until they ate most of it. The Professor was confused.
“Oxtails are THAT BIG????”
Yes, son, they are.
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Oxtail Bourguignon
For your next pot roast dinner try something different, like this fabulous Oxtail Bourguignon.
Ingredients
- 4 ½ lb meaty ox tails, trimmed of excess fat
- 2 ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper, ground
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ground
- 8 slices of bacon, chopped
- 2 cup onions, chopped
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 bouquet garni, *
- 1 ¾ cup beef broth
- 1 ½ cup Burgundy wine
- 1 lb crimini mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 12 shallots, blanched in hot water for 1 minute & peeled
- 6 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 TBS all-purpose flour
- 1 TBS butter, unsalted, room temperature
Instructions
- Rinse ox tails with water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Season oxtails with salt and pepper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Add oxtails, one at a time, to seasoned flour and toss to coat.
- Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add chopped bacon. Cook bacon until browned and crisp, approximately 10 minutes.
- Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate. Reserve for another use.
- Pour drippings into a small bowl.
- Return 6 TBS of drippings to the pot.
- Over medium-high heat, add oxtails one at a time and brown on all sides, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer oxtails to bowl after each batch.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add onions, 1 cup diced carrot and 1 clove garlic to the empty pot.
- Cook until onions start to soften, about 5-6 minutes.
- Return oxtails and any juices to the pot.
- Add bouquet garni* to the pot, along with beef broth and Burgundy wine.
- Bring to a boil, cover and gently simmer until meat is almost tender, about 4 hours.
- Stir in mushrooms, shallots, carrots and garlic.
- Increase heat and return to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover pot and simmer gently until meat and vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes longer.
- Tilt pot and spoon off any fat that rises to the surface.
- In a small bowl, stir flour and butter together to make a smooth paste.
- Stir flour paste into the stew.
- Simmer uncovered until sauce thickens slightly, about 6-8 minutes.
- Season to taste and serve.
Notes
Serving Suggestions: Serve with mashed potatoes or some hearty bread. If you can't find a good Burgundy wine, substitute with a Pinot.
Cooking Tips: * For your bouquet garni, tie together with kitchen twine 3 sprigs of parsley, 3 springs of fresh thyme and 2 large fresh bay leaves, bruised.
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, February 2011
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