Braised oxtail

Ingredients

• 2 kg Beef tail (Cut into pieces; the author presents it as bull's tail, but in this case it is beef tail.)
• Salt (To taste, for seasoning the meat.)
• Black pepper (To taste, for seasoning the meat.)
• 2 Onions (They do not need to be finely chopped.)
• 1 Leek (It does not need to be finely chopped.)
• 2 Carrots (They do not need to be finely chopped.)
• 100 ml Fried tomato sauce
• 700 ml Red wine (Cook until the alcohol has evaporated.)
• 800 ml Beef stock (It should completely cover the meat.)
• 2 Bay leaves
• 25 g Butter (To finish the sauce and give it shine.)
• 1 oz Chocolate (One ounce; added to give the sauce a deeper color.)
• French fries (To serve; the author recommends plenty of French fries.)

Steps

1. 1

   Season the pieces of beef tail with salt and pepper on all sides.

2. 2

   Sear the meat on all sides in a pot until well browned. Remove it and set it aside.

3. 3

   Add the onions, leek, and carrots to the pot; they do not need to be finely chopped. Cook the vegetables so they absorb all the flavor from the bottom of the pot.

4. 4

   When the vegetables have softened, add the fried tomato sauce and cook until reduced.

5. 5

   Return the meat to the pot and mix it with the vegetables and tomato sauce.

6. 6

   Add the red wine and cook until the alcohol has evaporated.

7. 7

   Pour in the beef stock until the meat is completely covered.

8. 8

   Add the bay leaves, cover the pot, and cook over very low heat for 2 hours and 30 minutes, until the meat is so tender that it falls apart on its own.

9. 9

   Remove the meat from the pot and strain the stock to separate the sauce from the vegetables and other solids.

10. 10

    Reduce the strained sauce for 30 minutes, until it has decreased by approximately one-third of its volume.

11. 11

    Add the butter to the reduced sauce to give it shine.

12. 12

    Add the ounce of chocolate and stir until incorporated and the sauce takes on a deeper color.

13. 13

    Pour the finished sauce over the meat and coat it thoroughly so it is completely infused and glazed.

14. 14

    Serve the beef tail with plenty of French fries.

Notes

The author indicates that they switched pots halfway through the preparation because the first one was too small. The transcript does not specify the type of pot or the amount of oil used to brown the meat; therefore, they have not been added as ingredients. The recipe does not provide an exact cooking temperature, other than maintaining very low heat.

Nutrition per serving

• main course
• Spanish cuisine
• traditional recipe
• stew
• slow cooking
• meat
• with red wine
• gluten-free