Traditional Oxtail Stew

This recipe for Traditional Oxtail Stew is as old as the hills, as my mum and grandmother used to say. It’s a traditional British stew using a very cheap cut of beef, namely oxtail.

A Winter Warmer

This recipe for Traditional Oxtail Stew is as old as the hills, as my mum and grandmother used to say. It’s a traditional British stew using a very cheap cut of beef, namely oxtail.

I can almost smell the smoky kitchen, and the damp washing that was hung on the drying rack that was suspended from the ceiling. Snow lay on the ground outside, and Christmas was a distant but fond memory. My grandmother busied herself with the Rayburn fire, adding more logs, that hissed and sparked in rage at being added to the glowing furnace.

There was a large cast iron pot of Traditional Oxtail Stew simmering in the oven, which she tended to every hour or so, stirring and skimming any fat that has risen to the top. The smell was intoxicating, beefy and yet aromatic with bay and thyme. It pervaded the kitchen and the rest of the cottage, the precursor of what was to come on our plates later on.

There was a cosines and safety in that smell, a memory that I cling to when times are bad. My grandmother was an excellent cook and baker, as was my mum. And she often had very little to work with, as money was sometimes tight. But, I never knew her knowingly under cater, and she was famous for her “loaded tea time table” for miles around.

However, it’s her stews and soups that are uppermost in my memory right now, as I look out of my office window onto a wintry garden. Especially her Traditional Oxtail Stew. Oxtail has become very popular again recently, after languishing for a while at the bottom of the butcher’s list. Both my mum and both grandmother’s used to use it a lot, as it was a cheap and cheerful cut of meat, although often classed as offal.

Oxtail needs a little care when preparing and takes a long time to cook, in order to render it tender, but this is more than made up for in its flavour, which is wonderfully rich and beefy.

Today’s recipe for Traditional Oxtail Stew uses wine as the main cooking liquor, but beer is also great, especially dark beers, stouts and porters such as Guinness.

A tip, as oxtail is very fatty, you can either trim most of the visible fat off before cooking, which can be tricky, or cook it ahead of time, allow it to go cold, then skim all the fat off the surface. You just need to gently reheat it then.

If you have any leftovers, allow it to go cold and strip the meat off the bone, in order to make oxtail soup, or a rich ragu for pasta.

I hope you enjoy this traditional British recipe, as much as I used to when I ate it at my grandmother’s cottage, it’s real comfort food and is fabulous when served with mashed potatoes and steamed greens, such a cabbage. DO let me know if you make it, Karen

Substitutions and Notes when making Traditional Oxtail Stew

• You can make this up to 2 days ahead of time. Chill once it has cooked and then spoon the fat off the surface, before reheating.
• Serve this with dumplings. Add them for the last 30 minutes of cooking time, with the lid on or off for baked dumplings.
• Beer can be used in place of wine, use a dark beer such as stout or porter.
• Fresh herbs can be used when in season, such as thyme and parsley.
• Once the stew is cooked, you can strip the meat off the bone for a pie filling.
• Any leftovers can be used for an oxtail soup.
• Once the meat and vegetables have been sautéed, you can add them to a slow cooker, add the remaining ingredients and cook on high for 6 hours. Serve as before.

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Step-by-Step Method

• Season the flour with the salt and pepper. Toss the oxtail joints in the seasoned flour until they are coated on all sides.

• Heat the oil in a large sauté pan (that has a lid) and brown the oxtail on all sides, do this in batches.

• Remove all the browned oxtails from the pan, and set aside.

• Add the onions and celery to the pan and fry for 2 minutes.

• Add the carrots and garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes, stirring all the time.

• The add the herbs and the tomato puree, and stir well before adding the wine and the beef stock. Stir well and add the oxtail back to the pan.

• Season to taste with salt and pepper, place the lid on the pan and cook slowly in the pre-heated oven for 3 hours, until the meat is meltingly tender and is almost falling off the bone.
• Serve the oxtail with plenty of the gravy, and with mashed potatoes and steamed seasonal greens.

More Winter Warmer Recipes

• A Winter’s Walk Beef and Carrot Stew with Herb Crusted Dumplings
• Store Cupboard Cowboy Pie
• Coconut, Ginger and Spinach Dhal
• Scottish Rumbledethumps for Burns Night

• Mincemeat Bread and Butter Pudding
• Rhubarb Stirabout – An Old-Fashioned Pudding
• Eve’s Pudding with Blackberries & Apples
• Baked “Cake Crumb” Mincemeat Pudding

Recipe for Traditional Oxtail Stew