Oxtail stew recipe by Dewaldt Heyns offers the ultimate comfort food for winter, best served with a glass of fine red Saronsberg Shiraz wine.
Ingredients
2.5 kg oxtail
barbecue spice rub
Saronsberg Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 large onions, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic
2 medium red chillies, chopped
15 ml beef stock powder, dissolved in 250 ml boiling water
350 ml Saronsberg Straw Wine
700 ml Saronsberg Shiraz
3 bay leaves
6 whole cloves
10 black peppercorns
250 g shiitake mushrooms
6 sticks celery, sliced
6 medium carrots, sliced (or Woolworths carrot balls)
1 x 410 g tin whole cocktail tomatoes, drained
salt 1
5 ml brown sugar
cake flour
Recipe
Serves 4-6
('Choose the tail of an ox that's led a peaceful life ... Ask the butcher to trim off any excess fat, but a good quality oxtail shouldn't have much fat.')
Gently rub in the barbecue spice. Heat olive oil in a pan over high heat and brown the meat in batches until golden brown. Set aside. Add more oil to the pan if necessary and fry the onions with 2 crushed garlic cloves and the chillies until the onion is glassy.
Using a wide-bottomed, deep saucepan oiled with olive oil, arrange the oxtail in a single layer. Cover with the onion mix and add the beef stock, straw wine and shiraz so that the meat is almost covered. Add bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns and three remaining whole garlic cloves. Bring to boil, turn down to the lowest possible heat, cover and simmer for 6 hours.
Skim off any excess fat (if necessary). Lightly fry the mushrooms in olive oil, then add shrooms, celery, carrots and tomatoes in a layer on top of the meat. Sprinkle with salt and brown sugar. Allow simmering for another 2 hours.
If there is too much liquid, spoon some of it off. You may want to use some of it to make a paste with the flour and gently work spoonfuls into the sauce to thicken, if necessary, shortly before serving. Make sure you do this at low heat to prevent the oxtail from burning onto the base of the saucepan.
Allow to cool down a bit before serving with rice or mashed potato, whatever your preference. ('Basmati is my favourite.')
Wine Pairing
Saronsberg Shiraz
Cook’s Note
'This is the ultimate comfort food for the heart of winter, with a fire in the grate and a glass of fine red wine. It’s also ideal to cheer up a grumpy father-in-law!'
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