Nothing beats old school peasant food, and the oxtail is exactly that. I see it in the grocery store a lot being sold as soup bones, but believe you me, this cut is a force of flavor to be reckoned with. This dish is a take on one from one of my favorite chefs and good friends Rich Rosendale, who just happens to have represented the U.S. in the Bocuse d’Or this year. (for those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s THE major world hot food competition. This inspiration for this dish was a take on dismantling one of the first he put on the Tavern Room menu when he came back to the Greenbrier and took it over… it’s always been one of my favorites. This will make enough for two.
- 2 x 6 oz oxtails (or 12 oz. of oxtail)
- 8 large shallots, peeled
- 2 c. chicken stock
- 1 c. rose wine (yup, the pink stuff)
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 spring rosemary
- Set up a have bottom skillet on high heat add add abotu 1-2 tbsp. of Olive Oil. to the pan. When it starts to smoke, add the oxtails.
- Sear the oxtails until they ae nice and dark brown. When you turn then, add your shallots and just toss them around lightly with a pair of tongs or some other implemnt of food movement. Keep moving the shalltos every few minutes of so.
- When the shallots are seared. Drizzle the honey in to the shallots and stir.
- Turn down the heat and Deglaze the pan with the red wine. Scrape down the pan and let the wine cook down half way.
- Add the stock, and and the rosemary, then cover the pan. Turn the heat to low and let this simmer for 2-3 hours, or until the oxtails are tender.
- Take the oxtails out and reduce the cooking liquid down by half. Now your ready to serve them or cool them down and server them the next day (this is what I like to do).
So now the questions is “what do I serve with this? I love servign this with any kind of off the wall polenta, or old school maased potatoes. Mashed sweet potatoes also go well with this. There’s a lot of flavor here, so you really need a vegetable or starch that’s heavy and can stand up to the oxtail. Go questions? Lemme knowin the comments.