Hey all! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I've been at this now for about a year and half. It doesn't seem like it. So without any further ado, the last posting of 2013.
Yesterday I made an oxtail dish for Mel. We were at Byron Meats, a butcher shop in Byron Center, MI, where she spotted some oxtails and wanted to get some. So I prepared them last night. I got a large pot out and heated it over high heat. I added some olive oil to the pot, seasoned all sides of the oxtail with salt and pepper, and browned all sides of the oxtail. Some beef broth was added so it covered about 1/2 way up the oxtails, the lid put on, and the oxtails braised for about 3 hours. With 15 min. to go I chopped up some onion, garlic, and grated a carrot. I saute'd them over medium high heat in olive oil until the onions started getting some color. I added about 2/3 cup of cream and a couple ladles of the braising liquid to the skillet to make a sauce and let it reduce for about 10 min. In the mean time I took the oxtails out to cool and shred the meat off the bone, and added fettuccine to salted boiling water and cooked it for one minute less than what was on the box because it will finish cooking in the sauce. To put it all together I put the meat in the sauce followed by the pasta and tossed everything together well. If the sauce is a little too thick at this point you can add a little more braising liquid or pasta water to the pan. Serve as is. It is time consuming in the fact it takes so long for the oxtail to cook, but you can basically set it over low heat and forget about it for a few hours. It is also an incredibly easy dish with tons of flavor and it makes a wonderful winter meal.
Finally, I would like to thank all my readers for taking time to read my blog. I really appreciate that you take time out of your day to read what I write.
