North African Inspired Oxtail Stew

What do you do when you come across some reduced oxtail during  your search for cheap food? You buy it and then raid your store cupboard for something to do with it! Because at £1.50 you really have no other choice. If you're me that is.

So I come home, raid my recipe books & google to find something that matches what we have and come across this now I had to improvise a little bit not having star anise or shallots readily available & not finding the cinnamon sticks until after i'd added Cinnamon powder but i'm really happy with the result and that i've broken my oxtail cooking virginity!

Oxtail Stew

600g oxtail pieces
2large onions 1 White 1 Red
2 leeks
3 cloves Garlic
3 large carrots
7 or 8 new potatoes
1 butternut Squash
Large Pinch of Cinnamon
Large Pinch of Thyme
Large Pinch of Rosemary
2 crushed cloves
1/2 glass of Red Wine
1 Pint Beef Stock
500g Passata
2 tblsp Balsamic Vinegar
Salt & Pepper

I largely diced the onions and sauteed them off with the leeks, garlic, carrots, halved the potatoes & added the seasoning. I then added the meat, the herbs & spices & started the braising process with the wine & vinegar. After about 10 - 15 minutes I added the stock & passata and then left to simmer with the lid on tight on the a low heat for a good hour. 

After an hour I took the oxtail out, left it to cool & added the squash. I probably should have lowered the heat to the lowest setting and given it another half hour but never having braised before I panicked a wee bit. Still, the meat was cooked but just needed a bit of effort when pulling it off the bone. You live and you learn with these things.when the oxtail was cool enough I stripped the bones & added it back into the stew where i left it again for 10 minutes whilst it reheated through, this time with the lid off.

 

And there you have it, an adaptation of an adaptation but truly yummy. It even got the seal of approval from my housemate who was, to say the least, skeptical when I told him I'd made Oxtail never mind that I'd combined it with a Squash! I think its safe to say this is another successful addition to our list of things to do with a butternut Squash. I'm wondering if this obsession will ever end!