Oxtail Bourguinonne

I’ve made this amazing, special dish countless times over the years and it’s always a hit with family and friends. To better suit our tastes, I do make the following adjustments: - If my oxtail is very fatty, I trim the fat beforehand, which is much easier than skimming the excess fat after cooking. - To the bouquet garni, I add 1-2 star anise and a 4” piece of celery that is studded with about 10 whole cloves. - I only use 1 cup of flour total and whatever is left over from coating the oxtail is mixed with an equal part of water to make a paste, which is used to thicken the dish at the end (I omit the butter called for in the roux). - I sauté the mushrooms separately until their liquid is released and season with some salt and pepper. - I use frozen pearl onions in lieu of the shallots and sauté them separately with some salt and pepper until lightly caramelized. They’re just as delicious but MUCH easier to prepare than blanching, peeling and removing the roots from fresh alliums. - Since the mushrooms and onions are precooked, I add them to the oxtail in the final 10 minutes of cooking. - I top the dish with the bacon bits and serve with rice.

• doleROLL

• 1/24/2022

对不起是一个不同的评论家,但听到的me out. This recipe is yummy, no doubt about that. But oxtails are expensive at $7/pound (and heavy, too) and when considering how much they shrink and how much fat they leave, they are even more expensive. That's the only reason why I won't make it again. I also discovered that the bacon was simply to render the fat for sauteing the onion, so I would either use olive oil or saved bacon grease from another meal. Of course now I have yummy bacon bits to nibble on and that's great. Also, it was my first time eating and cooking shallots and they are tasty. The store didn't have sprigs of thyme so I used tarragon and it gave the dish a tiny sweetness. I love tarragon so that part was great. If I were to make this recipe again, I would only use the small cuts of oxtail because they are less fatty and more tender. But of course, what store sells only the small pieces? If you can find a butcher willing to give you 4 pounds of small oxtails, have at it.

• magdalen20

• San Diego CA

• 2/5/2018

This is a delish!! I doubled the garlic . It was a great hit!!

• fallenfrmabove3

• Houston TX

• 1/5/2018

我跟着除了decrea的秘诀sing the cumin by half. I decreased it because my husband is not a great fan of Indian cuisine and the cumin I have was purchased at an Indian market. It's quite strong. My bird came out of the oven moist and delicious. If I were cooking just for me I would make this dish often but the spices were still too strong for my husband. I am going to make it again and modify the spice mixture to suit his palate. I still gave it a 4 because the bird was so wonderfully moist. Not an easy feat with game.

• Anonymous

• Newark, Delaware

• 4/23/2017

Ox tail may not be the most elegant of foods - but this dish is simply sublime! The flavors are amazing, great comfort food but worthy of your good china as well!

• casaross

• Portland, OR

• 12/17/2016

I have always wanted to try oxtail soup as it was something I had read about in historical novels, but I could never find oxtails in my grocery store. Then we started shopping at a Latin oriented store, an lo, there they were! This recipe was delicious and we would definitely make it again as a special weekend dish, we cooked it all day in the crock pot.

• tenorchick

• Charlotte N.C.

• 12/15/2013

I was questioning the recipe on the part where you throw in a bunch of veggies, including mushrooms, which sweats a lot, after the braising process, but I followed the recipe anyway. My hunch was correct. I threw all the initial veggies for braising in the food processor (I added a fennel bulb and more garlic), and browned the pulp after the meat before braising, and it perfumed the entire house! The meat was delicious upon braising, but after cooking the additional vegetables, all of the essential flavors were watered down. I do like the fact that the veggies were still "meaty" when the dish was served, but to preserve the flavor, I would perhaps brown the veggies first and let them sweat a bit before adding to the braise. Also, I like the bacon fat idea, but I couldn't quite taste or smell it by the end, so I'm thinking about cutting up the browned bacon into bits and throwing them in at the end with some fresh chopped parsley for a big finishing touch.

• ronaso

• San Jose, CA

• 1/26/2013

Yummm! And tasted even better the next day and day after. I used Osso bucco since that was the only meat I had in the freezer. And I only had about 1 pound, so I roughly half the recipe. I didn't have red wine, I used white wine instead. Still Yummy. My husband and my son loved it. We loved the sauce, so the next day I added the sauce to the left-over meat and veggies, thickened it using the left-over flour from meat coating. tasty! Will definitely make it again. Next time will use red wine.

• Anonymous

• shanghai

• 12/15/2011

Yum! Made exactly as written with three minor exceptions: only had 3.6 lbs of tails, used a Pinot Noir as the wine and used jarred minced garlic instead. Served with garlic couscous--perfect!

• lamissourienne

• Western 'burbs of Chicago

• 6/22/2011

Nice recipe, with a few tweaks. Oxtails are so fatty it helps to braise them first, then cool, refrigerate and remove layer of fat. No need to add butter paste to thicken, as it's rich enough as is; a bit of flour to thicken is sufficient. Use whatever compatible veggies you have on hand, such as a parsnip or two, celery, etc. Pinch of cayenne and dash of Worcestershire sauce add depth.

• Anonymous

• Los Angeles, CA

• 3/21/2011

This was wonderful. I tossed in the the cooked bacon but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. A keeper for sure.

• NJMom2Boys

• 3/14/2011

I'd like to give this 3.5 forks. Made this very close to the exact recipe, but subbed a roast I had in the freezer that I needed to use. I've made oxtails before and love them, I can only imagine how tasty they would be in this recipe. I'd bump up the nutmeg next time (maybe mine is a little old and not as strong as it should have been.) I added fingerling potatoes with the carrot chunks, and some chunks of celery and peas for more color just before I added the flour paste.

• tomese

• Louisville

• 3/8/2011

Made this recipe tonight and it was a big hit. I did braise it in the oven instead of on the stove, for less burning on the bottom of the pot, and slightly less tending, and that worked out very well. I used beef that I found in the store and it was extremely economical for the bigger sitdown dinner. I had to increase the recipe a little. Flavor was fantastic and someone even noticed the distinctive subtle nutmeg. Excellent winter dish.

• sarahb1313

• 2/26/2011

I'll admitt that I often passed by oxtails in the meat counter and viewed them with a bit of disdain. It does afterall seem to be a rather lowly cut of meat. But I always wanted to try it. This was a thrilling opportunity that I just couldn't pass on. And Ms. Anderson delivered to us a deliciously devine braise worthy of great praise. "And nutmeg?" I asked, "yes nutmeg." It added an under note to the dish that updated the classic preparation. Now if I could just find those oxtails on sale (I thought $6.50/lb. was a bit steep for a tail), I'll be making this dish time and again.

• UrbanCleaver

• Atlanta, GA

• 2/21/2011

Great dish to make on a snowy day. We followed the recipe exactly with the exception the we quartered the mushrooms to give more texture. Our shallots were on the large size therefore required a longer cooking time. Make sure the oxtails are meaty and are on the medium to large size. The meat was so tender and the sauce just wonderful. Agree that letting the stew overnight would help with the grease removal. Served with perfect mashed potatoes. A comfort meal

• Anonymous

• West Chester, PA

• 1/31/2011