Chef at Benne on Eagle in Asheville, North Carolina, Ashleigh Shanti’s Stewed Oxtail is a recipe inspired by her Great-Grandma Inez’s cooking. Read more on this memorable dish here. If you can’t find oxtail, Ashleigh suggests substituting chuck roast cut into 1¼-inch pieces.
Stewed Oxtail
Courtesy of: Ashleigh Shanti
Yields: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds 1¼-inch-thick oxtail pieces
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped unpeeled carrot
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 juniper berries
- 4 whole black peppercorns
- 1 quart beef stock
- 1½ cups dry red wine
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Yellow rice, to serve
- Garnish: chopped green onion
Instructions
- Season oxtail with pepper and salt; refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
- In a 7-quart Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear half of oxtail until browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer oxtail to a large plate. Repeat with remaining half of oxtail and remaining 2 tablespoons oil.
- Preheat oven to 275°.
- Using an ultra-fine cheesecloth, wrap onion, celery, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, juniper, and peppercorns, and tie with kitchen twine to make a sachet.
- To pot, add sachet, stock, and wine, stirring to scrape any browned bits from bottom of pot. Return oxtail to pot; top with a round of parchment paper and tightly cover pot with foil.
- Bake until oxtail is fork-tender, 3½ to 4 hours. Strain oxtail, reserving cooking liquid; set oxtail aside and keep warm. Discard sachet, parchment, and foil.
- Place cooking liquid in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium. Cook until liquid is reduced to ⅔ cup, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in butter until melted and well combined.
- Serve oxtail with rice; top with sauce and garnish with green onion, if desired.
