Braised oxtail

Rich flavours, melt-in-the-mouth meat, and a syrupy sauce - this recipe has it all! It's also incredibly easy, and like most slow-cooked dishes, it virtually cooks itself. Serve the oxtail with crusty bread to mop up the juices.

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  3:30 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 kg oxtail
• extra virgin olive oil
• 3 French shallots, sliced
• 1½ -2 litres red wine
• juice and zest of 2 large oranges
• water or beef stock
• orange zest

Chilling time 3 hours

Instructions

Trim off excess fat from the oxtail.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan, add sliced shallots and brown the oxtail. Remove the browned oxtail to a deep saucepan.

Deglaze the pan with some of the red wine and pour over meat. Add the remainder of the red wine, juice of 2 oranges and enough water to cover the meat. Bring it to boil and simmer for about 2 hours.

Add the zest of 2 oranges and simmer for a further 1 hour.

At this stage the oxtail and sauce can be put into refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. When chilled, skim off the fat then place back on the heat and bring meat and sauce back to simmering point.

Remove the oxtail and place in oven to keep it warm and reduce the remaining sauce.

An option is to stir a dollop of butter into pot to enrich the reduced sauce before serving.

Serve with lightly cooked asparagus and crusty bread.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.