Oxtail stew recipe | Jamie Oliver soup and stew recipes (2024)

FAQs

What makes stew more flavorful? ›

Add spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin at the early stage of cooking, when you are frying onions and garlic, to enhance the taste of the beef stew. Fresh herbs like coriander and bay leaves also contribute a distinct flavour without making the dish too spicy for the younger members of the family.

Fill with enough water to cover oxtails and place over high heat. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook oxtails until tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Alternate way to thicken stew gravy: Remove the oxtails/vegetables, leaving the liquid in the pot. Make a cornstarch slurry in a small bowl (1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water, mixed until combined). Stir mixture into stew liquid and simmer until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes.

The oxtails must be marinated overnight and then cooked for 3–4 hours. In other words, don't you come home from a long day of work thinking that you can just whip up some oxtails. It takes a while, but I promise, it is well worth the wait.

But the liquid itself should not be thick in the same way that gravy is thick. So skip the roux, and don't bother dusting the meat with flour or cornstarch before browning, either, as some recipes will suggest. That will just interfere with getting a good sear on the meat, and gum up the stew with unneeded starch.

Using the right type of beef, searing the meat before cooking, deglazing the pan, cooking for several hours, and using plenty of salt all make a huge difference in the flavor of your beef stew.

Browning your oxtails will not cook the meat. Instead, it will enhance its color and aroma by caramelizing its exterior. Browning beef oxtails in a hot skillet before braising will also add rich depth and flavor to the meat.

If I'm using them to make stock I blanch them in boiling water for 15–20 minutes, then change the water. It gets rid of some impurities. If I'm roasting them first for a darker stock I just skim the stock as it simmers. If I'm stewing/braising them, I just season and sear them, no soaking necessary.

Step 7: Oxtail Stew Step 1: Cut Off the Fat.

Some of that white is TENDON and not fat! When cutting closer than an inch, I use a steak knife, i know to stop cutting when I hit the white stuff the knife can't saw through.)

The combination of spices like allspice, thyme, and scotch bonnet peppers gives the stew a unique and tantalizing taste. The oxtail itself is packed with collagen, which breaks down during the slow cooking process, resulting in a thick and luscious gravy.

How long does it take to boil oxtails to be tender? ›

Boiling oxtail until it becomes tender can take some time, as the connective tissues need to break down to achieve the desired texture. It typically takes around 2 to 3 hours of gentle simmering for the meat to become tender and easily pull away from the bone.

As the meat braises, the collagen inside the cut cooks down and becomes gelatin; as it dissolves, the meat's fibers relax and tenderize. However, if the cooking temperature is too high, these muscle fibers will shrink and seize up, toughening.

The idea behind coating meat with a sprinkling of flour before browning in a hot pan is pretty simple: Flour is full of starch that will caramelize quickly and give a deeper color and flavor. You most often see this technique called for in stews, where flour is used to thicken the cooking liquid.

There are flavors in tomatoes that are alcohol-soluble, so adding red wine along with tomato paste also helps to enhance beef stew." Laurence has a few other tricks I've borrowed to create the best beef stew, including adding Worcestershire, which gets a serious umami punch from anchovies.

Personally I would add as many aromatics and flavor enhancing substances that I like. If the stew is already finished, then you can sauté onions, garlic peppers, celery and carrots then add them to the stew. I would also add some herbs and finally salt and pepper to taste.

Things like cinnamon, turmeric, curry powders, fresh ground peppercorns, sage, tarragon and dill can all pick up where you left the salt out. Allow yourself some discovery. Without the added sodium, herbs and spices can offer a different depth of flavor especially if you grind them up yourself.