Become a fan of the funky cuts: Ox tails

Posted by Michael on Nov 5, 2009 in Recipes | 0 comments

Go for some tail!

The ox tail is one of the beefiest cuts of a cow and one you should give some attention too.   There’s not a whole lot of meat on there but wow, what a deep, beefy flavour.   Since the cow spends it’s day whipping flies off it’s hind quarters, the meat on the tail is also among the toughest on cow, so it’s ideal for long, slow roasting or braising and especially great for making beef stock.

Recently my wife Lisa came home with a small pack of ox tails from Kuinshoeve Meats in Rothesay, from their farms near Sussex.   For less than $3, the pack included four sections of ox tail, and were quite a bit more meaty than the ox tails I’ve seen from from the Superstore (where the beef comes from anywhere in Canada or even sometimes Paraguay, by the way).

I knew exactly what she had in mind for this little pack – ox tail and barley soup, a dish I’ve been making for a few years, whenever my eye caught some ox tails at the market.   It takes a while to prepare as you’re making the soup with a homemade stock, but it’s worth the effort and if you need to, you can prepare the stock ahead, then the soup another day.

So if your beef tastes tend not to stray beyond burgers, steaks and standard roast, branch out into some of the funky cuts like ox tail to see what you’re missing.  Same animal, better beef!

Ox tail beef broth

1 lb ox tails

1 large carrot, cut up

1 large stalk of celery, cut up

1 large onion, cut up

1 head garlic, cut in half (to reveal two halves of each clove)

3-4 tablespoons of tomato paste

pinch of kosher salt

pinch of pepper

1 star anise (optional)

several bay leaves

pinch of dried thyme

water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Place ox tail, carrot, celery, onion and garlic in a roasting pan.  Scoop a couple tablespoons of tomato paste onto the tips of your fingers on both hands and smear that like ya mean it all over the ox tails and veggies.   Wash your hands for heaven’s sake, then season the works with salt and pepper.   Roast that uncovered for an hour, turning the chunks with a fork about half way through the roasting.  What you’re looking for is a nice carmelized look to the ox tails and veggies.  That’s what will give it the deep flavour.   Transfer the roasted ox tails and vegetables to a stock pot and add 2 litres of water, the soy sauce, the star anise (if you want), bay leaves and dried thyme.  The star anise will add a sweet-spicy tone to the stock that I really like in beef dishes.  The anise only needs to simmer in the stock for a half hour then you can remove and discard it.  Bring the stock just to the boiling point then reduce to a gentle simmer.   Simmer for three or four hours.  You can use a slow-cooker to simmer this overnight or you can use a pressure cooker to cut the time to about 90 minutes (if you’ve got a large enough pressure cooker.  Mine’s big!).   Remove the ox tails to a plate (you’ll be removing the meat to use in your soup) and use a slotted spoon to scoop out and discard the rest of the vegetables and herbs.   Strain the stock well and use a gravy separator to get rid of the fat (or alternatively cool the stock in the refrigerator for a few hours to let the fat solidify, then remove it).

Ox tail and barley soup

Meat from the ox tails, diced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or reserved beef fat

1 small carrot, finely diced

1 small celery stalk, finely diced

1/2 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 litres ox tail beef stock

1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced

pinch of dried thyme

1/2 cup pearl barley (NOT pot barley)

pepper to taste

2 teaspoons of corn starch mixed with 3 teaspoons of water (optional)

The meat from the ox tails should come off fairly easily.  Use a knife to hack away at it or a fork to pry off the bits.   Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat for several minutes and add the vegetable oil or beef fat.   Add the carrot, celery and onion and saute for three minutes to soften.   Add in all the rest of the ingredients except the corn starch-water mixture and bring to just the boiling point.  Reduce to a simmer and let cook until the barley is cooked, about an hour.   Add more water if it gets too reduced.   A few minutes before serving, mix the corn starch with a little water and add it to the pot while stirring.   This step will very slightly thicken the soup and give it an extra velvety-ness so that it’s not just plain watery water.   Serve with crackers!

Note:  Another good flavour enhancer for this is a few tablespoons of cooking sherry, which can be added to the stock or to the final soup.