Ox-tail stew recipe (Slow-cooker/Crock-pot)

Today, I made an ox-tail stew. Ox-tail is a wonderfully delicious, woefully underused piece of meat. I have always been of the opinion that most of us these days eat far too much meat, from too few areas of the animal. Go into a regular supermarket, and you're likely to find the same cuts of meat over and over - chicken breasts and thighs; beef brisket, sirloin, fillet; lamb chops, shoulder, leg; pork chops, medallions, streaky bacon, back bacon. Where are the rest of the animal? The livers, kidneys, hearts, tail, neck, cheeks? And good luck finding mutton anywhere, as it seems to have gone by the wayside in favour of younger lamb.

My parents grew up fairly poor on crofts in rural Scotland. Less desirable cuts of meat were not wasted or overlooked as it seems to be today.

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful butcher within 10-15 minutes walking distance of my house. They regularly stock less common cuts of meat, though it is not always on display as their counter, and shop in general, is fairly small. I have not yet asked if they stock mutton, or mutton bones, but they have had everything else I've asked for so far, including giving me what seemed like an entire knee joint with marrow for free when I asked if they had any beef bones. However, I went in yesterday to ask if they had any ox-tail, and they had some in the back, so I'm making a stew and thought I'd share my recipe. Ox-tail has a strong beefy flavour that many may not be accustomed to, but can be reduced and replaced with a larger quantity of the stewing beef if preferred to mellow the flavour of the overall stew.

Ingredients:

• approx 1kg ox-tail
• approx 250g stewing beef, cut into large cubes
• 1 very large onion (or 2-3 smaller ones), sliced
• 1 leek, halved lengthwise and sliced
• a few sticks of celery, sliced
• carrots (either as many fit in your slow-cooker/crock-pot, or as many as you want then top up with other seasonal veggies. I used about 500g), cut into chunks
• 1 litre beef stock
• a few springs rosemary + thyme
• seasoning
• flour/cornflour/bisto to thicken if desired
• A mushroom stock-cube (if you can find it - I get mine from the local polish shop, as they are much bigger on mushrooms than we seem to be in Britain)

Method:

1. Season both sides of the oxtail with salt and pepper, then place in a roasting tray and into a pre-heated oven at 180 C/gas mark 4. Roast for at least an hour, until well-coloured.
2. Place the sliced onions, leeks and celery in the bottom of a slow-cooker (Mine is a 3.5 litre model), and place the ox-tail pieces on top. Add the stewing beef on top.
3. Add as many carrots, or other seasonal veggies on top - as many as you want, or will fit in your slow cooker, but do not pack it down. Add some springs or rosemary and thyme to the top, and some seasoning.
4. A lot of fat will likely have come out into the roasting tray, and the ox-tail will continue to release more fat in the slow cooker. Juices and bone marrow will likely also have come out in the roasting tin. Tip the roasting tin so the fat and juices roll to one corner, and skim off the majority of the fat with a shallow spoon. Scrape the marrow off with a wooden spatula, or such like, and tip the juices and marrow into the slow-cooker. Pour the beef stock on top. Add water as required, but do not overfill - more liquid will come out of the veggies as they cook.
5. At this point, the inside ceramic bowl of the slow-cooker, with the contents can be placed into a fridge if you want to save it for the next day, or, since it was cold enough, I placed ours in our porch (it is uninsulated, with single-glazed glass and tiled floor, so gets pretty cold there in the night, and I can put it out there before the oxtail has completely cooled without worrying about the rest of the stuff in the fridge).
6. First thing in the morning, take it in from the porch, or out of the fridge. Put it straight in the slow-cooker, and turn it to high. After an hour or so, I turn it to low, and go about my day, leaving it for the better part of at least 8 hours. A few hours before we plan to eat, or when I get home, I turn the heat back up to high, and allow it to bubble away, and for the sauce to reduce. Give it a good stir, and test the meat for falling-apart-ness. 
7. Just before serving, you can give it a good stir, skim off the excess fat as needed, and try to remove the bones of the oxtail, which should be falling away from the meat by this point, and any large lumps of fat. It can be difficult to find all the bones, especially the smaller ones, in a big pot of stew. However, they're easy enough to spot when ladling onto plates. The gravy can be thickened if desired by mixing a little flour, cornflour, or bisto with cold water, adding to the pot, and stirring until thickened. Taste and season as necessary before serving.

This is delicious served with all kinds of mash, and green vegetables, such as Kale, brocolli, cabbage or brussel sprouts. Here, I served it with celeriac mash, and tender-stem broccoli. My partner says he wants to try it with pasta. This also freezes really well, so long as no turnips or parsnips are added in place of the carrots (parsnips and turnips can be added, but in my experience tend to take on a not-so-pleasant flavour after cooking then freezing). If the liquid in your stew has reduced significantly over the cooking time, it may become slightly jellied as it cools due to the high amounts of gelatine in the oxtail.