We did this a few days ago.  I saw a chef do about this same thing on a late night, odd satellite channel.  We were at the grocery store last week and found some oxtails at the meat counter.  I grabbed some just because the dish cooked on that TV show appealed to me.  I did a Google search for oxtail recipes and settled on one that had me braising them in a red wine sauce that seemed to be very close in spirit to the beef bourguignon I did a while back.

Start by reducing a bottle of red wine by about half in a sauce pan.  As the wine simmers, brown the oxtails on all sides in butter and olive oil.  Set the browned pieces aside in a bowl and sweat down some veggies that have been coarsely chopped-onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and leeks and shallots if you have them.  I did without those last two.

Layer the meat atop the veggies and pour in the wine reduction, then add beef broth to just cover.  Toss in a few bay leaves and some thyme.  Bring the pot to a boil and then cover and put it into a 325 oven for 3 hours or so.  You want the meat tender but you’ll want to serve it with the meat still on the bone. Remove the meat to a bowl and keep warm, pour the liquid through a sieve, discard the solids, skim the fat,  and reduce it to a cup or two.  You make the call of how thick you want the sauce to be.  Add some cornstarch to thicken if you want.

I served the oxtails with some roasted potatoes and a nice little salad.

Enjoy!

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