This post is a bit photo intensive, so may be a slow load for some of you.  You have been warned, lol.

There was oxtail on last weeks menu, it was supposed to be fancied up a bit to be served over noodles but . . . I changed my mind whilst cooking it the day before it was needed and served it over rice in it's own rich and tasty gravy. 

Our butcher sells oxtail - usually in frozen 'section' packs - for about £4.50 +/- a kilo.  Yes, you have to take into account that per pack there is quite a bit of bone, but they are small and not extremely heavy so don't make up too much of the weight per kilo.  The meat, when cooked slowly is to die for.  It's moist, oh so tender and the flavour cannot be beaten, especially considering the price!  It's ever so versatile, use it in any recipe or dish that you would use small cubes or bits of beef in.  Although I've cooked it many times, I've never made oxtail soup which would be simple.  Suppose that's another thing for the to-do's ;-)

As I said, the oxtail we get from our butcher is frozen (sections of the tail?) with most packs coming in at around one kilo, give or take.  This time, I took a package out of the freezer in the workshop and put it in the fridge 2 days before I needed it.  The day before I wanted to use it for a meal I took it out of the fridge and broke up the pieces of the tail, putting them into a large pan with a 'glug' of olive oil.  Over a medium heat, I browned the oxtail about half way and then I  added one onion, chopped into medium sized pieces, 3 cloves of garlic - smashed and peeled, a couple of 'bendy' carrots cut into large chunks and enough stock (made with 1 oxo beef cube and 1 vegetable stock cube) to just about cover the ingredients, but not quite.

The photo above is after the oxtail had been cooking (over the lowest heat possible) for approx. 4 hours.  In total I let it simmer away for probably about 6 to 6-1/2 hours, only giving it a mixing stir up about every hour or so.  It would be great in a slow cooker, but mine is fairly small and too much of a tight fit this time.  I then used a slotted spoon to remove the meat and bones and put them on a baking tray to cool enough to handle comfortably.

When cooled enough to handle I began pulling the meat away from the bones.  For the most part it just falls away, but I also pull off any large bits of fat and pick through to make sure I've got all of the gristle bits (from the ends of the bones) taken out.  After the meat is out of the pan, I then pour the stock/broth through a sieve and into a bowl to put in the fridge overnight.  Because the meat was to be used the following day, it too went into the fridge.

Now, as I said, I don't know the exact weight of the package of frozen oxtail but judging by a 1kg bag of flour in the other hand, it was probably just over a kilo - just.  If I think of it, the next few I get out of the freezer I'm going to weigh!  Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that this package weighed 1.1 kg.  That's just over 2-1/2 pounds (lbs.) in old measure.  Here is most of the meat that came off of the bones, just meat - no large bits of fat or gristle.  I say most because BH and I had to have a few bits each prior to the weigh in, just to make certain it was ok mind you, lol.

Now, 825g - just slightly under 2 pounds (lbs) - is not bad at all.  So, from the oxtail - we end up with enough meat for 2 (or more if you're less piggy than us!) meals plus . . . . and this bit is so great too!  Plus... this lovely, rich beef stock jelly.  This is what the bottom of "The All Important Broth" photo (above) turns into after being in the fridge overnight.  It is absolutely gorgeous for use in anything that calls for beef stock.  I put it in the freezer in bags of about a cup each.  If you don't want to add the stock jelly directly into a recipe frozen, it only takes a couple of blasts in the microwave or just a minute or two to 'melt' in a saucepan.

When you first take the sieved stock out of the fridge and before you get to this tasty jelly, there is a layer of 'fat' on top, which is the top or lighter part of "The All Important Broth" photo (above).  I scrape this 'fat' off using a spoon and have it in the fridge for roast potatoes.  It is about the same consistency of goose fat, this was a bit firmer, and does a roast potato proud ;-)  I didn't take a photo of it (it's my age you know) but there is probably a couple of cups and it will keep (sealed) in the fridge for some time.  It will be used up for various frying/roasting duties way before it would ever 'go off'.  And finally . . . there is this delicious beefy gravy made with a bit of the stock jelly before it went in the freezer.

So!  Not a bad deal, eh?  Start off with a bit of oxtail, invest a little time and care and end up with 1) Tender, melt in your mouth beefy bits  2) Thick, wonderful beef stock/jelly with so many uses and  3) Beef fat for frying roasting.  And with all of these there is at least enough for two meals but probably many more than that dependent on how many you're feeding and their appetites!  Even if you were to use everything in one meal for more than 3 or 4 people, you won't find many options that taste this delicious for such a small amount of money!  If you've not tried oxtail before I urge you to give it a go, and if you're an old hand at cooking it why not get it into your menu soon?!

Gill, you're most welcome to pop over anytime!  Just give me a few minutes notice to put on another place setting ;-)