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Post by nana on Oct 27, 2017 19:41:07 GMT -5
Our local meat place had oxtails last time I was there. I've never seen them before and never had them, but what the heck, I bought one and made the oxtail soup recipe that's in the Idle Hour cookbook. First off, the recipe says to dice the oxtail. And just how does one do that? It's a freakin' tail full of vertebrae for crying out loud! I put the dang thing in there whole, followed the recipe fairly closely otherwise, with about 4 hours of gas off, except I upped the veggie quotient (1 cup of chopped celery and carrots serves 8-12 people? Really? On what planet?) and I threw in a handful of dried mushrooms too. It made a rather thin, brothy soup, not bad, the flavor was good, but it could have used at least twice as much barley and a little bit of something else, maybe some lemon or vinegar or hot sauce...something. Not sure what. But is there a trick to oxtails? There was a lot of meat on them still, but what a pain in the neck to get it off the bones! I figured after four hours it would be falling off the bones, but no dice. It was tender enough, but just too clingy. I suppose if they were really exceptional they would be more well known and popular. It was cheap, I guess that's the appeal. If I ever get another it will be to make broth for borscht, not as the star of the show. Well, they can't all be winners...
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Post by mach12 on Oct 27, 2017 21:07:18 GMT -5
My wife makes oxtail soup but she and some of her friends are gallivanting around the West so it'll be a couple of days before I can ask her (they're at Disneyland right now and Vegas before that). When she makes it she puts the oxtail in whole and then after it has cooked awhile she takes the meat off the bone and tosses the bones. At least that's how I remember it. I looked in her recipe box and don't see a card for oxtail soup so it's probably one that she does from memory, which is pretty common for her. Trying that gets me in trouble since I can barely make a BLT without a recipe.
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Post by vaporvac on Oct 28, 2017 10:49:57 GMT -5
I seem to recall sucking the meat off the bones! I guess that's not a very elegant presentation, though. : ( It's been a very long time since using them, but we just cut them up into segments. The only way we ever ate them was following a recipe Cuban friends had served us for dinner made with red wine. It was one of the most delicious richest dishes I've eaten and imagine the Twell is perfect to melt all the cartilege, etc. Probably a good beef bourguignon recipe would be similar, although I can really see it being used as a base for borscht.
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Post by karitx on Oct 28, 2017 15:17:47 GMT -5
Yeah, we always picked the bones up and chewed the meat off, then dunked crusty bread into the liquid to sop it all up. It's not a glamorous meal, but it's warm and satisfying.
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Post by nana on Oct 28, 2017 15:56:57 GMT -5
I dunno. Maybe four hours wasn't enough time. Maybe if it went all day the meat would be easier to get at? We did try picking up the bones and sucking at them (elegant we ain't!) but it wasn't coming off. I bought two oxtails, and one went in the freezer, so I'll give it another try someday.
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Post by evangeline on Oct 28, 2017 19:19:41 GMT -5
Hi. I made bone broth w/oxtails (they are really steer-tails, or so I've been told. . . ?) in the well w/ bouquet garni. Left it all in there for two days, applying heat off and on and skimmining the grey yuck. Tossed the bones at the end, the broth is full of good jelly and flavor (altho I didn't roast the tails before starting, my bad, would have been a lot better but I got 'lazy.') Now the broth will make Vietnamese noodles. It's a lot of stuff that goes to make a small amount of liquid. Just saying: two days was about right! My well runs 220 degrees on pilot.
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Post by nana on Oct 29, 2017 9:27:06 GMT -5
Wow! That's hot! Mine is about 155 on pilot. At 220 doesn't your stuff stay actually boiling all the time? I've done that 2 day thing for bone broth too, turning the gas on a few times a day until I hear boiling and then turning it off again. But you may not need to at all if it's that high on its own. Is your pilot turned up really high?
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Post by Chuckie on Oct 29, 2017 12:29:07 GMT -5
Wow! That's hot! Mine is about 155 on pilot. At 220 doesn't your stuff stay actually boiling all the time? I've done that 2 day thing for bone broth too, turning the gas on a few times a day until I hear boiling and then turning it off again. But you may not need to at all if it's that high on its own. Is your pilot turned up really high? I was thinking the same thing. I THOUGHT ours ran about 140; was getting ready to put in a roast to make French Dip Sandwiches for dwayner & I's supper, and put the thermometer in there for <10 minutes whilst I prepped. It was up around 170!! When I first hooked it up, it ran about 140-155, and I haven't adjusted the pilot, STILL just a little blue flame as described. BUT methinks 220 is a bit high IMHO... CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by evangeline on Oct 29, 2017 18:26:24 GMT -5
Well y'all got me to thinking. That's what it registered on an oven thermometer when Dugbug installed the stove. . . But I just used the Taylor probe in there and it reads 150. So ?? Who can say? Maybe we'd run the burner & forgot when he put the thermometer in there.
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Post by nana on Oct 30, 2017 17:43:35 GMT -5
150 seems about right. Of course, if you've been running the burner it would be hotter and stay that way for quite a while.
I still don't know how they expected anyone to actually DICE an oxtail. I cut them apart after they were cooked, it was too hard when raw. I don't think it would have made a difference, though. Next time they will get the full day treatment!
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Post by nana on Dec 13, 2017 21:15:17 GMT -5
Update: 24+ hours makes a WORLD of difference in an oxtail! I gave it another try. Oxtail, browned with onions and carrots, appropriate seasonings added, and just enough water to cover the bottom of the big kettle. Into the well on Tuesday afternoon (our first snow day of the year!) with 10 minutes of gas. 5 more minutes just before bedtime, 5 more minutes Weds. morning, and then at around 5:00 Weds evening, add a quart of turkey broth (I would have used beef broth, but it's just after Thanksgiving and turkey's what I got) and some chopped celery, cabbage and mushrooms, and some pre-cooked barley, and let it simmer another hour. The meat was tender, slipped off the bones and it was a hearty delight. I'm glad I gave it another go!
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Post by vaporvac on Dec 14, 2017 12:59:05 GMT -5
That's fabulous!!! We made ours with wine..... amazing. It was a Cuban recipe. My well runs about 165deg.
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