As part of the desire to reduce food waste, lots of people have taken up nose-to-tail eating. The theory is that all parts of an animal harvested for food should be used, and it also speaks to respect for the animal to do so.
My mom was way ahead of the game on this, as she was on so many things.
We grew up eating oxtail stew, but I think her main motivation in making it was that it was budget-friendly. After all, she had seven mouths to feed on a limited grocery budget. Whatever her reasons, her oxtail stew was one of my favorite dishes — so much so that I sometimes requested it for my birthday dinner in late October.
Her cooking style was heavily influenced by the German Jews who largely raised her, and she passed that on to me. I can still see her tipping a glug of red wine or cider vinegar into the stewy broth to sharpen it just before serving.
Sometimes she served the stew over broad egg noodles, and every once in a while, she made buttery spaetzle to serve as the bed for the stew. More rarely, she served the stew over polenta — I think coarsely ground cornmeal was hard for her to find in our tiny Michigan village.
I still get hungry for her version. These days, however, I’m more likely to make a Mexican-influenced version, lively with chiles. I’ve also adopted the Mexican custom of cooking the oxtails separately, then making a chile-based sauce to flavor them at the last moment.
Nutrition experts argue that a calorie is a calorie. But I remain unconvinced that a salad satisfies as fully on a cool evening as a rich, aromatic stew. Something in the cooler weather has triggered my comfort-food hunger, and this stew scratches that itch.
Mexican-style oxtail stew
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Like all stews and braises, this will be good the first night but even better the second night. If you can, make it one day, refrigerate overnight and skim the fat before reheating the second day. If your crowd’s finicky, you can strip the meat from the bones, discarding the bones, before you finish the dish. I usually don’t bother to do that though.
Ingredients
2 1/2 to 3 pounds beef oxtails
Salt and pepper
2 large carrots, cut in half lengthwise and then into half moons
1/4 medium yellow or white onion
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic
2 poblano peppers
4 large plum tomatoes, about 1 pound
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
½ medium-size white onion cut into julienne
2 guajillo or pasilla chiles
4 tablespoons tomato paste or ½ cup tomato puree
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼ cup chopped cilantro, for garnish
Preparation
Season the oxtails with salt and pepper. Place oxtails, carrots, onion, garlic and bay leaf in an electric pressure cooker or stockpot with water to cover. Cook for 50 minutes on high pressure in an electric pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot, or two hours in a stockpot, until the meat is tender. Remove oxtails and carrots from broth, reserving broth.
While the oxtails are cooking, roast the poblano peppers by placing them directly over a medium flame or in a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Turn them so they roast evenly. Remove and place inside a plastic bag for five minutes.
Meanwhile, roast the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes on a hot griddle or dry skillet over medium heat, turning so every side is roasted, remove from griddle. Set aside.
Toast the guajillo or pasilla chiles: remove tops of chiles and split to remove seeds. Place the chiles on the griddle or in the skillet and toast on both sides until they are fragrant, a minute or two per side. Set aside.
Remove the charred skins from the poblano peppers by rubbing your finger against their skin. After discarding the seeds and removing the veins, cut the peppers into strips, and set aside.
Coarsely chop the roasted tomatoes and place them in a blender along with the garlic cloves, guajillo peppers and 1 cup of water. Process until you a have a chunky sauce.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over a medium-high heat. Stir in the onion, sauté for one minute. Pour in the blended sauce, 1 cup of the oxtail cooking broth, and the tomato paste. Stir well and cook for five minutes.
Add the oxtails, carrots and poblano pepper strips. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cook eight to 10 minutes longer, just to warm everything through. If the sauce needs more liquid, add more of the oxtail cooking broth. To serve, garnish with chopped cilantro.
