Entertain at home: A hearty oxtail stew

Not only is it satisfying, but it’s nutritious too, full of veggies and meat and just the perfect answer for a cold evening.

Serves 4 – 6

You’ll need: 12 decent sized pieces of oxtail; 30ml cake flour, seasoned with salt and white pepper; 45ml Clover Olive Pride Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 200g bacon, chopped; 1 large brown onion, chopped; 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into wheels; 30ml tomato paste; 250ml beef stock; 250ml red wine; 1 Bouquet garnish (1 bay leave, 4 peppercorns, 4 sprigs of parsley, 4 cloves tied in a muslin bag); 1 slice of lemon peel; 15ml lemon juice; 12 pickled onions; mashed potatoes and steamed green vegetables to serve

How to: 

• Dust the oxtail pieces with seasoned flour. Heat the olive oil in a big cast iron pot.
• Brown the meat on all sides in batches, and set aside.
• Add the bacon to the same pot and fry until crispy. Remove from pot and set aside.
• Add the onion and carrot to the same pot and fry until the onion is soft and golden brown.
• Add the tomato paste, oxtail and bacon pieces back to the pot. Add the stock, wine, bouquet garnish, lemon peel and lemon juice.
• Simmer for 3 – 4 hours over low heat on the stove or in the oven at 170°C, stirring now and then.
• Add the pickled onions to the pot after 1 ½ hours of cooking.
• Remove the bouquet garnish and lemon peel.

Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed green vegetables.

Tip – Use a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time.

*Recipe and image by the Clover Mama Afrika Recipe Book – I cook, because we eat! The recipe book has in part been subsidized by Clover because we believe that good food and great memories shouldn’t be limited by price. Also, by purchasing the cookbook, you will be actively helping ladies around South Africa achieve their small business dreams through the Clover Mama Afrika project, which aims to identify women who are already agents of change in their communities and helps train them to become self-sustaining women with skills which they can use to derive an income from, to support orphaned and abused children and the elderly and infirm. Buy it from Lapa Publishers for R230.