Oxtail, done in copper serves 4, takes 4 hours, is cooked in a M’150 B Cocotte with Lid.
The copper table
Four hours at a temperature that never quite reaches a simmer. The pan is doing the thinking.
Why this pan
A long braise is a test of stability, not of power. You want the liquid trembling for hours, and a heavy pan with a lid holds that state far more easily than a thin one, which swings between a boil and nothing.
A copper cocotte also browns properly before the liquid goes in, which a cast-iron pot does slowly and a thin pot does badly. One pan, both jobs, and it goes to the table.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg oxtail, cut into sections
- 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, all diced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 400 ml red wine
- 500 ml beef stock
- 2 bay leaves, a sprig of thyme
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- Flour, salt, pepper, oil
Method
- Dry the oxtail thoroughly and dust lightly with seasoned flour.
- Brown in batches over a medium-high flame until dark on all sides. Do not crowd the pan. Set aside.
- Lower the heat. Soften the vegetables in the fat for 10 minutes, then stir in the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes more.
- Add the wine, scrape the bottom clean, and reduce by half.
- Return the oxtail, add stock to come two-thirds up, and the herbs. Bring to the barest simmer.
- Lid on, lowest flame or a 150°C oven, 3 to 3.5 hours until the meat slides off the bone.
- Rest overnight if you can. Lift the set fat off the next day and reheat gently.
The step most people rush
Browning in batches. Crowding the pan drops the temperature and the meat releases water instead of colouring — you get grey oxtail and a pale braise. Three batches, not one.
Cooked in M’150 B Cocotte with Lid. Made by Mauviel1830 in Normandy.