I cook this in a slow-cooker, but you can just as easily cook it conventionally in a big casserole dish or, for speed, use a pressure cooker. This is a really simple braising dish made with a fantastically well-flavoured cut of beef - oxtail. Not only is it cheap but, when slow-cooked for hours, it becomes incredibly tender, with a rich gravy. Oxtail is best served with a generous dollop of creamy mash and a crisp green vegetable, such as Savoy cabbage or kale.

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 kg (4lb 8oz ) oxtail pieces, 1cm (½in), on the bone
4 tablespoons plain white flour, seasoned
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1cm (½ in) pieces
1 large onion, chopped
4 celery sticks, chopped
2 leeks, chopped
1 large thyme sprig
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, crushed
125ml (4 fl oz) red wine
1.2 litres (2 pints) boiling hot chicken and beef stock or stock made from water and 2 beef stock cubes
400g can of chopped tomatoes
chopped parsley, to serve

Preheat the slow-cooker, if using, on high for 20 minutes.

Toss the oxtail pieces in the seasoned flour. Heat half the olive oil in a hot frying pan and fry the oxtail pieces in batches until brown on all sides. Add to the slow-cooker or casserole dish.

Heat the remaining oil in the same frying pan and add the vegetables. Fry these until theyÆre just colouring and then add the thyme, bay leaf and garlic and fry for a minute or so more. Add to the oxtail in the slow-cooker or casserole dish.

Deglaze the frying pan with the red wine, loosening the sediment from the bottom of the pan, and then add half the stock and the tomatoes and bring to the boil. Pour over the meat and vegetables in the slow-cooker or casserole dish and then pour in the remaining boiling stock. Cover with the lid and cook undisturbed on auto for 7-10 hours, or cook conventionally for 2-3 hours.

Spoon any fat off the braised oxtail before serving. For a hearty family meal, serve as it is, sprinkled liberally with chopped parsley, or with mashed potatoes and wilted greens.

© Nick Nairn

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