Tam had visitors in town over the weekend. I had a lot to do (major laundry, leaf-mowing/raking* and such), but managed to have brunch with everyone Saturday and Sunday. Sunday night, I heated up oxtail stew leftovers with a can of no-beans chili, and was reminded to ask Tam for her pictures of the stew from Friday:
Yum!
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| TAMARA KEEL PHOTO |
Once the sweet Italian sausage and turnip cubes were cooked, the oxtail starts like this: (Click to enlarge.)
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| TAMARA KEEL PHOTO |
It makes me happy that I decided to find out what the big deal was about oxtail. Always did like the Knorr dehydrated soup (Campbell's used to make a version, too) but they're smooth, beef/tomato soups. Cooking down actual oxtail and snipping the meat from the bone produces wonderfully flavorful results.
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* The cordless electric mower does a great job on dry leaves, though the bag fills up rapidly and has to be emptied. Still better than clearing leaves by hand. It's slower on wet ones, so on Sunday I raked up the damper areas and kind of turned the piles of fallen leaves over, to help them dry. Guess what it's doing outside right now? The online weather called it "a soaking rain." As opposed to a dry rain, maybe?
2 comments:
After you'd turned the leaves over to dry? I'd call it a 'mocking rain'.
My grandmother used to make oxtail soup quite often. I don't think she put turnips in it, but she often used barley to add a little extra something to the stew. Of course, back then, she got her oxtails for next to nothing as they were not popular. But now, I have priced them and they often sell for more than some other beef cuts, that are actually pretty good also, such as chuck roast or round steak.
I must say, I have learned that often things that will bring the best memories from my childhood and young adulthood, are things that have to do with food. My grandmother was a very good cook, my mother and dad owned a restaurant for over 30 years, and my mother canned dozens of jars of fruits and vegetables. When I smell a certain smell, it can bring back a memory that I had lost, and I will know details about what we were doing, and the event, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, or just a potluck that we went to.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, I hope that you have a good day tomorrow, and are able to avoid any of the anger going around our nation like the flu. We in America have much to be thankful for. Unlike many of the world's people, we don't usually have to worry about whether or not we are going to be able to eat on this day, and our water is seldom a concern of it killing us, troubles like in Flint, Michigan not the norm, but a call to action.
With so much to be thankful for, it is little wonder that people are willing to risk it all, for a chance to just get into the country and to work at menial jobs that no one else will do. I am not even considering the political and moral issues of illegal immigration, I only wish that everyone who wanted to come to this country for no reason but to better their families lot in life, could be allowed to come and stay. I am the type who believes in the power of prayer, and so, I will pray for everyone who I can think of, and wish you all may have a great day today, and a better one tomorrow.
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