Oxtail Soup For Supper

     Tam had picked up a couple of sections of oxtail earlier in the week.  I haven't felt well enough to go to the grocery since Saturday, so that was my only option.  I was thinking I'd use them with some leftover pork roast, but once the cooking was underway, I realized I didn't need to.

     The start for anything with oxtail is to salt and pepper them, and brown them on all sides in a little oil, reducing the fat as much as possible.  It takes a while; I usually give it four minutes a side and keep working all sides until I like the result.  You drain the rendered fat, keeping every browned bit of meat by turning the pan as they settle out.  Take your time; all those little pieces are full of flavor.

     Next, add just enough water to over the meat and let it simmer, covered.  I added a teaspoon of beef broth powder once it was bubbling, along with a few coriander and mustard seeds, a big bay leaf and a little oregano.  After about an hour, I peeled and sliced a couple of large parsnips, followed by about the same amount of sliced "baby carrots" (about a dozen of them) and three stalks of celery cut into 1/4" sections.  Didn't have any onions, so I gave it a shake of onion powder and some truffle powder for luck.

     After a half hour, it was smelling pretty good.  I fished out the meat and started snipping it from the bone, setting aside the larger pieces of fat.  You want pieces sized proportionally to the vegetables.  The meat and bone went back into the pot for another 45 minutes.  There's a lot of savoriness in oxtail bones; you want to cook them clean.

     The broth was clear, light-colored and tasty.  The vegetables and meat were tender.  Tam and I both had seconds.

     I almost always add tomato sauce and strong broth to oxtail stew, but this soup didn't need it -- or anything else, either.