Oxtail
Oxtail is a wonderful dish but it takes time to prepare as the meat needs to cook until it is soft and tender. The AMC Speedcooker® II, our superb pressure cooker, is ideal for this comforting stew as it cooks the meat within an hour.
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Oxtail
Serves 6 - 8
150 ml cake flour, well seasoned with salt and pepper
2 oxtails, cut through at the joints (about 1,5 kg in total).
2 medium onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 celery stalks, cut into thick pieces
3 carrots, cut into thick pieces
15 ml dried mixed herbs
25 ml dried thyme
2 bay leaves
4 whole cloves
200 - 250 ml red wine or red grape juice
180 - 250 ml beef stock
3 - 4 pieces of naartjie peel
1 tin (400 g) whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
10 ml sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
- Heat an AMC 8 litre Speedcooker® II with a normal AMC 24 cm lid on, over a medium heat until the Visiotherm® reaches the first red area.
- Place flour in a bowl with lid and put in half of the meat. Cover bowl and shake to cover meat with flour and shake off any excess. Brown half of meat on both sides and remove. Repeat procedure with rest of meat and set aside. Reserve flour in bowl.
- Add onions, garlic, celery and carrots to Seedcooker and sauté for a few minutes. Add herbs, bay leaves and cloves, and sauté for 3 - 5 minutes.
- Stir in reserved flour, add rest of ingredients and bring to the boil. Add meat and seal unit with the Speedcooker®ll lid by first aligning the circles on the two long handles. Close the lid to seal. Set the Grey Pressure Setting Valve to the ‘high pressure’ level.
- Check that the Red Pressure Valve on the short handle shows clearly after a few minutes, indicating that the pressure is building. Once the correct pressure has been reached, steam will be released from the Grey Pressure Setting Valve. Reduce the heat to maintain this pressure and to stop the release of steam – ideally you do not want to be releasing pressure while cooking. Continue to cook at this pressure for 40 - 45 minutes.
- Remove Speedcooker from heat. Allow to cool for 10 - 15 minutes and release all excess steam by pressing the Red Pressure Release Button. Open the Speedcooker®ll lid by pressing down on this red button. Once the pin has dropped, open the lid by moving the long handles apart.
- Thicken further with cornflour if preferred. Season to taste and sprinkle with extra thyme. Serve with rice, pap or samp.
Tips:
- Oxtail can also be prepared in an AMC 24 cm Gourmet High. Simmer over a low temperature for 3-3½ hours, or until tender.
- Substitute oxtail with ostrich neck for a healthier alternative. Use 15 - 30 ml oil to brown meat as ostrich has very little fat of its own. Add 250 g bacon, fried and chopped, for extra flavour.
- When naartjies are not in season orange peel may be used, but first remove the white pith so that it does not give the dish a bitter taste.
Cookware we used
