Oxtail Stew

It’s been raining for weeks, so what better time for oxtail stew? I found a recipe for oxtails in Paula Wolfert’s The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, but it was too slow even for me, since I wanted to eat the oxtails the same day I cooked them. So I took most of her ingredients and adapted the recipe for same-day eating. It turned out pretty good, but I think I may use red wine next time, for a deeper color, and maybe a bit more sugar or even molasses.

Ingredients:
3-4 lbs of oxtails
Freshly ground pepper
Salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
1½ tsp. thyme
1 tsp. crushed fennel seeds
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup dried porcini mushrooms
1 Tb. brown sugar
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1½ cups white (or red!) wine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 3-inch piece of orange peel
2 Tb. Sherry wine vinegar

Garnish: 2-3 Tb. chopped parsley

Rub the oxtails with the oregano, fennel, thyme, ground pepper and salt, and let stand for 30 minutes (or more, if time). Soak the dried mushrooms in 2 cups of very hot water for at least 30 minutes. Then rinse them thoroughly and chop coarsely; strain the mushroom liquid through a coffee filter or paper towel and reserve.

Next brown the oxtails over high heat in 2 Tb. of the olive oil (or a bit more, if needed). This should take about 15 minutes or more. Remove the oxtails to a side dish. Deglaze the pan the oxtails cooked in with ½ cup of the white wine, and then add to the oxtails.

Brown the vegetables in the remaining olive oil over moderately high heat until they are lightly browned. Add the brown sugar to the pan and continue stirring until the vegetables are lightly caramelized. Stir in the vinegar, dried mushrooms, and mushroom liquid, then add mixture to the oxtails, along with the remaining wine and a bay leaf. It’s best to cook the oxtails in a heavy casserole, such as Le Creuset. Cook the oxtails covered on the top of the stove over low heat for about 3 hours—Wolfert suggest putting a crumpled sheet of wet parchment paper over the oxtails while cooking, and that worked well. After two hours of cooking, I strained the liquid, leaving about half of the vegetables with the meat and pressing as much as I could through a coarse strainer; I think you could eliminate this step. Thicken with arrowroot, cornstarch or a beurre manie, if needed. Garnish with parsley and serve with mashed potatoes.

(Wolfert’s recipe calls for chilling the oxtails overnight to be able to remove the fat easily, and she also adds about a pound sautéed oyster mushrooms to finished dish, which she reheats in the oven in a shallow covered baking dish at 350 for 45 minutes or until heated through.)

Cranberry Cookies (from Betty Crocker)

Laura put this recipe in her blog before I got a chance to, but I decided I should add it anyway. These cookies are good year-round, though you'll have to freeze the cranberries or buy them frozen after the holidays. And do not omit the glaze!

Laura says, “My favorite Christmas cookie? It’s not what you’d think. My mother makes these cranberry cookies every holiday season. They’re an unusual cookie: They’re not too sweet and have a consistency almost like a small cake, rather than a cookie. I made them myself last week for a cookie swap with my fellow ShelterPop bloggers, and, if I do say so myself, they came out perfectly. Personally, I like one with my second cup of coffee mid-morning. Don’t skip the brown-butter glaze--it makes the cookie!”

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened (margarine may be used)
¼ cup milk
2 Tb orange juice (or use all orange juice, to avoid dairy products)
(optional: 1 Tb. grated orange peel)
1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour (up to half may be whole wheat—try to fine “white” whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
2-2½ cups coarsely chopped cranberries (frozen ok—chop while frozen)
1 cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts)

Heat oven to 375o. Mix sugars and butter, then stir in milk, orange juice, egg (and orange peel). Stir in remaining ingredients and drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheet. Bake until light brown, about 10-15 minutes. Cool slightly and then spread with glaze.

Browned butter glaze
Heat 1/3 cup of butter over low heat until golden brown; cool slightly. Stir in 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla. Beat in 2 to 4 tablespoons of hot water until smooth and of desired consistency. (Works also when milk solids are removed, to avoid dairy problems) You may also make a sugar glaze, using 2 cups powdered sugar, ½ tsp. vanilla and 3-4 Tb orange juice (or half & half)—add gradually until well combined and of spreading consistency.

Alison's Meatball & Cabbage Soup for the Demon

Here’s the soup recipe that goes with the duck broth in the last post. Alison’s meatballs, a combination of chicken and ground beef, sound delicious, but using what was on hand, I decided to go with the pork-venison mixture I had frozen earlier in the fall plus some ground beef. And instead of the pancetta in her recipe, I used “bacon bits” from our pig. It also occurred to me that I could use some of the great sausage from our local coop, if I wanted a quicker version.

The Meatballs
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
2 Tb. parsley
2 oz. bacon (or pancetta), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
¼ cup dried breadcrumbs or panko (or more, if needed)
¼ grated parmesan
1 egg, lightly beaten
About 1 lb. mixed ground or finely chopped meat (beef, pork, chicken thighs, venison, veal, turkey)

Cook the bacon or pancetta in a small pan, but do not let it become crisp. Put the onion, garlic, and parsley in the food processor and pulse the machine to chop the vegetables, then add the mixture to the bacon and cook for 2 or three minutes until the onion has softened. (Alison omits this step, and mixes the uncooked vegetables with the meat.) Cool. Add the ground meats to the onion mixture and mix well; then stir in the remaining ingredients. Form 1-inch balls and refrigerate until ready to use.

Finishing the Soup
3 Tb. olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 large or 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, chopped (Alison uses ¼ pound of spaghetti in her version, but I love potatoes in soup and have a lot on hand, after a trip to Costco)
2 Tb. chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
Several chard or kale leaves, chopped (optional)
½ head cabbage (preferably Savoy), finely shredded
2 tsp. chopped thyme
4 quarts meat broth
Salt and ground pepper, to taste
The meatballs

Cook the onions, celery, carrots and parsley in a large soup pot over medium heat for about 8—10 minutes, until vegetables are softened. Stir in the cabbage, potato, garlic, thyme and chard or kale and continue to cook for about 5 minutes. Pour in the stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Taste the soup and added salt and pepper to taste. Partially cover the soup and cook for 20—30 minutes. At this point add the meatballs to the soup and poach for 20—30 minutes.

(If using pasta instead of potatoes, cook it separately and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Add to the soup just before serving—or if you expect to have leftover soup, add to the individual soup plates, as pasta will swell up in the remaining soup.) I made the soup without the pasta, but next time I will use both!

After 30 minutes, check the meatballs to see if they are cooked through; continue cooking if they are not. When done, serve the soup in wide plates, sprinkled with parsley and with grated parmesan cheese on the side. Serves about 8.

Duck Stock

I’m making duck stock today, for some cabbage and meatball soup based on a recipe by my friend Alison, which I plan to make later—I will post the entire recipe when done. Alison’s broth calls for a combination of meats, but since I found myself with about a dozen duck carcasses (thanks to cousin Don), I decided to use just those. I put about 6 frozen carcasses in my big stock pot and stuck them in a 350 degree oven while I ate breakfast and read the paper—about hour or so. Then I added the following ingredients to the browned bones for the broth.

The Duck Stock
The browned duck carcasses
1 chopped carrot
1 quartered onion
2 celery stalks, with leaves (from the garden!)
Several sprigs of parsley
2 bay leaves
About 6 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
¼ cup of dried porcini bits, well rinsed (if you have them)
¼ to ½ cup of pureed tomatoes (I used some from last summer, frozen)
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. salt
Ground pepper
Cold water to cover

The broth should simmer for at least two hours, more if you have time. This is best made a day ahead (or longer and frozen). Strain the broth, saving any meat for the dog or cat! If you have time, cool the broth and spoon off any fat that rises to the surface.

Celery

Well, it’s been awhile, due to some family drama, as you may have learned from my holiday letter. But not much has been happening in the garden in the meantime, though we have been enjoying some lettuce, herbs, and celery. Last summer, quite by mistake, I planted 6 small celery plants (which I thought were Italian parsley). When I realized my mistake, it seemed a shame to tear them out, so I left them alone. While my celery does not grow in the tall straight stalks you find in the market, it has been a wonderful addition to my winter garden. Just about every soup or stew recipe I make calls for a stalk or two of celery, and it’s handy to step outside to pick a couple.