Oxtail stew recipe | Jamie Oliver soup and stew recipes (2024)

FAQs

What makes stew more flavorful? ›

Alternate way to thicken stew gravy: Remove the oxtails/vegetables, leaving the liquid in the pot. Make a cornstarch slurry in a small bowl (1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water, mixed until combined). Stir mixture into stew liquid and simmer until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes.

If it tastes off-balance, add some finishing flavors to bring it to the next level. Try adding soy sauce or Worcestershire for extra savory (or umami) flavor, a touch of honey or brown sugar for sweetness, lemon zest or vinegar for brightness or chili powder or smoked paprika for spice and depth.

"Soups and stews really need to simmer for long periods to allow the ingredients to meld together. Taking that a step further, most soups and stews are better if you prepare them the day before serving. Allowing them to cool and then reheating them really helps bring out the flavors and textures."

But the liquid itself should not be thick in the same way that gravy is thick. So skip the roux, and don't bother dusting the meat with flour or cornstarch before browning, either, as some recipes will suggest. That will just interfere with getting a good sear on the meat, and gum up the stew with unneeded starch.

There is a good amount of fat and collagen that melt into your dishes as oxtail cooks, which will give a wonderful round texture to sauces and that slightly sticky feel to the meat. And the bonus flavor from the bone marrow that will cook into your dishes make this cut one to really get to know and not be afraid of!

Put the meat in the oil and sear each side for a couple of minutes. Browning your oxtails will not cook the meat. Instead, it will enhance its color and aroma by caramelizing its exterior. Browning beef oxtails in a hot skillet before braising will also add rich depth and flavor to the meat.

By soaking and blanching the oxtail before cooking any impurities are removed. To cook: Oxtail requires long, slow cooking to produce tender, succulent meat.

Combining braised oxtails with carrots, parsnips, and turnips makes for delicious soul food. Serve this recipe with rice or with mashed potatoes.

What vegetables go well with oxtails? ›

Roasted root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, and turnips are a delicious and healthy side dish that pairs well with oxtails. The sweet and savory flavors of the vegetables provide a satisfying contrast to the meaty and flavorful oxtails.

That's because oxtail is packed with amazing connective tissues, cartilage, fat and bone and while its cooking these are broken down to the most amazing tender meat and nourishing collagen rich broth packed with nutrients that are great for healing your gut lining.

Vinegar can add depth of flavour to soups, sauces, and stews. Especially great for tomato-based recipes, you can add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar towards the end of the cooking process to amplify the flavours of your other ingredients.

There are flavors in tomatoes that are alcohol-soluble, so adding red wine along with tomato paste also helps to enhance beef stew." Laurence has a few other tricks I've borrowed to create the best beef stew, including adding Worcestershire, which gets a serious umami punch from anchovies.

Very simply put, browning equals flavor. As beef sears, the outside caramelizes, adding extra flavor to the beef, not to mention creating these tasty little browned bits that form on the bottom of the pot. Without browning, the finished stew just won't taste as good and the sauce won't be as dark.

It is a good idea to always taste the stew before serving. Adding a bit of sauce, some herbs, some seasoning or even brown sugar or honey can just lift the taste. I had a friend who swore by putting a spoonful of peanut butter in her stews to flavour and thicken them.

Personally I would add as many aromatics and flavor enhancing substances that I like. If the stew is already finished, then you can sauté onions, garlic peppers, celery and carrots then add them to the stew. I would also add some herbs and finally salt and pepper to taste.