madbaker | Tail. It's What's For Dinner.

This week's Resolution Recipe: Braised Oxtail with Suet Dumplings.

5 lbs oxtail, cut into pieces
salt and pepper
3 Tbsp beef dripping (I used leftover pig grease)
3 celery stalks, halved and sliced
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large orange
1 cup red wine
3 cups beef stock (I used house-made chicken)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed (All together now: I used... more.)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
3 bay leaves
1 tsp toasted cumin seeds
2 cloves
~~1 star anise~~ (neither the wife nor I can stand anise.)

Heat the oven to 300. Pat the oxtail dry and season with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven, heat the beef dripping over medium-high heat and brown the oxtail in batches. As they brown, transfer the pieces to a plate. Add the celery, onions, and carrots to the emptied pan and cook until slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Remove the zest from the orange and set aside. Pour the wine into the pan and bring to a boil. Deglaze, using a wooden spoon to scrape up browned bits from the bottom. Stir in the stock, garlic, and tomato paste, then add in the rest.

Return the oxtail pieces to the pan and cover with a damp piece of parchment paper to keep things moist. Cover and braise in the oven until the meat is tender but not falling off the bone, 3-4 hours. Transfer the oxtail to a platter and strain the liquid into a glass measuring cup, leaving to cool. Cover and refrigerate the meat and cooking liquid overnight.

The next day, remove all the fat from the top of the jellied liquid and any from the oxtail pieces. Set the fat aside to use in other things. Heat the oven to 300 and squeeze the orange to get 1/2 cup juice.

Place the oxtail in a baking dish; put the jellied liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil until reduced to 2 cups. Add the orange juice and pour over the oxtail. Cook in the oven, uncovered, until the meat is almost falling from the bone (about 1 hour). Serve with suet dumplings.

Suet Dumplings:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2/3 cup (2 oz) grated suet
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2 cups stock or water
salt and pepper

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the bread crumbs, suet, parsley, and salt. Whisk the egg and stir it into the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Tip onto a floured surface and knead gently for a few seconds. Divide into six equal pieces and roll each into a ball.

Bring the stock to boil in a wide saucepan and season with salt and pepper. Add the dumplings, lower the heat to simmer, cover, and simmer until the dumplings have doubled in size and are cooked through, 15-20 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and serve.

What worked: The oxtail was unctuous and very good with the coolish, dampish weather. The dumplings went nicely along with.

What didn't: The oxtail was not as fatty as some I've gotten, so the overnight rest didn't render off much fat. Also I forgot to buy suet so I used leaf lard, which didn't hold together as well in the dumplings. My pan was too big and so the dumplings were not covered in liquid - meaning they were still a bit dry in the centers. Still good though.

Will I make it again? Sure, although I'm more likely to make the dumplings to go with other things.

What I'm reading: Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind