Here is the oxtail (cow) stew. Cooking is one of the traditional healthy ways that black women often competed with each other. All the men knew who kept a clean house and who had the best food on Sundays. The preacher finding himself at your table on a regular was a pretty good sign. Pound cakes and homemade rolls were another category along with pickling and canning. Most women would never share their recipes because that would often be the thing that would bring certain men knockin at the door. Now days cooking doesnt seem to matter much to young folks and has been cut out of the pursuit to happiness and having a loving home environment. A woman who could cook and clean to make some babies with was cherished and it didnt hurt if she could take a needle and thread to some fabric either. Oxtails cut into 2 inch or so pieces (most stores sell them this way) washed and patted dry Seasoned with pepper, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder and placed in a brown bag of flour with the same seasoning added to the flour; shake them until they are coated with the flower (trade secret: seering in hot oil breaks the fibers in the beef and aids in having tender meat) carrots sliced on a diagonal (scrub the carrots with a vegetable brush and cut the ends off before slicing) 1 can of tomato paste (size depends on how much stew; 6 oz or the next size up if you are making a really big pot) large can of stewed tomatoes 2 cans of lima beans drained(or kidney beans if you are making a brown gravy based stew) Large chopped onion chopped celery about 5 stalks vegetable broth minced garlic 3 bay leaves canola or olive oil 2 beef bouillon cubes oregano basil and whatever seasonings you want to use to put your own stank on it I dont cook with salt. The bouillon and the canned items are more than enough salt in the recipe. Chop everything that needs to be chopped and diced and put it in a bowl together; including the carrots. In a stock pot add the tomato paste, stewed tomatoes, vegetable broth, bay leaves, bouillon cubes, oregano, basil, a little pepper, 6-8 whole peppercorns, drained lima beans bring this to a boil while stirring. Get the skillet with a small amount of oil really hot. Put the floured oxtails in and brown on all sides. Put them in the stock pot. Then in the same skillet (may need to add a tiny bit more oil) put in the chopped onions, diced celery, carrots and minced garlic. Stir until onions are somewhat clear looking. Scape all that is in the skillet into the stock pot that contains the base and the oxtails. Let it all come back to a boil while stirring constantly. Reduce to a simmer. Let cook for 2 hours stirring every 1/2 hour or so. After 2 hour now is the time to start checking the meat. If cooked to long the meat will be stringy so you dont want it to fall of the bone. What you are looking for is to be able to open the oxtail easily with a fork. This is it. I hope that I havent left anything out.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 01:53:14 +0000
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