I’ve been eating less and less meat over the years but this recent staycation has my Mom’s oxtail recipe on my mind. Like any Jamaican mother, she seasons food via whispers from the ancestors so the recipe below is what I’ve gathered from watching with a few tweaks. Mommy makes the best oxtail and I know you’ll enjoy these :)

Time
Active Prep: 35 minutes Cook: 4.5 hours

Servings
2 plus a little extra for lunch the next day

Ingredients
First Set
2.25 lbs of trimmed oxtail
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 small onions, sliced
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1.5 tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp of Umami blend seasoning from Trader Joes (if you have it)
A pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1 dash of worteshire
2 tbsp browning
2 bunches of scallion
Second Set
1 tbsp of oil (any med-high temp oil will work)
16 oz beef broth
8 oz beef stock
4 springs of thyme
1 bay leaf
Last Set
3 tbsp of cornstarch
1 can of butter beans

Make Ahead

You can easily make this ahead of time and marinate by adding the first set of ingredients. That’s it. That’s pretty much the recipe.
The rest is patience, love and adjusting to perfection.

After your meat is seasoned by combining the first set of ingredients, heat the oil in a dutch oven. While the oil is heating, I usually separate pieces of onion and scallion from the meat so that the meat can brown evenly when searing. The onion, garlic, scallion and other seasoning will stay in the reserve liquid until it’s time to add them near the end of our cooking time.

Sear each piece of meat on both sides. The goal of this step isn’t to cook it through so a minute on each side should be sufficient. Be sure to adjust that time for larger and smaller pieces. Place the browned pieces on a separate plate.

Deglaze it!

Once all the pieces are brown, deglaze pan with beef broth and get all of those flavorful bits from the bottom. Preheat oven to 400. Add the oxtail, (any drippings from that dish too) and the remaining second set of ingredients.

Cover and place in the oven. For the next 2-3 hours, trust in the universe with all your heart that magic is being made. At the 2 hour point, stir and check your liquid level. There should be enough braising liquid in there to almost cover the meat. Add water if necessary.
You tasted it too, right? Well you should! Adjust salt and add thyme if you need to.

I promise you this isn’t a pot you have to watch. At the 3.5 hour mark, check for doneness. During the last half hour, drain butter beans, add to pot. Using a small bowl, create a slushy using the cornstarch and a half cup of cold water. Stir slushy into the pan of love being careful as the liquid is super hot. Also add the reserve liquid with the onions and garlic…give it a good a good stir and put it back in the oven.

I sometimes leave the lid off for the last half hour of cooking as the gravy reduces + thickens.

That’s it! That’s the recipe.

Serve over rice. Use the leftovers for breakfast with eggs and grits or for lunch in ramen.
Enjoy lovers!

Make Oxtail Cheap Again