Sweet Pea Journey

Family, Friendship, Food, Fun and Everything in Between!

Tagged: Comfort food

Cooking

Instant Pot Ox Tail

Seriously, I can’t live without my slow cookers or Instant Pots nowadays. They are so handy, either worry free cooking or huge time saver.

I tried this ox tail recipe in my trusty 6 qt instant pot, the smaller one I have. It fit perfectly, 8 qt one probably would be a bit more comfortable.

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Ingredients:

  • 3 lb oxtail1 yellow onion, sliced
  • 4 green onions sliced
  • 3 carrots, cut into 1 inch sections, half the thicker pieces
  • 1 green bell pepper, cut into pieces
  • 5 clove of garlic, minced
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp 7-spice or all spice
  • 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 1 Tbsp BBQ sauce of your choice
    1 tsp dried herb province

Method:

Wash and pat dry oxtail pieces and put in a large bowl (I used my stock pot since all my stainless steel bowls were occupied). Add brown sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder, 7-spice or all spice into the pot and mix well with ox tail pieces. Set aside to marinate.

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In the mean time cut up all vegetables and garlic.

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Set instant pot on saute function. Add oil once pot is hot. Brown ox tail pieces on all sides till brown. About 2 minutes per side. Brown the pieces in batches to avoid over crowding the pot. Set the browned ox tail pieces into a bowl.

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Once all oxtail pieces are browned. Add a splash of the beef broth to de-galze the pot, using a wooden spoon and scrape all the dark goodness off the bottom of the pot. Add all the vegetables into the pot and saute for a few minutes until the vegetables are softened.
Add the remaining of seasoning into the pot, mix well with the vegetables, add the browned oxtail pieces back into the pot, pour the remaining beef broth into the pot, lid on, seal the vent, and change the setting to pressure cooking, on high for 50 minutes.

Once the pressure cooking process is completed, let it naturally release the pressure.

About 20 minutes later, enjoy a bowl of delicious oxtail stew, you will never believe this pot of pure deliciousness was done within an hour and a half, from start to finish.

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Cooking

Red Wine Braised Oxtail and Vegetables

I made this dish tonight for dinner pick up. I have to say, the house smells so good, and I am very much tempted to keep it for myself!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 lb fresh oxtail, cut into 1 inch sections

1 onion, cut into wedges

2 carrots, cut into chunks

4 medium white potatoes, cut into chunks

2 ribs of celery, cut into small chunks

5 cloves of garlic, smashed

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs of flat leaf parsley

5 cups of beef broth

1/2 bottle of red wine, heated on stove and reduced to half

1 tbsp of each: salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

2 tbsp butter, divided

 

Method:

Combine flour, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder in a plate, dredge oxtail on all sides and shake off excess flour mixture.

Heat up 1 tbsp butter in a heavy bottom pan (I used my trusty dutch oven) on medium high heat, brown dredged oxtail on all sides, about 10 minutes. Set aside. Brown in batches if needed.

Heat up oven to 325 F.

When browning oxtail, prepare your veggies. Once oxtails are browned, go in with the rest of 1 tbsp butter, throw all vegetables into the pan and lower heat to medium, soften vegetables for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally. I like the caramelized colors on my vegetables, adds flavor. Add parsley, thyme, bay leaf, beef broth and reduced wine. Layer browned oxtail on top of vegetables.

Bring pot to a boil, lid on. Kill the heat. Put whole pot into oven, let it go for 3 to 3.5 hours.

By the time the oxtails are done, most of the liquid is absorbed into the luxurious falling-off-the-bone meat, and the vegetable are semi melted into the sauce, with a bit of a bite left.  Flour in the juices will help thicken the gravy. Add a knob of butter if preferred, ladle the gravy over dished up oxtail and vegetables and serve.

 

 

Cooking

Cold Day Beef Stew

This is one of the easy comfort food recipes. It’s easily prepared, basic techniques, doesn’t require exotic ingredients. Once you are comfortable with the basic method, you can put your own twist on it.

Ingredients:

2 lb beef chuck roast, cubed into 1 inch chunks.  Doesn’t have to be exact on the weight, a bit more or a bit less doesn’t really make much difference in the final product. Chuck roast is a great cut for beef stew, the connected tissues will break down during the cooking process and the meat will be tender and flavorful.

1/4 c plain flour, salt and pepper to taste

2 carrots, peeled and roughly cut into chunks.

3 golden potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut into rough chunks about 1 hours into cooking process. Or you can cut them early and soak in water to prevent browning.

1 large yellow / white / sweet onion, roughly chopped

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

1 large sprig of rosemary and 2 sprigs of thyme, perfect aromatic for beef stew. If you don’t have access to fresh herbs, use about 2 tsp of dry herb instead, no biggie

about 3 cups of beef stock, or water (or 1 cup of red wine + 2 cups of stock / water, flavor would be much deeper)

1 tbsp tomato paste

 

Method:

In a large bowl, season beef with salt and pepper, mix to combine. Dust flour onto beef cubes, mix to even coat beef with flour. This will help thicken the sauce in the end. Heat a dutch oven or a heavy bottom stew pot on medium high heat, drizzle about 2 tbsp mild flavored oil until oil is heated up. Drop beef cubes in and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Brown beef cubes in batches if needed, please do not crowd the pan, otherwise the temperature will drop too much and beef won’t be properly browned. Don’t be tempted to move the meat around, just drop the beef in, and let them alone. Once the beef is browned, they will be much easier to be turned. There will be some darker bits at the bottom of the pan, don’t worry about it at all, it’s all good flavor. Put browned beef cubes into a bowl and set aside.

Drop in onions and sweat in the same pot, no need to clean after browning beef! Moisture released by onions will help loosen up the brown bits in the pan, just scrape the bottom of the pan as needed with your spatula or wooden spoon, while moving onions around. After a couple of minutes, add in garlic. Again, no need to finely chop, the long cooking process will break them down for you beautifully. In about 30 seconds, you can smell the aroma of garlic. Add carrots and cook for a couple of minutes. Push the veggies towards one side, add the tomato paste into the open area and let the heat “wake up” the flavor. Move it around with the spoon, and mix with the veggies after about 10 seconds. Drop in herbs, let them wake up. Add red wine, if you are using it. De-glaze the pan and give the alcohol a chance to cook out. Add the remaining liquid in a couple of minutes. Mix it together. Add beef back into the pot, juices and all. Mix and bring the whole thing to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and walk away.

Return after about 1 hour,  add potatoes into the stew, mix to combine. Lid back on and let it simmer for another 40 minutes or so. Stir every 10 minutes or so to make sure nothing is stuck at the bottom and there is enough liquid. When the stew is done, taste and adjust with salt and pepper as needed.

I’d like to serve the stew over white rice, pasta, or with nice warm tortilla, make a beef stew taco! You can also mop the juices with dinner rolls, use left over beef chunks on pizza, make empanadas or even enchiladas! The possibility is truly endless.

How do you like your beef stew, and how would you serve it?