Oxtail stew is one of my favorite meat dishes, so I have set out to perfect it. Actually, the meat is such a perfect marble of tendon and fat, and the bones add so much flavor to the sauce, one can hardly mess up.

A tip on cooking with wine: the general rule of thumb is that you don’t cook with wine you won’t drink. For this recipe, I used Trader Joe’s boxed Shiraz (only $13 for 3 liters, the equivalent of 4 bottles!) and could not be happier. Before you hate on boxed wine, they are great for cooking since they stay fresh after opening for 6 weeks. Shiraz is also a great choice for cooking meat since it adds a hint of sweetness.

In 4 hours, you’ll have a bowl of piping hot stew with meat that falls right off the bones. Enjoy!

Red Wine & Tomato Oxtail Stew

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Oxtail – 2.5 lb
Flour – 1 cup
Tomatoes – I used 3 cups from a can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes
Red Wine – 2 cups (Shiraz is great because of its sweetness)
Onion – 1, chopped
Garlic – half, minced
Bay Leaf – 3
Carrots – 2, cut into half-thumb size chunks
Celery – 2 stalks, cut into 3 (for flavoring only)

Directions:
1. Rinse and soak oxtail in water briefly. Cut off excess fat. Cover with salt and pepper and let sit for at least 15 minutes.
2. Lightly coat each piece of oxtail in flour and dust off any excess.  In a pan, heat olive oil in medium heat, brown the oxtail, about 3 minutes on each side.
3. In a separate pot, saute garlic and onion in olive oil. Add oxtail, wine, tomato and bay leaves. Make sure that the meat is entirely covered in the wine. If not, add more red wine or water. When it simmers, turn heat to low, let cook for 2.5 hours.
4. Skim the fat. Add carrots and celery, let cook another hour. Continue to skim the fat as necessary.
5. Before serving, remove celery and bay leaf. Serve with a side of rice.