Eating In

Serves 4
4 oz streaky bacon
¾ lb oxtail
½ lb stewing beef
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 carrots diced
2 sticks celery chopped
1 glass red wine
¾ pint stock
1 bay leaf, 1 sprig thyme and some parsley stalks
1 tbsp tomato puree
Salt and pepper
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
Butter
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas 3. (Or you can cook this gently on a ring). Chop up the bacon and sauté it in the olive oil in a frying pan for a few minutes before adding the onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Remove the bacon and vegetables to a casserole with a slotted spoon. Start frying the beef and oxtail a few pieces at a time. When they brown, add them to the casserole. When all the meat has been fried deglaze the frying pan with the wine and some of the stock to dissolve the caramelised meat juices. Add this to the casserole with the rest of the stock, the herbs, the tomato purée, salt and pepper. Cook slowly for about 4 hours by which time the oxtail should be falling off the bones. You may want to thicken the stew at this point. I would dissolve a couple of teaspoons of flour in
a little cold water and whisk in some of the liquor. Return this to the pan and bring back to the boil. Fry the sliced mushrooms in a little butter and add to the stew along with the chopped parsley. Serve with mashed potato.