Slow Cooked Oxtail Croquettes served on a bed of Shallot Marmalade with Oxtail Cooking Sauce and Tarragon

My latest starter recipe invention and quite possibly my favourite to date! One you can prepare the day before too, so great for a dinner party!

Oxtail is an underused yet highly flavoursome cut of beef – I’ve slow cooked it and served in croquette form on top of a shallot marmalade and finished in it’s own cooking sauce.

It makes for a wonderful marriage of contrasting tastes and textures and I’ve finished off with the sweet anise flavour of tarragon (I can’t recommend the addition of the tarragon enough – it balances the dish perfectly).

Makes 3-4 Croquettes 

Ingredients:

450G oxtail cut into large pieces
500ml red wine
750ml beef stock
250ml port
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
4 sprigs thyme
2-3 garlic cloves finely sliced
1 egg yolk beaten for coating
Flower for coating
Breadcrumbs for coating
Snip of tarragon

(For the shallot marmalade follow my recipe here)

Method:

• Heat a splash of oil in a large saucepan over a high heat and brown the chunks of oxtail all over.  Set aside.

• In the same pan lower the heat slightly and add the onion and brown slightly.  Add the carrot and garlic and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
• Add the tomato puree and stir through.  Now add the bay leaf and thyme and cook for 2-3 minutes longer.

• Now add the wine, stock and port and bring to a simmer.
• Add the browned oxtail to the pan, bring to the boil then reduce to a low heat. 450g of oxtail should take around 3 ½ hours to cook, but it’s worth checking regularly after 3 hours to ensure the meat doesn’t overcook.  The meat should be ready when it’s almost falling away from the bone (it should come away easily with a spoon).  The cooking sauce should be reduced by around half and should have thickened ever so slightly.  Remove from the heat.

• Remove the meat from the pan and allow to cool slightly.  Now separate the meat from the bone, discarding any fatty bits.

• Combine the meat into a sausage shape around 3cm thick and spoon some of the liquid from the cooking sauce over it (this will allow the meat to retain moisture and will keep it packed full of flavor).  Wrap tightly in cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

• Keep the rest of the excess cooking sauce to serve with croquettes later (there will be enough left over to use at a later date – it can be frozen and makes for an absolutely amazing gravy).

• Remove the oxtail sausage from the fridge and cut into barrel shapes.  Remove the cling film ready to coat.

• Season some flower and roll the croquettes in it, then cover in the beaten egg.  Roll in breadcrumbs until completely coated. Pre-heat the oven to 160c/gas mark 3.

• Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the croquettes until golden brown all over.  Now transfer to the pre-heated oven and cook for 4/5 minutes.

• While the croquettes are cooking, pass some of the oxtail cooking juices through a fine sieve into a saucepan and re-heat for serving over the croquettes.
• With a cooks ring, place some shallot marmalade on a serving plate.  Place one cooked croquette on top and another to the side and finish with the heated cooking sauce.  Add a snip of tarragon to compliment the rich, hearty flavour of the meat.

My rich, hearty, some what French, somewhat Scottish Venison pie!

So, I’ve been back studying the French classics again recently – the dishes of Robuchon and Roux etc, and what is always apparent is their love of hearty, wholesome, full of flavour dishes!

It’s been a while since I’ve cooked venison, so I thought I’d combine the passion of rich, hearty French cooking with some locally sourced Scottish produce!  So a wander round the Edinburgh farmers market and half a kilo of venison, some juniper berries and some goose fat later, I was ready to have a stab at my very own venison pie!

I’ve gone full on with the meaty flavours, using beef stock and port to compliment the rich, punchy flavour of the venison!

The addition of redcurrant jelly and juniper berries adds a zing and fruity notes to the dish!

Ingredients

2 shallots finely chopped
500g venison shoulder
2 garlic cloves crushed and chopped
75g wild mushrooms
1 carrot finely chopped
1 stick celery finely chopped
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
small handful of juniper berries (caution, they’re strong)
100g pancetta
1 tbsp plain flour
300ml beef stock
250ml port or red wine
1 sheet of rolled puff pastry
1 egg beaten
goose fat (for cooking)

Preheat oven to 180c/Gas 4

1. Heat some oil in a pan until very hot then brown the venison in batches (be sure only to brown and not overcook).  Transfer to a plate or bowl and allow them to cool in their own juices.
2. Heat the goose fat in a large flameproof casserole dish.  Add the shallots and brown slightly.  Add the garlic, celery, carrot and pancetta and fry till soft and slightly browned.
3. Add the mushrooms, juniper berries, thyme and bay leaf and cook for 3 minutes. Add the flour and  allow the ingredients to thicken slightly.  Now add the redcurrant jelly.
4. Start adding the stock then the port and bring to the boil.  Now add the meat and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Allow to sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly then cover and add to the preheated oven for 1 – ½ hours.  Keep an eye on the liquid level, you still want to maintain a good level of liquid to stop the meat drying out.
6. Remove from the oven and turn the temperature of the oven up to 200c/Gas 6
7. Transfer the contents of the casserole to a pie dish and cover with the pastry.  Crimp the edges and/or add your own design to the pastry then brush with egg mix.  Score a small cross in the middle of the pastry and insert a small chimney of greaseproof paper.  Transfer back into the oven and cook for around 30 minutes or until the pastry is a golden brown colour (I advise to overcook the pastry slightly rather than undercook.  The last thing you want is soggy pastry).
8. Steam or boil some sliced runner beans and serve alongside some parsnip puree or mash and a quenelle of redcurrant jelly.  Enjoy!

My Sweet and Spicy Meatballs

I conjured this recipe up a good 5 years ago and they’ve gone down an absolute treat every time i’ve cooked them!  I urge you to try these – they’re a perfect mix of the fresh flavours of Italy (tomato, mozzarella, basil) and the smokey flavour of Spanish chorizo with some added paprika!

It’s well worth investing in good quality meatballs (or make your own) and a good quality chorizo ring (you won’t need much oil for frying – the oil in the chorizo will more than suffice – in fact you may have to drain some off before adding the sauce contents)

Perfect for feeding a crowd!

Here’s the recipe:

12 beef meatballs
1 chorizo ring (chopped)
1 red onion
3 garlic cloves
2 x tins of chopped tomatoes
1 jar of sweet peppadew peppers (i also highly recommend el Navaricco piquillo peppers)
2 tablespoons of ketchup
1 mozzarella ball (chopped)
Handful of fresh basil
Splash of red wine
1 teaspoon of paprika
10-12 drops of tabasco
1 garlic bread (i urge you to use a £1 supermarket baton (don’t go all focaccia)

1. Finely chop the onion, garlic and chorizo
2. Heat oil to a high temperature and fry the meatballs, onions and garlic until brown.  Add the chorizo and fry for a further 5 to 6 minutes (you may need to drain some oil as the chorizo will give off some excess)
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, chopped sweet peppers, ketchup, tabasco, paprika and red wine.
4. Bring to the boil then lower to a medium heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Put the garlic bread in a pre-heated oven.
6. When the sauce has reduced slightly, add the chopped mozzarella ball and melt through the sauce.
7. Simmer the meatballs for a further 3 to 4 minutes until reduced to a nice thick and rich sauce.
8. Serve the meatballs in a bowl and garnish with some fresh basil.
9. Season to taste

Braised shin of beef

The shin is absolutely full of flavour and is a really under-rated cut of beef. Keep it simple and slow cook in a rich beefy sauce for best effect!

You’re definitely best heading to a reputable local butcher to source the meat!  I can highly recommend George Bower in Stockbridge, Edinburgh.

Here’s my recipe:

2kg shin of beef, trimmed and filleted into roughly 5/6cm chunks
1 bottle of dry red wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 medium onion diced
1 bay leaf
1-1.15 litre of rich beef stock

1 litre of chicken stock
2 or 3 sprigs of thyme
1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato paste or a few sun-dried tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
30g plain flour
1 sprig of rosemary

Place the beef fillets and bone into a dish and cover with the bottle of red wine.  Marinate for 24 hours.

Remove the meat from the wine, season, and brown on all sides on a high heat in an oven proof pan.  Remove the meat when browned and add the onion, carrot and celery.  Brown the vegetables and place the meat back in the pan along with the reserved red wine.

When the wine has a slightly syrupy consistency, add the plain flour. When the flour is mixed in start adding both the chicken and beef stock then add the remaining ingredients.

Transfer to a pre-heated oven at around 160 degrees and cook for around 3 hours.

Strain the sauce (it should have a nice syrupy consistency) through a fine sieve and pour over the beef.

Serve with baby carrots or mashed potatoes.