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Oxtail & Butter Beans or w/Carrots or Potatoes ~ Cook Food Caboose
$ 14.00
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Oxtail & Butter beans with Rice & Peas
Oxtail & Butter beans recipe or w/ Carrots or Potatoes
The majority of times I have enjoyed oxtails has been in the classic Cuban dish named, “Rabo Encendido.” The translation is literally “Lit Tail.”
This is supposedly due to the spice level in the dish, but unless I make it myself or have it in the home of another chile-loving person, the spice is mild, while the flavor is great. I love the tomato-ey rich stew that I have eaten since venturing into places like “El Siboney” in Key West years ago. I had it there again recently.
In Spain, there are stews made from the Cola de Vaca. This means the ‘tail of the cow.’ Innocent enough, but wait, a cow is not an ox. When did it jump the fence so to speak?
Oxtail is the culinary name for the tail of cattle. It once meant the tail of an ox or steer (a castrated male). Before it is cut up, the average tail weighs anywhere from two to four pounds. It is skinned and cut into short lengths which are better for cooking.
Stewed oxtail with butter beans is popular in Jamaica, Trinidad, and other West Indian cultures. Sancocho is a revered soup that often features oxtails in Colombia and elsewhere in South America. In Mexico, there is a dish featuring both oxtails and beans from Sonora called, inexplicably, “Gallina Pinta.” South Africans cook oxtails in traditional three-legged cast iron skillets. I have to wonder about three legs and a tail.
In the U.S. soul cooking has prized oxtails as highly as any food culture in the world!
The Flemish make stew named “Hotchpotch.” It is typically made with just oxtails, but sometimes with pig’s ear and tails, breast of beef, shoulder of mutton, salt bacon, and various vegetables. The word comes from the old French word hottison, which means ‘to shake.’
Stewed oxtail has been a popular meal in the Cayman Islands for decades. It was originally introduced with our history with Jamaica when they were under British rule. The dish starts off by seasoning the meat and frying in hot oil for nice caramel color. Next, the oxtail is transferred to a pressure cooker for 20 – 25 minutes to tenderize the meat and soften the bones. The meat is then slow-cooked in a delicious gravy with broad beans (Butter beans) or some may opt for diced carrots or potatoes, herbs, and spices. The best way to enjoy a meal of a Caymanian prepared Oxtail is to suck the bone dry after you`ve enjoyed the tender meat!
Prep and Cooking time 1hr
Serves 2 -4
Ingredients
- 2-3 lbs oxtails (chopped into small to medium pieces)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil may be substituted with olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp black pepper
- 1 whole yellow medium onion cut in half-moon slices
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/4 scotch bonnet pepper (chopped and de-seeded if spicy) 1 whole pepper for the pot
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 stalks scallions chopped (AKA green onions)
- 7 whole allspice seeds (AKA pimento seeds)
- 1 1/2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- 1 can butter beans (optional)
- 1 large potato peeled and diced (optional)
- 1 large carrot peeled and diced (optional)
- 1 tbsp browning sauce
Instructions
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The first thing you want to do is clean your oxtails. You start by trimming the excess fat from your chopped oxtails with a knife. You then soak them in a solution of lemon juice, and water, you can also use salt, or white vinegar as a substitute for lemon juice. Let the oxtails sit in this solution for about an hour. You then rinse the oxtails in freshwater. Your oxtails are now ready to be seasoned
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In a large mixing bowl, add black pepper to your oxtails. You then add 1 teaspoon of paprika, add your chopped onion, scallions (green onions), chopped garlic, scotch bonnet (habanero) pepper, thyme, and allspice seeds. Add Worcestershire sauce and browning sauce to your oxtails. Rub vigorously until your oxtails are completely coated and infused by the seasonings you’ve just added. Let sit for 1 hour (overnight is ideal for a proper marinade).
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Add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a large saucepan under a medium flame. When the oil becomes hot (approximately 5 minutes), place your seasoned oxtails in the saucepan until your oxtails become brown (approximately 5 minutes). Keep flipping the meats to get a nice even browning.
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Then transfer to a pressure cooker and add 3 cups of water and add your beef bouillon cube. Let in cook for 30-35 mins and then let cool normal or run pot under running water then you can remove the pressure cooker lid. Stir occasionally and let cook under a medium flame for about 1/2 an hour while stirring intermittently. Add the butter beans (remember to drain the water from the can) after about 10 mins before the oxtail finish time. Let simmer and add a little water if needed. You can also substitute or combine in diced potatoes or carrots for the same recommended cook time.
*Serve with White Rice or Rice & Beans and sides
Notes
- If you can, get oxtails that are well-trimmed, if not, remove as much visible fat as you can before cooking it.
- Oxtail soups tend to be too oily for some folks, so towards the end of the cooking process use a spoon to spoon off any extra fat at the top of the dish.
- Also, another way is to cook the dish a day ahead, refrigerate and remove visible fat at the top.
