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“Spanish oxtail stew” /> Spanish oxtail stew and us The first time I ate

Spanish style oxtail stew

was when we traveled to Cordoba here in Spain. When my husband first suggested that we take it as a tapa, I was very hesitant because… Well oxtail? Really?? He told me that there they make a delicious oxtail stew and ok, after a while I gave in.

Then came a bowl of oxtail stew with some fries to go with it. I don’t know if he was hungry or it was the most delicious oxtail stew he had ever eaten. And I’ve never eaten anything before. No, really. It was really delicious, no doubt.

After that cover, all I could think was how can I do it? Well, I LOVE recreating delicious food that we eat out, at home so we can take it whenever we want. Without having, in this case, to go to Córdoba to eat it.

Well, I

think with this recipe, I can say that I have successfully recreated it in my own way.

The oxtail

I

don’t know about your place, but in mine, they are not so cheap. But it was all worth it. We got our butcher’s oxtail at our town’s wet market. He cut it into pieces for us. Which is very good because I don’t think any of my knives can cut the tail of the bull. For this recipe I bought 1.5 kg of it.

So at home, I simply patted them dry and seasoned them with salt and black pepper. Then I covered them with flour and browned them everywhere. I know this is a slow cooker recipe, which some might think all you need to do is throw the ingredients inside the pot and cook it for hours and that’s it. Well, for me, it’s more than that.

Browning the meat will seal all the wonderful flavors. It really makes a difference. So if you want to try this recipe, I would really recommend that you take a few minutes to brown the oxtail pieces first. The cast iron skillet is great for browning meat and grilling, so if you have one, use it. Definitely.

Many

recipes I’ve found don’t involve this extra step. Many simply put the vegetables in pieces in the slow cooker. When the meat is done, or in this case the oxtail, they first take out the oxtail.

Then they take out the vegetables and put them in a food processor and mix them. And then pour the mixed mixture into the slow cooker, put the oxtail back on and continue cooking until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.

For me personally I feel that it is too much work? I don’t feel like pulling out the tender oxtail and risking them breaking while I’m doing it. I also don’t feel like taking out the vegetables, mixing them, and then putting them back in the pot. Too much, too much. Haha!

I just want it to be simplified. I know I wanted to cook the veggies for the base sauce, that’s definitely because I feel like they develop more flavors that way. I cooked them for about 15 minutes.

Yes, it

took extra time, but for me, it was worth it. So after cooking them I put them in a food processor and mix them with a little water, in a fine mixture.

Then, what I did was put all the pieces of golden oxtail in the slow cooker. Then I poured the mixed vegetables inside. Add some red wine and bay leaves as well. Flavors flavors flavors. Only then did I simmer it for 8 hours.

This way I didn’t need to get anything out of the pot. When they were cooked, I just served them. Simple, don’t you think?

Oh, a piece of advice. To remove all the grease from the surface of the pot, I used kitchen paper. I simply placed a kitchen paper on top of the grease and let it be absorbed by the kitchen paper.

Then I threw it away and placed another one until I saw that there was almost no grease on the surface. Of course, you can remove the fat with a spoon, but for me, it is faster to use the kitchen paper.

Another tip. Or explanation. All meat varies as does tenderness. I would recommend checking the 7th hour to see if you like the texture. Cook it for another hour, or even two if necessary. Mine needed another hour to get that bone-dropping texture.

So for this Spanish oxtail stew, we had it with some mashed potatoes. You can eat it with French fries, of course. But I love it when the sauce is mixed with the mashed potatoes, yum!! The oxtail simply falls from the bone when you simply push it. Super cute!

If you like

to cook with your slow cooker like me, maybe you also enjoy my slow

cooker chicken rendang video