Oxtail Consomme

Here is my first post of 2012. I am following the Oxtail Consomme recipe from Jennifer McLagan in her book Bones. I see the recipe has been reproduced on the web word for word. Just search for "Oxtail Consomme with Sherry".

Here is my interpretation of the recipe. I did try to follow it quite closely. However, I did make a few alterations due to the ingredients I had on hand. In particular, I didn't have any sherry.

The original recipe is supposed to yield six cups. I got 8 cups out of it. I should have reduced it to concentrate the flavours as I found it a bit thin on flavour. The leek flavour was a little strong so I would try to reduce the amount used in the raft a little bit next time.

For Oxtail Stock
Ingredients
2 Carrots
2 celery
2 onion
1 bulb garlic
granulated garlic
2.1kg Oxtail
1/4cup Port
2 cups water
2 tbsp dried thyme
4 or 5 bay leaves
1 tbsp peppercorns
10 cup water

Preheat the oven to 400F

Slice the carrots, celery and onion and add to the roasting pan. Slice the garlic bulb in half and add to the pan. Season the oxtail with salt, pepper and granulated garlic and add to the pan on top of the vegetables.

Oxtails Ready to Roast

Roast for 1 hour, turning the oxtail pieces half way through.

Roasted Oxtails

When done move all the oxtail and vegetables to a stock pot. De-glaze the roasting pan with the port and 2 cups water. Add to the stock pot with thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 hours.

Strain the stock through a sieve. Reserve the oxtails and discard the rest of the debris. Cool the stock and refrigerate over night so the fat turns solid. The remove the oxtail meat from the bones and use in soups, pasta sauces or any application where you want a nice beefy taste.

For the Raft
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1/2 large leek
175g medium ground beef
2 egg whites
2 tbsp water

Dice the carrot, celery and slice leeks and add to a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the ground beef, egg white and water. Process until well combined.

Remove the stock from the fridge. Skim the solid fat off the top. Move the gelled stock to a pot. There will be some debris at the bottom, try to leave that out. Warm the stock in the pot to liquify it again. Add the raft and bring to a boil stirring frequently to keep the raft from sticking. When it starts to boil create a hole in the raft to allow the steam to escape and simmer for 45 minutes.

Jelled Stock

Move the raft to a bowl and strain the consomme through cheese cloth.

Consommé

Done!