Red Wine Braised Oxtails

Red Wine Braised Oxtails simmer for hours in the slow cooker becoming meltingly tender and delicious.

“What is an OXTAIL?” you ask. Well, an oxtail may well have started out as the tail of an ox or castrated steer back in ye olden days. What you see in grocery stores now is most likely the tail of a cow cut into sections. Its bony and fatty and needs to be cooked for a long time but when it’s finished cooking what you get is the most succulent piece for tender delicious meat.

I’m going to serve this for Kwanzaa dinner with my Church Basement Collard Greens and Crispy Black Eyed Peas and Yuca cakes (from Pierre Thiam’s cookbook “Senegal”)

I used my Wolfgang Puck multicooker which can sear and brown meat as well as slow cook in one unit (I think it’s been discontinued)  but the Ninja 3-in-1 6 Qt. Multi-cooker
and the

Cuisinart MSC-600 3-In-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-Cooker: Slow Cooker, Brown/Saute, Steamer  
work in a similar way. Both have high customer ratings on Amazon)

I braised the Oxtails in House Of Mandela Cabernet Sauvignon a fruity and balanced red with a smooth finish. I was gifted this bottle, I had not tried it before so I gave it a taste. I really enjoyed this wine and knew it would be perfect in this recipe as well as to serve along with it.

You can make Red Wine Braised Oxtails in a traditional crock pot slow cooker if you like, just sear the oxtails and vegetables in a separate pan before you add them to the crock pot. Deglaze that pan with the red wine then pour that over the oxtails in the crock pot. You can also make this in a Dutch oven, sear the oxtails on the stove top and finish braising in the oven at 325 degrees.

Red Wine Braised Oxtails

Demetra Overton

I strained the liquid after cooking and used a fat separator to separate the broth from the fat

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 hours hrs

Total Time 8 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  

• 4 pounds of oxtails
• 1 large onion
• 2 carrots
• 1/4 cup ketchup (yes ketchup I use Heinz. You can use tomato sauce if you don't believe me about the ketchup...but trust me on this
• 1 cup red wine I used House of Mandela Cabernet sauvignon
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup of water
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 6 whole peppercorns
• 4-5 whole allspice optional
• 2 bay leaves
• 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 Scotch bonnet or habenero pepper

Instructions

 

• Dry the oxtails off and sear them on all sides over high heat. You shouldn't need any oil, the oxtails have a bit of fat on them. You may have to do this in batches
• While the meat is searing. Peel and chop your carrots and onion into 2 inch pieces. Take the papery skin off of the garlic but leave it whole
• Remove the oxtails from the cooker and add the carrots, onion and whole garlic cloves
• Saute the vegetables for 3-4 minutes.
• Add the ketchup and stir for 30 seconds
• Pour in the red wine and simmer for 2 minutes
• Add the peppercorns, allspice, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, soy sauce and water.
• With the tip of a small knife pierce the Scotch bonnet or habenero pepper. Just poke two tiny holes in it but leave it whole and add it to the pot
• Switch the multi cooker to slow cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
• The oxtails are done when a fork can go through it easily.
• If you are cooking in a Dutch oven cover it and place it in the oven at 325 degrees for 4 hours
• Remove the oxtails and set them aside
• Strain and reserve the liquid and discard the vegetables
• Pour the liquid into a fat separator
• Pour the liquid over the oxtails (stop pouring so the fat doesn't go in)
• Serve