Cookin with oxtails! Anyone?

Safari_Gal_

Hi Y’all!

So I have this old family oxtail stew recipe. (Coda Alla Vaccinara) - basically “tails from a slaughterhouse” or “oxtail butcher style.”

It’s oxtails which I know have more collagen in them and makes a nice rich brodo... so I was thinking of slow cooking them. (The original recipe calls for 4 hours in a pot - first flash boiled then slow simmered.) Includes raisins, coco powder, pancetta and pignoles for taste along with celery, tomatoes, wine, herbs and all sorts of good things...

Has anyone made oxtails in a crockpot? I’m sure it can be done on low—I just don’t want it to turn to mush. Guess i have a small science project coming up.. 🤓 Wondering if the wine will do well in a crock pot too ...hmm 🤔

Guess I’ll report back!


Thanks for sharing your experiences!

M

vaman

Oxtails are rarely, if ever available in most American supermarkets, I think it's a product that would have to be purchased from a real butcher shop. May not be too many folks that are experienced in preparing them.

lx1x

Peanut sauce stew style.. yum.

I typically use pressure cooker to soften the meat (falls off the bone)

Safari_Gal_

vaman wrote: »

Oxtails are rarely, if ever available in most American supermarkets, I think it's a product that would have to be purchased from a real butcher shop. May not be too many folks that are experienced in preparing them.

lx1x wrote: »

Peanut sauce stew style.. yum.

I typically use pressure cooker to soften the meat (falls off the bone)

@vaman - great tip! I do have a small local butcher shop I use for about everything! They are definitely less common cuts.

@lx1x - oooooh I never thought about a pressure cooker for the oxtails. 🤔

Thanks both! 🤗

Lasmartchika

I usually cook oxtail in my beef soup along with neck bones. I find them at the Mexican supermarket...

yukfoo

https://panlasangpinoy.com/beef-kare-kare-recipe/

maureenkhilde

Well I live in Florida, and I have been buying Oxtails here for over 20 years. Some chains do carry them. Depends where you live maybe.

I have a couple of different Oxtail recipes, but admit I have not done in slow cooker. I normally cook in pot method, and put oxtails and some of the water/juice they cooked with in Refrigerator overnight so I can separate out the majority of the fat the next day. Then make the soup.

lx1x

yukfoo wrote: »

https://panlasangpinoy.com/beef-kare-kare-recipe/

Yup.. yummies

spinnerdell

I live in rural Nevada where grocery selection is spotty, but the local Walmart always seems to have vacuum-packed oxtails in stock. Much as I like slow-cookers, I prefer browning the oxtails and simmering them in a big stockpot on the stovetop with veggies and barley.

aokoye

vaman wrote: »

Oxtails are rarely, if ever available in most American supermarkets, I think it's a product that would have to be purchased from a real butcher shop. May not be too many folks that are experienced in preparing them.

Try your local Asian grocery store. I've been able to find them easily at every average to large sized East Asian grocery store I've gone to. I am all for actual butchers, trust me I am, but you don't necessarily have to go to one to find oxtails.

@Safari_Gal_ typically use caribbean style recipes. This one from the NYTimes is similar to my go-to recipe. Given that oxtails do best when they're braised, I could see them doing well in a slow cooker. I'm not sure that I'd want to use a pressure cooker for them. Taking to account the time it takes for it to come up to pressure, cook, and then do a natural release, it'd be no faster than braising in the oven or on the stove. If you did natural release (which would probably be the better option and what I've seen in various recipes I just googled) it I'm almost positive it would be slower.

acpgee

I saw a documentary once where they explained Rome's rich tradition of cooking offal came from the large slaughterhouse in Testaccio. Workers traditionally could take some of their pay in discounted unsold offal.

snowflake954

acpgee wrote: »

I saw a documentary once where they explained Rome's rich tradition of cooking offal came from the large slaughterhouse in Testaccio. Workers traditionally could take some of their pay in discounted unsold offal.

This was called Quarto-Quinto. I've been to a restaurant by that name on the outskirts of the city. They made a Spaghetti Cacio Peppe that was to die for, with the spaghetti stirred in the hollowed out cheese round at the table and then put on the plate.

Safari_Gal_

acpgee wrote: »

I saw a documentary once where they explained Rome's rich tradition of cooking offal came from the large slaughterhouse in Testaccio. Workers traditionally could take some of their pay in discounted unsold offal.

snowflake954 wrote: »

acpgee wrote: »

I saw a documentary once where they explained Rome's rich tradition of cooking offal came from the large slaughterhouse in Testaccio. Workers traditionally could take some of their pay in discounted unsold offal.

This was called Quarto-Quinto. I've been to a restaurant by that name on the outskirts of the city. They made a Spaghetti Cacio Peppe that was to die for, with the spaghetti stirred in the hollowed out cheese round at the table and then put on the plate.

I was just reading an article about this!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.greatitalianchefs.com/features/quinto-quarto-inside-rome-offal-obsession-testaccio/amp

I may have to start an offal thread.

pamperedlinny

My great grandmother always swore that's why her beef soup and maryland crab soup were so good. We would brown the ox tails in the bottom of a huge stock pot, add all the soup fixings and let it cook for a long while. Seriously good stuff.

I also second using the pressure cooker. That thing is amazing for these types of items.

acpgee

My old Roman office mate always said offal was a really important component of Roman cooking.

ridiculous59

Ox tail was a regular meal when I was growing up. Whenever I see it in the grocery store I think I should buy it. But for some reason, never do. My mother always cooked in on low heat in the oven in a big Pyrex dish, so not much different to using a crock pot. However, she always cooked it the day before and then refrigerated it over night so she could skim off the fat the next day.

Please let us know how yours turns out. It may inspire me to buy some ox tail of my own

aokoye

ridiculous59 wrote: »

Ox tail was a regular meal when I was growing up. Whenever I see it in the grocery store I think I should buy it. But for some reason, never do. My mother always cooked in on low heat in the oven in a big Pyrex dish, so not much different to using a crock pot. However, she always cooked it the day before and then refrigerated it over night so she could skim off the fat the next day.

Please let us know how yours turns out. It may inspire me to buy some ox tail of my own

It would also probably taste better the second day as well. The whole stews tasting better the second day thing. Now I really want oxtail.

Safari_Gal_

Thanks all for the replies!! Going to make this this weekend! Hoping I do the recipe justice!!

acpgee

All my acquaintances from the Carribean are crazy about oxtail too, so will need to check out what they do with it there.

vaman

vaman wrote: »

Oxtails are rarely, if ever available in most American supermarkets, I think it's a product that would have to be purchased from a real butcher shop. May not be too many folks that are experienced in preparing them.

spinnerdell wrote: »

I live in rural Nevada where grocery selection is spotty, but the local Walmart always seems to have vacuum-packed oxtails in stock. Much as I like slow-cookers, I prefer browning the oxtails and simmering them in a big stockpot on the stovetop with veggies and barley.

After spinnerdell mentioned finding oxtails in a local Walmart, I checked the Walmart nearest to me and they in fact did have oxtails in stock. They were in a different area than most of the beef products, but they did have them.🤦‍♂️

tammierlewis

Always cook my oxtail in the crock pot. Add fresh thyme, garlic and onion to the bottom season the meat and cook with some broth. After it is done, remove the meat and thyme stems, blend the juices with the onion and garlic. Pour over the meat.

hmhill17

My local grocery stores always have oxtails. I've done crockpot and pressure cooker. I usually just take my normal beef stew or pot roast recipe and stick in oxtails instead of chuck roast.

Safari_Gal_

Update y’all!

So i decided to go old school and attempt to do it as my Grandmother in law would have!

I used a stovetop pot —- and followed instructions to the letter... it came out pretty darned good!!!

Here is my not so great photo of my super tasty
Coda Alla Vaccinara! (Mid way through cooking)

vaman

"Coda alla vaccinara was originally the specialty of the vaccinari 'butchers' of the Rione Regola in Rome, to the point that the inhabitants of that rione were nicknamed mangiacode, 'tail-eaters' "

I was curious about the origin of the dish and here's what I found. 😁