Oxtail Stew – a winter staple

For every winter storm Asaf and me have a foodie tradition: Oxtail stew with pappardelle; oh and of course lay on the sofa plus participate in a movie marathon. That was the case a week ago,  there was this huge storm coming; starting on New Year’s eve and lasting until the next day in the afternoon. With this cold, stormy and windy weather I just wanted to stay home; open a bottle of wine and enjoy and that’s exactly what I did.

This dish is better off the next day like every stew. It’s easy to prepare and requires effortless cooking for around four hours. Just lay all the ingredients in the pot and let it cook for approximately 3:30-4 hours and stirring occasionally. This recipe is from Bon Appetit Magazine, I changed some ingredients; you can find the original recipe HERE

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of oxtail
• 1 1/2 cups of diced onions
• 1 cup of diced carrots
• 5 medium carrots, cut in thick pieces (2-inch)
• 8 slices of bacon
• Half a bottle of red wine (I used merlot)
• 1 teaspoon of butter
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 small bouquet of parsley
• 7 rosemary sprigs
• 8 whole garlic cloves, one minced
• 1 3/4 cup of beef broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound of chopped mushrooms
• 1 cup of water
• 6 shallots

In a deep pan cook the bacon until crispy. Take out the bacon and leave the grease (discard bacon for another use).  Place the flour in 1 bowl and cover the oxtails; then put them in the deep pan and let them cook in medium fire for about 5 minutes each side. Take them out and now throw in the mushrooms, carrots, onions and garlic. Cook until translucent and now throw in the oxtails. Pour in beef broth, water and wine. Take the parsley and rosemary and tie it into a bouquet, place it in the pot. Season with salt and pepper. When the water starts boiling throw in the shallots and thick carrot pieces. One hour before it’s ready, create a paste of butter with a tablespoon of flour and throw it in the stew so the sauce will thicken. Let it cook for around 3:30-4 hours stirring occasionally.

When the stew is done prepare the pasta (follow instructions on box). When the pasta is done; take an oxtail, shred it and throw it in into the pasta, also incorporate some of the stew sauce. Mix, mix, mix. Arrange the pasta on a plate and place one whole oxtail next to it. Garnish with fresh parsley, season with salt and pepper if needed and serve it with a nice glass of red wine.

Hamin – Tradition at its best

Winter is finally here! You can’t imagine how much I’ve missed the rain. Yesterday it rained non-stop all day and night. Today the weather was cloudy with a few rain showers., the perfect weekend. We were invited to Dadi’s apartment for lunch. Like always, we had a blast and ate like there’s no tomorrow. Dadi prepared Hamin and I have to say that this one is the best one he’s prepared from all the ones I’ve tried before. This dish takes hours to make but it’s all worth it.

Hamin is a traditional Jewish stew usually cooked overnight. It has meat, eggs, beans, potatoes and wheat. Sometimes he also makes sausage casings made of bread. Oh wow this plate is super heavy but amazingly tasty. Dadi also prepared “harrif” chopped hot peppers in olive oil.

Unfortunately I don’t have the recipe for this GREAT dish but I want to share with you guys the pictures I took before chugging it into my belly! Like we say in Hebrew – Beteavon! (Bon Appetit)