When Italian's say the word gravy, this is what they are talking about. Pasta with gravy. It's not red, it can be, but it's really more of a brown sauce. How many dishes start out with a cut of meat, browning it on all sides in a cast iron dutch oven with a little olive oil, then you add a mirepoix, some stock and of course some tomato paste, bay leaf, herbs, seasonings, some wine or beer and you have a winning combination for a meal? It is one of the oldest cooking techniques in the world today. You just can't go wrong with this method. The best ones use meat that has fat marbled in it. Without going through an explanation, the fat breaks down during the cooking process. It the "secret" to it's flavor and best of all it can be removed.
Before I launch into this recipe I have to say a few things. The tail of an OX is an aerobic extension of it's body. When we eat meat we eat the muscle and muscles are either aerobic or anaerobic. Anaerobic muscles receive little to no oxygen and are generally lighter in color, and they have less fat than aerobic muscles. Take the chicken for instance. The breast meat is white, an anaerobic muscle. The legs, thighs, feet, and the wings, the aerobic muscles, my favorite parts, are the darker meats. Personally, I'm a thigh and buttocks man myself. If I look around, it seems as though everyone is opening up a chicken wing stores. Someone should open up a thigh store and call it Dark Meat.
The only thing the ox tail is good for besides eating is swatting flies off it's ass. That' the job of the tail. Because it's moving all the time, swatting flies, it gets a lot of oxygen, which is why it has so much flavor. There's a lot of fat in there to maintain movement and flexibility in the tail.
Sauces were invented for anaerobic muscles because they generally have little to no flavor, and can be tough. Or, these anaerobic muscles are often marinated, brined, or beaten to give them more flavor. Beef tenderloin or the Jewish fillet, is the perfect example of the point I'm making here. Both of these are beautiful cuts of meat, muscle, tight grain, and dense with very little fat. Lean doesn't do it justice as a description. Invariably you will see beef tenderloin accompanied by a some sort of sauce. To eat it otherwise is not pleasant for me. What once was called the cheap cuts, like skirt stake, are now expensive cuts of meat. That's a whole other blog for another day. Alright, you get the idea, now on with the show.
The thing you want to do after you're finished cooking oxtail is to remove the fat because there is a lot of it on this anaerobic part of the ox and when you get down to the tip of the tail the bones get very small so it's important to sift through the meat a number of time to make sure you get them all out. It's like proof reading or editing when you write. You can't do enough times. Get that fat out and get those pesky bones out. Don't want to chip a tooth.
Finally, here is the recipe for Pappardelle pasta with oxtail ragu.
How many bones in an oxtail? Anyone know?
Serves 6 as an entree
Pappardelle Pasta With Oxtail Ragu
Ingredients:
2 pounds oxtails
4 bay leafs
6 cloves of garlic
olive oil
1 1/2 cups red wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 small can of tomato paste or cup of marinara sauce
3 celery ribs chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1 tablespoon herbs of Provence
S & P
1 pound, two packages of wide egg noodles (No. 101)
Pecornio Romano cheese
Basil leaves for garnish
1) Pat your oxtail dry with a paper towel. Lightly season with salt and pepper, add a little olive oil in a cast iron dutch oven and braise the meat on all sides. Remove the oxtail and put aside.
2) On medium heat add a little more olive oil and the mirepoix and cook till tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic but be careful not to brown it, Add the tomato sauce, chicken stock, red wine, bay leaf, s & p, and bring to a slow boil. Add the oxtails and place the dutch oven with the lid on in a 250 degree oven, center rack, for 2 1/2 hrs or when the meat is falling off the bones. The oxtail should be at least 3/4 covered in juices. During this cooking period check on your dish and turn the oxtail bones.
3) Once the meat is falling off the bones, remove from the Dutch oven and let cool. Separate the meat and fat from the bones and discard. Chop the meat julienne style and keep separate.
4) Let the sauce cool to room temperature and remove the bay leaves. Put the sauce in a large food processor or blender. I use a blended. Blend till its smooth and put it back into the dutch oven and into the fridge. Let it sit overnight or at least 4 hours. The fat will rise to the top. Remove all the fat and discard.
5) Combine the meat with the sauce. There you have it.
6) Heat the sauce in a medium sauce pan cover and warm on low heat till hot. Cook the Pappardelle pasta al dente, around 7 minutes, in a large pot of salted water on rapid boil. Mix sauce and pasta to your taste.
7) Garnish each dish with some basil leaves.
I made it through a blog without using the word fuck, well almost.
Peace,
Make Food/Not War
Food Consumption 1-18-13
Breakfast: Cereal with two bananas and soy milk
Lunch: Leftover pasta with peas and carrots
Snacks: none
Dinner: 3 pieces of pizza w/pesto, marinara sauce, fresh goat cheese, asiago cheese, Romano cheese,
boiled new potatoes, anchovies (for me only) capers.
Big salad with black olives, red bell peppers, s & p, yellow onion, cucumber, my vinaigrette
2 glasses of wine, 420 again today
Dessert: 1piece of Trace William bread pudding, 1/3 Chocolate Fusion bar 90 calories
Usually long before now all these things, the bread pudding, chocolate, whatever, would have been eaten.
2 miles walking after dinner
exercise: 5.5 miles walking total
