Recipe: Braised Oxtail

Ingredients

4 nice sized pieces of Oxtail

2 carrots chopped

2 sticks of celery chopped

2 shallots diced

2 cloves of garlic crushed

2 sprigs of Thyme picked

1 litre reduced beef stock

Method

Place a frying pan on the stove and heat, seal the oxtail until golden brown, set to one side

In a deep roasting tray sauté the vegetables and the herbs, this can be done over a low heat, continue this for as long as possible to increase the flavour of the produce, be careful not to burn.

Add the oxtail to the vegetables and cover with the beef stock.

Cover the tray with tin foil and bake the Oxtail for 5 hours at 160c or until it begins to fall from the bone.

To serve remove the Oxtail and place it on the service dish.

Recipe: creamed leek and potato broth

For the broth

Two leeks cleaned plus one more for finishing the soup
Two medium potatoes peeled and chopped small
One onion
Three carrots peeled
Three sticks of celery
Two rashes smoked bacon
125g butter
Two litres of homemade vegetable stock
500ml double cream
Salt, pepper

Method

Chop the leeks, potatoes, celery, onion, carrot and bacon into 1cm cubes.
Melt the butter in a large pan
Add the leeks, potatoes, celery, onion, carrot and bacon
Cook slowly, stir until the potatoes are nearly cooked, be careful not to burn at this stage
Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes
Blend the soup until rustic and return to the heat
Add the last leek, ensure this is chopped small, simmer for a further 5 minutes
Add the cream, season and bring back to the boil.
Serve and enjoy with a farmhouse bread, gnocchi or suet dumplings.

Recipe: My beef stock

For the stock
Two carrots chopped
Two sticks of celery chopped
Two cloves of garlic peeled
Two onions chopped
One leek washed and chopped
100g parsley
25g thyme
25g rosemary
1.5kg beef bones
3 tablespoons of tomato purée
300ml red wine
Cold water
25g pancetta rind chopped
Vegetable oil

Method
Place the bones into a roasting tin and brown in a preheated oven at 250c until coloured but not burnt. Meanwhile, in a large pan, colour the vegetables, herbs and pancetta in a little oil. When the bones are ready, remove them from the roasting tin, shake off any excess oil and add them to the vegetables.
Stir in the tomato purée , add the red wine and water, use enough to cover the bones. Bring to the boil, turn down to a rolling boil and reduce by two- thirds, skim the stock every 20 minutes. Once reduced pass the stock through a fine sieve, allow to cool and store in a fridge until required.
The stock can be kept for up to five days, you can freeze the stock if you wish to keep it longer, freeze it in ice-cube trays for easy portion control.