Oxtail Soup

A few years ago, one of Nic's relatives went on a trip to Ireland. When he returned, he couldn't stop raving about a particularly delicious soup oxtail soup. As a child, I could think of no soup worse than oxtail. It's strong, beefy flavor was too much for me, and I've never tried it since. Sadly, the relative had to have heart surgery and his wife no longer lets him eat foods with a high salt content, especially his beloved oxtail soup, but for a while he used to enjoy the cans I would bring back from trips home.

I'm not sure how easy it is to find a butcher that sells oxtails here in the US, especially after the whole Mad Cow debacle. If you can find it, here's the recipe:

1 oxtail
1 large onion
1 turnip
3 carrots
1/4 cup butter (or beef dripping if you have it)
7 1/2 cups beef stock
a bouquet garni
salt and pepper
1/2 cup plain flour
4 tbs red wine

NOTE: If you're going to the trouble of finding oxtail, don't scrimp on the beef stock. Use good quality stock and not just cheap instant cubes.

Cute the oxtail into bite-sized chunks and soak for half an hour in cold water.
Peel and finely dice the onion, turnip, and carrots.

Heat the butter in a pan, add the vegetables, and cook for 10 minutes. Add most of the stock, the oxtail, bouquet garni, and a little seasoning. Cover and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours. Remove the oxtail and herbs.

Cut the meat from the bones.

Mix the flour with the remaining stock and mix into the hot broth. Stir until the soup thickens. Return the meat to the pan, along with the red wine. Heat through, and serve.