Noob Oxtail Soup

Saw an oxtail at the butcher's and was curious to try slow cooking it as I've never made it before and I have a new love for bone! (as in, marrow flavour...). So here goes;

about 500-750g oxtail
a sprig of thyme
one bay leaf
50g butter
salt and pepper
400g canned tomatoes
cayenne or paprika
1 small red chilli
1 big onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
Parsley to garnish

Ideally you could marinade the meat overnight with salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne. Melt the butter to start with on medium heat, and add the meat. Brown the meat on all sides. Be careful not to burn the butter.

Add the diced onions and leave it to soften. Then add the sliced garlic and whole thyme sprig (be generous, it's the major note in this dish I think).

Lastly, add in the canned tomatoes and one can of water. Bring it to the boil and then cook on the lowest heat.

I cooked this for 3 1/2 hours occasionally stirring the dish at half hour intervals. You might need to add in water so that it does not get dry. I find cooking on the gas stove a bit unpredictable, so need to be careful not to burn it. If I had the slow cooker (all in the new house at this moment), I probably would have cooked it for at least 6-8 hours.

Anyways, the meat and tendons fell off the bone, and the taste was fabulous :) I wonder if some sour cream was called for but that would have turned it into some form of goulash so I just left it. Added some parsley for garnish.

Noreen's birthday meal! Braised Lamb Shanks with Rosemary New Potatoes

I knew I had to do something special to please the missus, and I couldn't think of anything else to do but some lamb shanks. I've always done a previous version that has never failed to impress (with Worcester sauce and honey), but again, we didn't really have much in the kitchen so I went for a simple recipe. Again, this was impromptu and it seemed to please the guests, so without further ado;

4 lamb shanks
Salt and pepper
Nutmeg
1 large white onion
3 shallots
7 Garlic cloves
2 x 10cm stalk of Rosemary
10 good sized Sage Leaves
A handful of Thyme
125g of unsalted butter
3 large carrots

For the new potatoes (you can use other baking potatoes - it just so happened we just harvested some of our own);

2 stalks of Rosemary
100g of Butter
salt and pepper
4 cloves of garlic

I started of with adding salt, pepper and grate half a nutmeg to the shanks in a big bowl and mixed it thoroughly. Nutmeg is essential - for some reason, it enhances the flavour of the lamb (and I shall have to find out how in due time). In a medium sized cooking pot, melt the butter in medium heat. Be careful not to burn the butter, and once you have enough at the base, add in the shanks. Brown on all sides. Then add in the sliced onions and shallots. Add in whole cloves of the peeled garlic. Bruise the rosemary leaves with the back of a knife handle (for maximum flavour) and roughly chop the sage leaves and thyme. The leaves were fresh from the garden and I think it is essential because it gave the dish texture and a pleasantly sweet taste. Add the herbs in whole. I left the dish to cook for about ten minutes while I peeled the carrots and cut them into chunky slices. Add the carrots and stir the dish to get an even mix. Reduce the heat to medium low-ish and cook for 2-3hours, stirring occasionally.

For the potatoes;

Pre heat the oven. Quarter the potatoes (I did not peel them) and mix with salt and pepper. De-stalk the rosemary and finely chop the leaves and add into the mix. Add the butter and and place it in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the butter, then mix again to get an even spread. Cook the potatoes at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. I certainly liked the potatoes whole rather than mashed.

Simple and full of flavour. A homely feel to it as well.