Fun & Delicious Oxtail Taste Test

Actually, cow tails. When I’ve mentioned eating oxtails, some folks have said to me “not likely” and even when I pointed out that it was just another muscle on the cow, it didn’t seem to help much.  So, I decided to do a taste test and you know I love taste tests.  In addition to the cow tails, I cooked three beef shanks, which also can get the turned-up nose reaction, and a piece of chuck roast, which most everyone loves.  I had made Southern Smothered Oxtails about a year and a half ago and they were a hit so I used the same recipe for this meal.  Since I had a little over 8 lbs. of meat, I increased the other ingredients by 50%, but didn’t need to so I won’t reproduce it here.  You can click on the above link for my blog post or go to I Heart Recipes for the original.

First, I checked to be sure the meat would all fit in the pan.    

Into the roasting pan after browning.

The Roux.

After adding the broth.

After adding the onions. 

 Add the temperature probe to a thinner oxtail.

Pour the gravy over the meat.  

The finished chuck cut into six servings.

The cooked oxtails. 

The cooked beef shanks.

We served the beef with whipped potatoes, the onion gravy, and the neighbors cucumber salad.  Didn't get a good plate pic.

The Verdict:

Everyone enjoyed all of the meat and the oxtail skeptic said she liked them best so the taste test was well worth it.  The original gravy recipe would have made plenty.  Because of their size, the oxtails got done a few hours before the larger cuts so I held them at 195F, while I cooked the others in the toaster oven to 195F.  While the oxtails are good, they are only worth it if you can get them cheap as they don’t have a lot of meat, especially as they get farther from the rump.  Bev said she preferred not having them again as she doesn't like the bones and fat on her plate - she doesn't like prime rib for the same reason.  So if you can buy them cheap, you might want to cook them just to say you did.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

7/11/23 meal date