A Tale of Some Oxtail (a sous vide adventure)

I love oxtail broth or stew, though I do not remember when I first tried it. I tried to make it once, on a stove top, without a pressure cooker, and it took too much time, too much attention, though it did come out delicious.

The fine fun folks at Lifehacker have a sub-blog called Skillet, that includes the topic Will it Sous Vide? and today's meat method comes from this article from a few years ago.

The TL:DR version: 

• make an umami paste
• coat your oxtail
• bag
• Sous vide for 24 hours at 185 degrees Farenheit, 85 degrees Celsius, 358 degrees Kelvin

It fell off the bone with almost no effort. I think I had to shake one piece off, but look how clean those bones are:

More specifics:

My first attempt at an umami bomb (or paste, but bomb is much more fun to say) failed. I used a lot of garlic, and unfortunately, while the garlic smelled fine before I smashed it (I love my mallet), when I tasted it, something just felt totally and utterly wrong. Into the trash it went. My second attempt was more saucy, but tasted much better. It still needs work, though. What I threw together:

• 1 Tablespoon Better Than Bouillon mushroom flavor
• 1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon garlic flavor 
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 10 grinds black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable broth
• 1 Cup grated onion and its juice

I brushed the liquid onto the meat, and added a little more into the bags before I sealed them. When I de-bagged, there was a ton of liquid and I poured most of it into a medium saucepan, reserving some in a small pitcher.

To the pot I added:

• 3/4 bottle of cabernet sauvignon (pour yourself a glass and dump in the rest)
• 8 ounces of mushrooms (I had a mix of Crimini, which are sometimes called Baby Bella, and some amazing Trumpet shrooms that I caught on sale. Use your favorites)
• 6 oz of pearl onions, whole
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 2 teaspoons of thyme
• 1 Tablespoon parsley
• 1 bay leaf (note to Kate: more herbs next time)

I let that simmer and reduce for about an hour. In retrospect, I should have spent the last hour the oxtail was cooking reducing the wine more slowly. It would have left more flavor. 

After the hour was up, I mixed some cornstarch with the liquid I had put aside to make a slurry, and added it to the pot. Once that was absorbed,  I put the meat in, then cooked some mushroom ravioli to serve everything on. My liquid was more stew than soup, so I used a slotted spoon and here is the final result:

I've got a lot of fat floated to the top in the leftovers, so I will likely use that to make a roux to thicken the rest. I'll also add more herbs to the next bit.

I give me an A-. The meat had such amazing texture. The connective tissue was completely broken down, and chewing was only needed for the sheer joy of it. The globs of fat, just melted in my mouth. If you have the time, the ciruclator, the counterspace, and you like oxtail, please try this. My ideal takeaway from this is we have an entry just from people sending me their umami bombs.