Oxtail Pot

A classic English recipe, but I have to say that it's quite hard work (as is often the case when making the best of cheaper ingredients). The basic method is straightforward but it does take long, slow cooking, and then getting the meat off the large, oddly-shaped bones in respectable-looking pieces is a bit of a struggle. Also there's a lot of fat on an oxtail so it really is a good idea to do the cooking a day in advance, then chill the sauce and remove the excess fat. On the upside there's a lot of flavour in all the bones and sinews, and more meat to salvage than might appear at first glance.

I used my slow cooker which meant I had to cut the vegetables rather smaller than would be usual in a stew of this kind. They didn't look great on the plate so I removed them before freezing the extra helpings, rubbed them through a sieve and added them to half a cup of soup mix (green and yellow split peas, green and red lentils, pearl and flaked barley) simmered in beef stock until very soft, and made a surprisingly good soup.