Crock Pot Oxtail Stew

Erhmahgerd sterw!  So yeah, wow, it’s been a while, but here we are back again.

Yesterday we made a pretty good meal (really, to serve as lunches at work) from some of the meat provided to us as part of M.F. Dulock’s “meat club.”  On the chopping block: oxtail.  If you don’t know what oxtail is (and admittedly, we didn’t either)….it’s exactly what it sounds like -- the appendage used by bovines to swat at flies on their buttocks.  ;)  There’s more meat on there than you’d think, though, and it turns out it’s great for braising and/or stewing.

Here’s the easy recipe (parsed down from one we found online, and amended slightly to our tastes)….

• 1.65 pounds oxtail, disjointed (this just means chopped up into singular vertebral chunks)
• Pork fat that was leftover in a pan where we had cooked breakfast bacon that day
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 6 peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 dried red chile pepper, chopped (some, but not all, seeds removed)
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 3 potatoes, cut in chunks
• salt and pepper

Brown the oxtail pieces on all sides in the cast iron skillet with the pork fat, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the onions and garlic (with a bit more salt and pepper) and cook about 5 minutes more until the onions start to become translucent.

Put the potatoes and carrots in the bottom of crock pot, and season with salt and pepper.

Add the browned oxtails, onions, garlic, and remaining ingredients.

Cover and cook on low 6 hours or until the meat is easily pulled off (or falling off) the bones.

Quite delicious, super easy, and the house smelled fantastic all day, right from moment the meat went into the pork fat.  The weirdest part is that once you’ve gotten the meat off the bone of “normal” cuts, you are used to what the bones will look like.  Here, you end up with vertebrae.  Freaky.

Basic Chicken-Lentil Stew

I got this recipe from a forum thread on my calorie tracking website, My Fitness Pal.  It wasn't given it a specific name, so I am calling it "Basic Chicken-Lentil Stew."  It may not look like the best thing you ever ate, but it's definitely tasty, and quite good for you too.

Here is exactly how I made it (as usual, slightly different than the original).... 

Ingredients:

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cut into cubes
• 1 medium onion - diced
• 1 red pepper - chopped
• 1 large can of diced tomatoes (I used a “No Salt Added” variety) - drained
• 1½ - 2 cups of cooked lentils (I cooked mine ahead of time from 2/3 cup dry + 1 and 1/3 cups water)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp dried rosemary
• ½ tsp black pepper

 Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in large pan on med-high heat.
2. Lightly brown the cubed chicken.
3. Add onion and peppers – cook until onions are translucent, stirring frequently.
4. Add balsamic vinegar and continue to stir until incorporated.
5. Add herbs and pepper, stir.
6. Add tomatoes and lentils, and stir.
7. Reduce heat to simmer,
8. Stir occasionally and allow to reduce to desired consistency (about 45 minutes) – my only comment here is that after draining the canned tomatoes as instructed above, there wasn’t much liquid in the pan that would allow it to simmer for much time at all....so I added some water (probably about one cup) so that there would be some liquid in the pan to steam off, giving the dish time to cook the chicken pieces all the way through.  I probably let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes total.

The recipe made 4 main-dish-size servings, each with:

• 294 calories
• 31 grams protein
• 33 grams carbs
• 5 grams fat
• 11 grams fiber
• 72 mg sodium

Some possible variations (courtesy of the thread where I found the recipe):

• Asian: Add soy sauce instead of balsamic and 5 spice and ground ginger instead of herbs - drizzle with one tsp sesame oil after all ingredients have been added.
• Tex-Mex: Add hot sauce instead of balsamic and cumin and small quantity of cinnamon instead of herbs. You could also add salsa.
• Italian: Use oregano and basil instead of thyme and rosemary (or as well as) - up to you.
• Vegetarian: Substitute 1 can of black or red beans (rinsed and drained) for chicken and add them with the lentils.