Braised Oxtails With Rutabaga And Pureed Celery Root.

One might say I hit a home run last night
as I wend my way through the culinary alphabet.

O is for Oxtail.

R is for Rutabaga.

C is for Celery Root.

First, let's start off with the ingredients for the oxtails.
Here they are:

4-5 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. dried hot red pepper flakes
4 cups beef broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 TB Scotch
zest of one orange
1 star anise ( which I couldn't find, so I used a tsp. of anise.)
2 TB sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

First, I zested the orange and minced the garlic.

I heated up about 3 TB oil in my pan and added the salted and peppered oxtails,
browning them on all sides.
I used about 4 pounds of tails.
Be sure you trim them first.
I forgot.
(Rosie hangs head.)

Transfer to a plate.

I have my minced garlic and 1/2 tsp. of hot red pepper flakes.

I poured out any excess oil, leaving only a tablespoon in the pan
and sauteed the garlic and flakes for about 30 seconds.

Then I added the oxtails back in.

I added 4 cups of beef broth and 1 cup water.
Be sure you scrape up all the goodie bits on the bottom.

Add in the soy sauce.

Add in the orange peel and anise.

Add in the sugar and the Scotch.
Bring to a boil, then cover and braise in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours.

While my oxtails were cooking, I started on my rutabagas.

Peel and dice into 1 inch pieces.
Place in water to prevent discoloration.

Now, for the celery root.

I peeled and diced both the celery root and the potato and placed in water.

After two hours in the oven,
this is what the oxtails looked like.
And my kitchen is smellin' some kind of good.

Add in the rutabaga pieces, cover, and cook for 30 - 45 more minutes
or until rutabaga is tender.

While the rutabaga is cooking, cover the celery root and potatoes with cold water.
Add salt.

Bring to a boil and simmer 15 - 20 minutes, until soft.
Drain.

Return to pan and add 1/2 cup cream and simmer over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, about 10 minutes.

I squished it with my masher and ended up with a lovely texture.
You don't want to put this in a processor or blender.
According to Wolfgang Puck, this would turn the celery root gluey and stringy.

Add butter, salt, and pepper.

Here are the cooked oxtails and rutabaga.

Lastly, pour a cornstarch slurry into the pan.
Stir and simmer for one minute.

Ta - daaaaa!

Pour the juices out and take off the fat at the top.

I loved the celery root and potato puree.
I really liked the textures - the creaminess of the potatoes and the chunkiness of the celery root, which kind of reminded me of cauliflower except without the cabbage flavor.
This was a very nice fusion of both texture and flavor.

The rutabaga absorbed the rich, intense flavor of the broth,
plus imparted a nice earthy flavor of its own.
Delicious.

The oxtails were fall off the bone tender and intensely flavorful.
If you look closely at the picture,
you'll see I topped them with fresh cilantro.
And you could taste all the flavors -
the orange, the anise, the sugar, the soy, the garlic, and the peppers,
although I would add more pepper flakes next time.
All in all, a very hearty meal, which would, no doubt, be better served in the dead of winter rather than on a stifling hot, smoke-filled day,
but I'm on an alphabet roll here, so what can I say?

I'm looking forward to leftovers.