Queue de Bœuf à l’Auvergnate

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4½ to 5-quart (4.3 to 4.7 L) heavy cocotte or Dutch oven
• •Wide skillet for browning in batches
• •Fine-mesh sieve and fat separator or deep measuring jug
• •3-quart (2.8 L) ovenproof earthenware cocotte for serving, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the oxtail

   Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Pat every oxtail section thoroughly dry, paying attention to the damp creases around the bone, then season with 2 teaspoons of the salt and all the pepper. Dry meat takes color; damp meat releases water and delays the fond you need.

2. 2

   Brown the joints hard

   Heat the beef dripping or clarified butter in a snug heavy cocotte over medium-high heat. Brown the oxtail in two or three batches, turning each section until its broad faces are dark mahogany, about 12 minutes per batch. Leave space between the pieces. If liquid begins collecting because the pot was crowded, lift out half the meat, let the moisture cook away, and resume once the fat is hot again. Ça se rattrape. Transfer the browned sections to a tray.

   Do not confuse dark browning with burnt black specks. Mahogany fond tastes of roasted meat; black fond makes the entire braise bitter.
3. 3

   Color the braising base

   Lower the heat to medium. Add the sliced carrots, yellow onion, and blanched bacon rind to the same pot, turning them through the rendered fat until they color evenly, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic for the final minute. Keep the vegetables moving so every surface browns rather than one side scorching against the pot floor.

4. 4

   Reduce wine and moisten

   Pour in the white wine and scrape the pot floor until every browned morsel has dissolved into it. Boil briskly until the wine reduces to about 1 cup (240 ml) and looks lightly syrupy, 15 to 20 minutes. Apply Ordinary Braisings (No. 247) at this home scale: return the oxtail, add the bouquet garni, and pour in enough hot beef stock to cover the closely packed joints. Bring the liquid only to a bare simmer.

5. 5

   Braise at a tremble

   Cover the cocotte tightly and place it in the oven for 3½ to 4 hours. Turn and baste the exposed sections once each hour, keeping the liquid at a quiet tremble. Add a little hot water only if the braising liquor falls below halfway up the meat. The oxtail is ready when a thin knife enters the thickest meat without resistance and the flesh loosens from the bone but still holds its shape.

6. 6

   Prepare the bacon

   During the final hour of braising, put the bacon rectangles in a small saucepan, cover them with cold water, and bring them to a boil for 2 minutes. Drain and dry them, then cook in a dry skillet over medium heat until the edges are bronze and the fat is translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Keep them supple rather than brittle. Lift them out and reserve.

7. 7

   Glaze the chestnuts

   Set the chestnuts in a wide saucepan and add enough beef consommé to cover them. Hold at the gentlest simmer for 10 minutes, until hot and tender but intact, then lift them out with a slotted spoon. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter, the sugar, and 3 tablespoons of the consommé to a clean skillet. Let the liquid reduce until glossy, add the chestnuts, and roll the pan gently until they shine. If they begin to crumble, stop turning them and spoon the glaze over instead; the flavor is safe, and the large pieces still belong in the garnish.

8. 8

   Cook the pearl onions

   Put the pearl onions in a small sauté pan with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and enough water to come halfway up their sides. Cover with a round of parchment or a lid and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes, until a knife enters easily. Uncover and roll the onions through the reducing butter until they are glossy with a few pale-gold faces. Do not let them collapse.

9. 9

   Finish the braising jus

   Lift the tender oxtail onto a tray. Strain the braising liquor through a fine sieve into a saucepan, pressing lightly on the vegetables, then let it stand for 5 minutes and remove the fat from the surface. Boil until reduced to about 2 cups (480 ml) and concentrated enough to coat a spoon. Mix the arrowroot with the cold water, whisk it into the gently simmering jus a little at a time, and stop as soon as the sauce lightly naps the spoon. If it tightens too far, loosen it with reserved chestnut consommé; if it remains thin, reduce it before adding more arrowroot. Do not boil it hard once thickened.

10. 10

    Assemble in the cocotte

    Arrange the oxtail sections in a warmed earthenware cocotte or return them to the cleaned braising pot. Tuck the glazed chestnuts, pearl onions, and bacon rectangles between the joints, then spoon over enough jus to coat everything and pool generously beneath. Cover and warm in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve the remaining sauce alongside. Repeated glazing would add ceremony but no flavor to meat already portioned at its joints. Bring the cocotte directly to the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher to separate the oxtail cleanly at its natural joints. Sawed fragments leave bone grit in the sauce, while sections much thicker than 2 inches (5 cm) cook unevenly.
• •Use a dry, unoaked white wine with enough acidity to survive reduction. A white Saint-Pourçain keeps the bottle near the dish's Auvergne home when you can find one; otherwise choose a sound dry white you would happily drink.
• •Vacuum-packed peeled chestnuts are the honest home equivalent here. They remain whole more reliably than canned chestnuts, while saving the peeling that once occupied another pair of hands in a brigade.
• •The pot matters more than its pedigree. Oxtail packed closely in a 4½ to 5-quart cocotte needs less stock and produces a stronger jus than the same meat swimming in an oversized roasting pan.
• •Serve with plain mashed potatoes or buttered cabbage and a light Saint-Pourçain red. The chestnuts already bring sweetness and substance, so the accompaniment should stay quiet.

Advance Preparation

• •The oxtail and its strained jus are better prepared a day ahead. Cool them promptly in shallow containers, refrigerate separately, and lift away the firm fat from the cold sauce before reheating gently.
• •Glaze the chestnuts and cook the pearl onions up to one day ahead, then refrigerate them in separate covered containers. Warm them gently in a spoonful of jus so the chestnuts remain whole.
• •The completed braise keeps for up to three days under refrigeration. Reheat it covered at 300°F (150°C), loosening the sauce with a little consommé if its natural gelatin has set it too firmly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 600g)