Oksehaleragout

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy cast-iron casserole or Dutch oven with lid, 5 to 6 litre
• •Fine mesh sieve
• •Wooden spoon
• •Kitchen tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Dry and season the oxtail

   Pat the oxtail pieces completely dry with kitchen paper. This is the step most cooks skip, and it is the one that decides whether you get a proper sear or a sad grey simmer. Wet meat steams. Dry meat browns. Season generously with salt and pepper on all sides, then dust lightly in flour. Shake off any excess. The flour helps build the crust and will thicken the sauce later on its own.

   Ask the butcher to cut the oxtail at the joints for you. The pieces should be substantial, two to four centimetres thick, not sawn into thin rounds.
2. 2

   Sear in batches

   Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, lay the oxtail pieces in one at a time, leaving space between them. Crowding the pot drops the temperature and the meat starts to steam, and now you are back to the grey simmer you were trying to avoid. Work in three or four batches if you need to. Brown each piece deeply on every side, about eight to ten minutes per batch. You want a dark, mahogany crust. That crust is where half the flavor of the finished ragout lives. Transfer the seared pieces to a plate as you go.

3. 3

   Cook the vegetables

   Lower the heat to medium and add the butter to the same pot. Do not clean it. All those browned bits stuck to the bottom are flavor waiting to be lifted. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and leek with a good pinch of salt. Stir them through the butter and the fond and let them soften for ten to twelve minutes, stirring now and then. You want them glossy and sweet, the onions just starting to go golden at the edges. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more until you can smell it.

4. 4

   Build the base

   Push the vegetables to one side and drop the tomato paste into the cleared space. Let it fry directly against the hot pan for a minute or two until it darkens from bright red to brick. This cooks off the raw edge and turns the paste into something deeper and more savory. Stir it through the vegetables so everything is coated.

5. 5

   Deglaze with wine

   Pour in the red wine and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release every last bit of fond. Let the wine come to a boil and bubble hard for five or six minutes until it has reduced by about a third. You are cooking off the sharp alcohol and concentrating the flavor. The smell should shift from boozy to rich and winey. That is when you know the base is ready.

6. 6

   Braise slowly

   Heat the oven to 150C. Return the seared oxtail and any juices that have collected on the plate to the pot. Pour in the beef stock, then tuck in the bay leaves, thyme, juniper, allspice, and orange peel. The liquid should come about two thirds of the way up the meat, not cover it completely. The parts above the surface develop deeper flavor as they baste in the steam. Bring everything to a gentle simmer on the stove, then cover tightly and transfer to the oven. Braise for three to three and a half hours, turning the pieces once halfway through. The ragout is ready when the meat slides off the bone with almost no effort and a fork sinks through the thick parts without resistance. You'll know when it's right.

7. 7

   Finish the sauce

   Lift the oxtail pieces out of the pot and set them aside on a plate. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean pan, pressing the vegetables gently to release their liquid but not pushing them through. You want a clean, glossy sauce, not a chunky one. Skim off any fat that rises to the top. Taste. Add the redcurrant jelly and stir until it melts in. The jelly is the quiet Danish note, a whisper of sweetness and fruit that rounds the sauce and keeps it from going heavy. Reduce the sauce over medium heat for five to ten minutes until it coats the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper.

   If you want the sauce glossier still, whisk in a small knob of cold butter at the very end off the heat. It pulls everything together and gives the surface that mirror shine.
8. 8

   Return the meat and serve

   You can either return the whole oxtail pieces to the sauce and warm them through, which is the traditional presentation, or pick the meat from the bones in large pieces and fold it back in, which is easier to eat and better for a dinner table where people don't want to wrestle with bones. Both are right. Choose the one that fits the evening. Spoon over mashed potatoes with a pile of pickled cucumber alongside, or serve with thick slices of dark rugbrod to catch the sauce. Scatter with chopped parsley. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Make this a day ahead if you possibly can. The flavors deepen overnight and the fat rises to the top of the cold ragout, where you can lift it off cleanly with a spoon. The version you eat on day two is a better dish than the one that comes out of the oven on day one.
• •Use a red wine you would actually drink. Not expensive, but honest. Something with body and a bit of fruit, a Rhone, a Chianti, a good table wine. Cheap cooking wine will give you a cheap sauce. The wine is half the liquid in this dish and its character goes right into the finished ragout.
• •The season decides whether you serve this with mashed potatoes, celeriac mash, or thick rugbrod. In deep winter I want mashed potatoes under it, the kind with cold butter and whole milk stirred in at the end. In early spring, when the first new potatoes arrive, boil those whole in salted water and serve them alongside instead.
• •A spoonful of pickled cucumber or pickled beetroot on the plate is not optional in a Danish household. The bright, sharp acidity cuts through the richness of the sauce and keeps every bite feeling alive. Without it the ragout can feel heavy after a few forkfuls.
• •Drink something dark alongside. A glass of the same wine you cooked with, or a Danish dark beer if you prefer. Both belong at this table.

Advance Preparation

• •Oksehaleragout is at its best when made a day ahead. Cook the ragout completely, cool, and refrigerate overnight. The fat will set on the surface and can be lifted off with a spoon before you reheat the dish gently over low heat.
• •The ragout also freezes beautifully for up to two months. Cool completely, freeze in portions, and defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating. This is the dinner party dish you can prepare two weeks in advance without anyone knowing.
• •The pickled cucumber served alongside can be made up to a week ahead and kept in the fridge. Its flavor improves with time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 370g)