Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 1kg (2lb 4oz) oxtail, cut into pieces (ask your butcher to do this)
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or beef dripping
- 2 onions, halved and finely sliced
- 2 small celery sticks, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- pared zest of ½ small orange
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 juniper berries, lightly bashed
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 150ml (5fl oz) red wine
- 500ml (17fl oz) good-quality beef stock
- 4–6 pollack fillets (about 120–150g/4¼–5½oz each)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Season the oxtail all over with salt and pepper. Heat the oil or dripping in a large heavy-based casserole over a medium heat. Add the oxtail pieces and cook, turning regularly, for about 8–10 minutes, until they have a deep colour and are starting to crisp. Remove the oxtail from the pan and set aside. Add the onions, celery, garlic, orange zest, bay leaves, juniper, and thyme sprigs to the pan and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, until the onions are soft.
Return the oxtail pieces to the pan, arranging them in a tight, single layer. Pour over the wine and the stock so that the liquid covers the oxtail by 1–2cm (½–¾in), and bring it up to a simmer. Place a lid on the pan and cook over a very low heat for 3–4 hours, or until the oxtail meat falls off the bone. If at any point the pan looks a bit dry, add a dash of water or more stock to cover the meat.
Remove the oxtail pieces from the pan and allow them to cool a little. Use a large spoon to skim off the excess fat from the surface of the sauce, reserving a few spoonfuls of the fat for frying the fish. Turn up the heat, then reduce the sauce by half – it should thicken and become full of flavour. Adjust the seasoning. Return the oxtail to the sauce, either in whole pieces or flaked off the bone.
Set a large non-stick pan over a medium–high heat. Season the fish all over with salt and pepper. Heat the reserved fat in the pan and when hot add the fish, skin-side down. Cook for 3–5 minutes, depending on its thickness, then turn the fillets over and fry for 1–2 minutes, until the flakes separate when pressed lightly with a fork, which indicates the fish is cooked. Spoon the warm oxtail and plenty of sauce onto the plates. Lift the fish from the pan and place alongside. Serve straight away.
