Caribbean Oxtail Stew

Raw oxtail isn’t the most attractive ingredient, so it’s likely most people have seen it in the supermarket and swiftly moved on to safe old braising steak or brisket. That’s a real shame! Oxtail is flavoursome and rich, making it perfect for this Caribbean inspired slow cooked stew.

 Ingredients:

• 600g oxtail (300g per person)
• 6 spring onions, roughly chopped
• 1 large white onion, roughly chopped
• 3 celery sticks, washed and sliced
• 3 tomatoes, quartered
• 1 good quality beef stock cube
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli
• 1 teaspoon ground all spice
• 1 bay leaf
• Half a teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• Sprig of fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (light golden or Demerara is fine too)
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oil for frying
• Black pepper
• Salt

Method:

• In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil then fry the oxtail for about 10 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Transfer the oxtail to a plate.
• Add the white onions, spring onions and celery then turn down the heat. Cook gently for 5 minutes then add the all spice, cinnamon, bay leaf, celery seeds and a few twists of black pepper. Cook for a further 5 minutes until everything is soft and starting to smell great.
• Add the oxtail back to the pan and add the tomatoes, stir well then throw in the chilli (whole) and thyme.
• Dissolve the stock cube in a pint of boiling water and add to the pan with another half a pint of water. Bring to the boil then add the soy sauce and a tablespoon of brown sugar.
• Transfer the stew to a slow cooker or to a large oven proof dish. If you’re cooking in the oven, put a lid on your dish or make one using tin foil; this should be sealed tightly. Cook in the oven at 180 degrees or gas mark 4 for 3 hours or in the slow cooker on high for at least 6 hours.
• Once the cooking time is up, remove the oxtail and allow it to cool on a plate.
• Taste the liquid and add some salt, pepper or sugar to your own taste. Don’t be tempted to over season before cooking as you can always add more but can’t really take any away!
• Pour the remaining mixture back in to your saucepan and add a tablespoon of plain flour, whisk it in quickly so it doesn’t create lumps.
• Reduce the sauce right down to make lovely rich gravy. You can also give it a couple of squashes with a masher to make it slightly smooth and thicker.
• Once the oxtail is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones. Take your time here and don’t waste any meat.
• Once you’re happy with the thickness and taste of the sauce, add the meat back and heat through.

If you want to make it stretch a little further, you could add potatoes, carrots or another root vegetable about an hour before the oxtail is removed. I stir fried some cabbage (left over from making my Cabbage Rolls) to serve with it – simple and seasonal!

You can keep this covered in the fridge for a couple of days and it’s also fine to freeze if you’ve made too much (unlikely).

Beer Can Chicken with Gravy

The fun bit with this recipe is that by choosing a rub and a matching beer, you can go to any country you like. I went for jerk paste and Red Stripe on this occasion (because I’m a bit obsessed with jerk) but there are lots of combinations you can try. If the beer you want to use doesn’t come in a can, just save and wash an empty one that you can pour it in to. There are some good pre-made rubs and pastes in the shops, or you can experiment with your own versions – if you’re thinking of something specific please feel free to ask us and we’ll help you make it! Here are my flavour suggestions:

• Budweiser with BBQ, chips, corn on the cob, coleslaw
• San Miguel with lemon/paprika/garlic, patatas bravas, rocket salad, garlic mayo
• Cobra with Tandoori, fluffy basmati rice, chickpea and spinach curry
• Efes with lemon and oregano, toasted pitta breads, houmous, mixed salad
• Carling with salt and pepper, crusty bread rolls, gravy for dipping!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium chicken
• Paste or rub of your choice
• 1 can beer
• Olive oil to drizzle
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon of flour

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees (Gas Mark 6). Remove your oven racks, leaving one at the lowest point to give the chicken room to stand up!
• Open the can of beer and pour half in to a glass (or down the sink if you’re weird).
• Place the chicken neck side up on top of the can – it should fit nicely in to the cavity.

• Cover the chicken with your choice of rub/paste.
• Drizzle a little olive oil over the chicken and season with salt and pepper.
• CAREFULLY transfer to the oven and cook for 1 hour, basting a couple of times during cooking. (To baste, simply spoon the juices from the bottom of the tray over the chicken, helping to make the skin crispy and seal in flavour).
• After an hour, CAREFULLY take the chicken out of the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

• To serve, I found it was best to take off the legs and wings first by slicing the skin with a knife then using tongs to pull off the joints. Put them on a serving plate and cover with foil.
• Taking the can out of the chicken can be tricky, so I gently tipped over the chicken in the tray and removed the can while it was lay flat.
• Transfer the rest of the chicken to the serving plate and cover with foil.

For the gravy:

• Once you’ve managed to remove the can from the chicken, pour the beer in to the roasting tin.
• Using your largest ring on your hob, heat up the roasting tin on the stove, allowing the beer to ‘deglaze’ the flavours from the roasting tin. Add a little bit of water or some extra beer if you don’t think there’s enough liquid.
• Add a tablespoon of flour and use a whisk to combine with the liquids. It might look lumpy but keep whisking!

• Once it’s starting to thicken, taste and adjust seasoning if required. I like to add a little bit of lemon juice to most gravies, but it’s optional here.
• Take off the heat and transfer to a jug for pouring, or a bowl for dipping!

As Jason had gone out with his friends, I kept it simple and served my jerk beer can chicken with a hot pitta, salad and lots of the spicy gravy poured over the top. Heaven.

 

Rice and Peas

Jason and I spent our honeymoon in Jamaica so as you can imagine we ate a lot of rice and peas, in fact there was a jerk hut on the beach serving the real deal every day. This version isn’t exactly the same but Sophie and I prefer to make it this way as it’s more coconutty (if that’s a word) and takes less time.

This recipe uses all purpose seasoning which is a salty savoury spice mix. You can find it in most supermarkets on the world food aisle but if you run out or can’t find it, it’s mostly made from salt along with cumin, chilli powder and paprika, so you could try making something pretty close from your selection at home.

This is plenty for two people even by our standards, but I like taking it to work the next day and I’m not about to start measuring three quarters of a tin of coconut milk and all that.

Ingredients:

• 1 mug of easy cook long grain rice
• 1 tin coconut milk
• 1 tin of kidney beans
• Few stalks of fresh thyme
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli
• 3 spring onions
• 1 tablespoon all purpose seasoning
• Little bit of coconut or vegetable oil for frying

Method:

• In a large saucepan, heat a tablespoon of oil (I love coconut but most oils will do)
• Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat all the grains. Fry the dry rice for 3/4 minutes.

• Prick the scotch bonnet all over and add to the pan whole.
• Add the coconut milk then fill the tin with water and add that too along with the drained kidney beans.
• Bring to the boil then turn the heat down to the lowest setting.
• Season with a tablespoon of all purpose seasoning, put the sprigs of thyme on top of the mixture then put the lid on.
• Simmer until the rice is cooked through and all the liquid has been absorbed which is usually around 25-30 minutes.
• Finish with chopped spring onions.