I first made this luxuriantly rich, gently aromatic, and meltingly tender stew to see out 2015 and bring in 2016. Paired with a velvet-smooth celeriac mash, Salt-Massaged Kale, Brussels Sprout & Sour Cherry Salad and Italian red wine, it went down so well it’s become an annual New Year’s food ritual.

The mash mops up the lustrous gravy, its superfine texture and light weight perfectly countering the voluptuous beef. It’s also a great choice flavour-wise – celery has a special affinity with beef. While the zingy salad adds brightness and sparkle, cleansing the palate between each mouthful to deliver a fresh ‘POW!’ of intensity.

Together, they make a savoury triumvirate that is special enough to grace any Christmas, Hogmanay or New Year’s Day table. Alternatively, draw the curtains, light the fire and cosy up for a good many family meals or romantic dinners à deux.

This stew improves with keeping, so, if you can, plan ahead and make it a day or two in advance. Use a slow cooker if you have one. Otherwise, pop in a low oven in a large casserole dish or sturdy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.

Serve with a big, bold red wine with plenty of acidity to cut through the richness. Italian reds such as Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti all work beautifully.

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What’s great about it

• Perfect for festive entertaining.

• Including both accompaniments, one serving contains a whopping:

  • 5.4 of your ≥5-A-DAY – in just one sumptuous sitting!

  • Over half your weekly plant target (15.75 out of 30)

  • And almost a third of your recommended daily intake of fibre (9g of 30g)

• Rich in protein.

• A good source of iron.

In peak season

When UK-grown produce is at its best and most widely available:

• Celeriac: Year-round

• Mandarin: Available from Spain November-February

• Brussels and kale (for the accompanying salad): October-February

How many of your ≥5-A-Day: 1.4 per serving for the stew, 5.4 including
both accompaniments

Plant points: 6 for the stew, 15.75 including both accompaniments

Time

Prep: 1 hour

Cooking: 9-10 hours

Ingredients

The stew (serves 8):

1kg organic, grass-fed oxtail (about 1 tail), jointed

1 teaspoon finely ground pink Himalayan or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 dessertspoon organic avocado/olive oil (both heat-tolerant fats)

3 medium organic onions (about 500g), sliced

400ml full-bodied red wine, preferably organic (buy something decent that you’d be happy to drink, a poor wine won’t improve with cooking! A bottle round about the £8-10 mark is ideal)

3 star anise

2 x 3-inch pieces of cassia (see the box below)

4 large fresh bay leaves (up to 5 if using dried)

20 organic black peppercorns

Finely grated zest of 2 organic unwaxed mandarins (or 1 small organic unwaxed orange, but use mandarins if you can get hold of them, for perkier, quintessentially festive aromatics)

350-475ml organic tomato passata

Celeriac velvet (serves 4):

900g organic celeriac, peeled and chopped into medium dice

25g organic grass-fed butter

Pink Himalayan or sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt-Massaged Kale, Brussels Sprout & Sour Cherry Salad (serves 4):

Recipe here.

What is cassia and where can you buy it?

Cassia is an aromatic bark that is closely related to cinnamon, but is more robust in taste as well as appearance. Stronger and sweeter than its delicate, papery-quilled cousin, it’s the better choice for savoury dishes while cinnamon is the best for sweet. Do use cassia if you can – it adds an inimitable oomph – otherwise sub with 2 x 4-inch sticks cinnamon.

You’ll find cassia in any Asian food store. I buy it locally from KRK on Woodlands Road.

Method

The stew:

1. Pat the pieces of oxtail dry with a sheet of kitchen paper. Lay them out on a plate and season with some of the salt and a light grind of pepper.

2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and fry the meat over a medium-high heat (in batches if necessary, so as not to overcrowd the pan) until browned on all sides. Remove the browned oxtail with a slotted spoon/tongs and set aside on the plate.

3. Reduce the heat to low, add the onions and cook gently until they’re beginning to turn golden and caramelise, about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. In the meantime, if you’re using a slow cooker, lightly brush the base with a drizzle of avocado/olive oil to prevent sticking, and switch to the auto/medium setting to preheat. If baking in a casserole dish, preheat the oven to 110C.

5. Once the onions are ready, return the meat and all of its juices to the pan. Pour in the wine, add the star anise, cassia, bay leaves, remaining salt, peppercorns, mandarin zest and enough of the passata to just cover the meat. Raise the heat and bring everything to a slow simmer.

6. Transfer the mixture to the preheated slow cooker and cook on auto/medium for about 9-10 hours, or on low for 12 hours/overnight, until the meat is exceptionally tender and falling off the bone. Alternatively, if you’re cooking the stew in the oven, transfer to a large casserole dish or a sturdy saucepan, cover with the lid, place in the preheated oven and cook for 9-10 hours. 

7. To test for readiness, remove one of the largest pieces of meat from the pan and press with a fork. If the flesh falls away from the bone without any resistance at all, leaving it as clean as a whistle – no meat, fat or connective tissue attached whatsoever – it’s ready. Conversely, if any tissue remains adhered to the bone, return the meat to the pan and continue cooking. Keep checking at regular intervals (every hour) to prevent overcooking; if left for too long, the marbling of fat running through the meat melts into the gravy, leaving the meat dry.

8. Once the meat is ready, using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove all the pieces to a plate and strip the meat from the bones. Discard the bones or freeze to make stock/bone broth at a later date. 

9. Next, check the thickness of the gravy. If it’s thick enough for your liking, return the meat to the pan, check the seasoning and adjust to taste. Alternatively, if you prefer a thicker, richer sauce, follow steps 10-13 to reduce the liquor. NB: I usually find it necessary to reduce the gravy, but it’s occasionally thick enough to leave as it is (reflective of higher collagen content in the oxtail).

10. Pass the gravy through a sieve/colander set over a large frying pan or saucepan to catch the liquid. A frying pan is best – the large surface area and shallow depth speed reduction. A very important note here: leave behind any remnants stuck to the base of your slow cooker/casserole dish; don’t scrape them out and add to the stew as they’ll impart an unpleasant burnt flavour!

11. Pick out the star anise, cassia/cinnamon and bay leaves from the colander and discard. Set the strained onions aside. 

12. Place the gravy pan on the stove and bring to the boil on a high heat. Immediately lower the heat to a fast simmer and reduce the gravy until it is thick and glossy (usually about one third to half its original volume).

13. Once the gravy has reduced to your liking, reunite it with the reserved meat and onions, check the seasoning and adjust to taste. 

14. Allow the stew to cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to serve. It will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days or you can freeze for 4-6 months.

15. Reheat to serve.

Celeriac velvet:

Advance prep is the secret to stress-free special occasion dining, so that you can relax and enjoy the meal and spend time with your guests beforehand. So, like the stew, this mash can be prepared in advance and simply reheated when you’re ready to sit down and eat.

1. Add the celeriac to a pan of boiling salted water. Bring back to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook partially covered for about 10-12 minutes until cooked through and tender in the centre. The exact cooking time will depend on the size of the dice, but the veg must be tender all the way through for the desired velvet-smoothness. 

2. Drain the celeriac through a colander, reserving the water for stock/soup if you wish.

3. Return the vegetables to the pan and cook on a low heat to dry them out a little, shaking every now and then to prevent sticking.

4. Transfer to a blender, add the butter and freshly ground black pepper and blitz to a completely smooth purée, scraping down the sides a couple of times. For the smoothest-ever mash, I like to use my smoothie blender. As its capacity is smaller than a regular blender, I blend in two batches.

5. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste.

6. If you’ve made the mash in advance, a few minutes before you’re ready to serve the meal, return it to a pan, fully covered with a tight-fitting lid, and cook on a low heat until hot through, stirring every now and then to prevent sticking. 

Salt-Massaged Kale, Brussels Sprout & Sour Cherry Salad:

Method here.

To serve:

Spoon the mash onto dinner plates or into large, shallow (pasta-style) bowls. Make a dip in the centre, ladle over the stew, and heap some salad on the side.

Alternative serving suggestions

• Also delicious with carrot mash.

• Any vegetable mash and steamed green of your choice or boiled carrots (if using carrots, make the mash with a different veg).