Oxtail pie

I'm always keen on trying new recipes that look goooood. And as I've said before, i'm quite the critic. This one I've made twice and, although it's extremely rich in flavour and quite expensive, it is totally worth the hard work involved. Should you not eat oxtail, you could always use lamb shank. Get the butcher to cut it up for you so you can work with smaller pieces. They should currently cost about the same per kg. I got this recipe from a magazine years ago. I almost NEVER follow a recipe exactly.



60 ml cake flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper (I use white)
2kg oxtail, cut into pieces at the joints
100 ml oil
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk of celery, chopped
200 g smoked bacon, chopped
250 ml dry red wine This isn't set in stone. Use Rose/sweet Red should you want to drink the rest
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh parsley
2 bay leaves If i cant find fresh, i put all of the dry versions of the following in a teabag that i've opened and washed. i then sew it closed. I'm sure you can use other things like coffee filters etc.
750 ml beef stock
80 ml tomato paste
1 x recipe sour-cream or hot water pastry (see below)
1 packet pitted prunes (optional - I personally didn't use it and prefer not to)
1 egg yolk, whisked

Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag. Add the oxtail pieces and shake well to coat them with the flour mixture.
Heat 80 ml of the oil in a large pan and brown the oxtail in batches. Set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan or pressure cooker and stir-fry the garlic, onion, carrots, celery and bacon until lightly browned.
Add the wine and simmer uncovered to reduce the wine by half.
Tie the herbs and bay leaves together with a piece of string and add to the vegetable mixture.
Add the stock, tomato paste and oxtail, stirring well to mix. Cover and cook for 3 hours. (90 minutes in the pressure cooker) or until meat falls off the bone. I personally put it in the oven, covered with foil at 180°C and baked for 4 hours
Remove the bouquet garni and leave the meat to cool.
Grease a large ovenproof dish. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and use to line only the base of the greased dish.
Skim the fat from the meat and remove the bones.
Add the prunes to the meat mixture and spoon it into the pastry-lined dish.
Cut out another pieces of pastry to cover the filling, place on top and brush with egg yolk. Chill for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C. Bake the pie for 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 20 minutes or until the crust is crisp and golden.

Serves 8.

Removing the bones is optional. Some people like to eat off the bones, (I personally do) so depending on who you're catering for.
Pierce a hole in the pastry with a skewer to allow the steam to escape while the pie is baking or the pastry will become soggy instead of deliciously flaky and crisp.