Braised Oxtail with Red Wine Reduction and Celery Root Mash

This braised oxtail is one of my favorite winter meals. It started out with a recipe in Elements of Taste (which is one of my very favorite cookbooks) and has been made even better with the addition of the celery root mash. You could serve this the day you make it, but I usually refrigerate the meat in the reduced sauce overnight and then gently warm in the oven the next day when I’m ready to serve.

Braised Oxtail with Red Wine Reduction
   6-7 pounds oxtail
      Kosher salt
      Freshly ground white pepper
   1/4 cup grapeseed or other neutral vegetable oil
   2 1/2 cups roughly diced celery root
   3 cups roughly diced carrots
   3 medium leeks
   1 1/2 large onions, roughly sliced
   6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
   1 1/2 bunches thyme
   3/4 bunch rosemary
   5 cloves
   4 bay leaves
   15 white peppercorns
   3 bottles dry red wine
   1 1/2 pig trotters, halved and cleaned*
   1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
   1 tablespoon flour
      Finely grated fresh horseradish (optional, but highly recommended)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Season the oxtails with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or braising pan over medium-high heat. Add the oxtails and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes total, then remove and set aside. Add the celery root, carrots, leeks, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, cloves, bay leaves, and peppercorns and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and browned. Add the tomato paste. Mix well, then add the flour and mix again. Deglaze with red wine, scraping up any bits sticking to the pan. Return the oxtails to the pan and add the pig trotters. Bring to a simmer, cover, and braise in the oven until the oxtail is very tender, about 3-4 hours.

Remove the oxtails and trotter from the braising liquid. When the oxtails are cool enough to handle, remove all meat from the bones (this should be very easy if you cooked them long enough) and take all the meat off the trotter. Julienne the meat from the trotter and discard the bones. Set the meat aside in a bowl.
Strain the braising liquid through a fine sieve, pushing the vegetables through the sieve to give body to the liquid. Return the braising liquid to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce by half over high heat. Degrease (by cooling, by skimming, or with a fat separator) and add to the bowl with the meat. Refrigerate overnight or until ready to serve. The next day, transfer the mixture (which will look like beef jello in the morning) to a baking dish and gently warm the oxtails in the braising liquid in a 300°F oven.

Serve the meat with Celery Root Mash (recipe below) and surround with the reduced red wine braising liquid. Garnish with a finely grated fresh horseradish if desired.

Serves 6.

* You can substitute one large ham hock if you really can’t find trotters, but the dish will not turn out as awesome…

Celery Root Mash
   6 cups whole milk and 6 cups water
   1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
   1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
   3 pounds celery root, peeled and cut into 8 pieces
   9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
      Salt and white pepper to taste

Place the milk, water, salt, potatoes, and celery root in a large pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Drain, then return to the pan over low heat to remove excess liquid. Process the potatoes and celery root with a food mill, then stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper. The mash is great like this, but I like to then bake it in a 300°F oven (while the oxtail reheats) until lightly browned on top.