D: Steph chose the recipe this week, going with the Onion Oxtail Soup. We both really like French Onion Soup, and Oxtail is always… well, different anyway. I also was pretty onboard with a) soup, and b) something that I can kind of just leave to cook, since I’m still coming off of a flu. So, onion soup with oxtail, let’s do this.

Ingredients:##

Onion Oxtail Soup###

• 3lb yellow onions (2-3 large)
• 2 TBsp kosher salt
• 1 TBsp dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2lb beef oxtail (4 large)
• 1 C red wine
• 5 thyme sprigs, tied into a bundle
• 1.5 quarts beef broth
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Groovy Gruyere Sticks###

• 8oz grated Gruyere cheese
• 4 thin sourdough bread slices (about 1/4in thick)

Needed:##

• Dutch Oven or other thick stock pot
• Panini press or 2 cast iron pans

Directions:##

Soup###

• Heat oven to 300F
• Halve and peel onions, slice to ~ 3mm thick and place in a bowl
• Toss with 1TBsp of the salt, brown sugar and baking soda

• Place onions in a colander over a bowl and let rest for 15 minutes, tossing occassionally
• Place a 4qt dutch oven, or a stock pot over medium-high heat (high heat on a stock pot may burn, use care) for 5 minutes (or enough to heat)
• Season the oxtails with 2tsp of the remaining salt and sear in the pot

• Set oxtails aside after seared, but leave fat from cooking in the pot
• Wring the onions out by pushing them down into the bottom of the colander
• Sautee the onions in the pot, over medium-high heat until they brown, about 8 minutes
• Add the wine and cook for a further 5 minutes
• Place the oxtail meat and thyme bundle on top of the onions, pour in the broth (should cover)

• Place the lid on the pot and place in the oven, simmer for 3-4 hours, until the oxtail is soft enough to pull apart easily
• Remove the oxtails and thyme and set oxtails aside to cool
• When cool enough to handle, separate the meat and chop or pull apart
• Add meat back to the soup, bring to a summer before serving
• Taste and adjust seasining with the remaining salt and black pepper

Gruyere Sticks###

• Heat a panini press to high, or 2 cast iron pans to medium
• Take 2 oz of the Gruyere and sprinkle it into 2 bread-shaped beds
• Lay a piece of bread on each, top with another oz of cheese
• Press, or place a second cast pan on top, for 1 minute
• Remove to a cooling rack, repeate with other pieces
• Once cool, cut into sticks and serve with soup

Verdict##

D: We need a dutch oven. Otherwise, the soup and sticks were very good. Salt content was fine, and we didn’t need to add the remaining salt. Has a bit of sweetness to it from the brown sugar and the onions; pretty much onion soup and oxtail soup, frankly it’s about what you would expect. Very good soup, I’ll make it again, we enjoyed it.