We are well past the winter solstice and, although I have noticed the evenings are light for just that little bit longer, it still feels like we are just getting into the depths of winter.
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Not that winter is especially harsh in these parts. Right now, I'm on the 27th floor of a building on Bourke Street, gazing down over this beautiful Victorian city of the South, sparkling in the bright early afternoon sunshine like your grandmother's ornate diamond ring. To the north, the Great Dividing Range rolls lazily around Melbourne, a rim of hazy blue, shaking hands with the blue Dandenongs to the east. Swivel around to the south and there is Port Phillip Bay, azure today, and as flat as a fresh sheet of A4.
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Early this morning, a rare winter northerly bit my face as I walked out in the early light, Goldie, the elderly Brittany, by my side. The northerly, tending slightly east, blows straight off the Australian Alps. It's a sharp, tingling, energising cold; not the the bone-numbing misery that blows from the south off Bass Strait, Southern Ocean, maybe Antarctica.
Goldie, 13, is on arthritis medication but runs like a new pup when off the leash. My last Brittany - Monty - lasted until a day before his fourteenth birthday and was exuberant until perhaps the last two months. They are brilliant dogs but they must have plenty of exercise.
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It's been a week of shortcuts, leftovers and soups from the freezer (what did we do before freezers?) but I picked up some nice oxtail from that great butcher in Lygon Street (near Ti Amo) and created this nice winter stew, an old favourite from childhood.
Oxtail stew.
Toss your oxtail segments - I used about six or seven - in seasoned flour (use a plastic bag, it's easier) and seal them in some dripping (I'm doing this the old-fashioned way) in a large heavy-based pot. Remove.
To the pot, add a large chopped onion, two diced carrots, two finely chopped sticks of celery and a scored clove of garlic. Sweat these for five minutes or so and then slosh in a cup of red wine.
Add a generous dessertspoonful of tomato paste and a large can of chopped tomatoes or a jar of passata. Return oxtail to pot and cover with water or stock. That's basically it but you can go wild with other ingredients. I added a can of borlotti beans and some chopped red capsicum.
Let it simmer away for a couple of hours while you consider what you would like to eat with it. It's probably best with mashed potatoes, but I made some instant polenta and cooked some silverbeet in olive oil and garlic.
Don't forget to sprinkle lots of parsley over the top. It's good for you.
Next day.
After you have enjoyed your mid-winter oxtail stew, you will be left with a magnificent gravy or sauce that makes a brilliant ragu. Add a can of chopped tomatoes and throw in some frozen peas, reduce it a little and serve with pasta - especially good with rigatoni and home-made gnocchi. And some nice crusty bread to clean the plate.
*
Not that winter is especially harsh in these parts. Right now, I'm on the 27th floor of a building on Bourke Street, gazing down over this beautiful Victorian city of the South, sparkling in the bright early afternoon sunshine like your grandmother's ornate diamond ring. To the north, the Great Dividing Range rolls lazily around Melbourne, a rim of hazy blue, shaking hands with the blue Dandenongs to the east. Swivel around to the south and there is Port Phillip Bay, azure today, and as flat as a fresh sheet of A4.
*
Early this morning, a rare winter northerly bit my face as I walked out in the early light, Goldie, the elderly Brittany, by my side. The northerly, tending slightly east, blows straight off the Australian Alps. It's a sharp, tingling, energising cold; not the the bone-numbing misery that blows from the south off Bass Strait, Southern Ocean, maybe Antarctica.
Goldie, 13, is on arthritis medication but runs like a new pup when off the leash. My last Brittany - Monty - lasted until a day before his fourteenth birthday and was exuberant until perhaps the last two months. They are brilliant dogs but they must have plenty of exercise.
*
It's been a week of shortcuts, leftovers and soups from the freezer (what did we do before freezers?) but I picked up some nice oxtail from that great butcher in Lygon Street (near Ti Amo) and created this nice winter stew, an old favourite from childhood.
Oxtail stew.
Toss your oxtail segments - I used about six or seven - in seasoned flour (use a plastic bag, it's easier) and seal them in some dripping (I'm doing this the old-fashioned way) in a large heavy-based pot. Remove.
To the pot, add a large chopped onion, two diced carrots, two finely chopped sticks of celery and a scored clove of garlic. Sweat these for five minutes or so and then slosh in a cup of red wine.
Add a generous dessertspoonful of tomato paste and a large can of chopped tomatoes or a jar of passata. Return oxtail to pot and cover with water or stock. That's basically it but you can go wild with other ingredients. I added a can of borlotti beans and some chopped red capsicum.
Let it simmer away for a couple of hours while you consider what you would like to eat with it. It's probably best with mashed potatoes, but I made some instant polenta and cooked some silverbeet in olive oil and garlic.
Don't forget to sprinkle lots of parsley over the top. It's good for you.
Next day.
After you have enjoyed your mid-winter oxtail stew, you will be left with a magnificent gravy or sauce that makes a brilliant ragu. Add a can of chopped tomatoes and throw in some frozen peas, reduce it a little and serve with pasta - especially good with rigatoni and home-made gnocchi. And some nice crusty bread to clean the plate.
Heh - we're on the same wavelength. I also bought some oxtail for a slow-cooked winter meal, but after tossing up between western and eastern themes, I've decided to go for the Asian red-cooking idea; 5 spice powder, soy sauce etc. with bok choy and noodles. When I get around to it....
ReplyDeleteSounds great, Niki - I must try it that way some time.
ReplyDelete