On Wednesday i looked around in the fridge and saw a ton of leftovers from the  4th of July party.  Veggie tray, beef brisket (put that in the freezer and make chili out of it later), got some onions here…potatoes…fresh herbs outside…Well, the basics of a Mirepoix are staring me in the face from the veggie tray.And where there is Mirepoix, there is soup! And I just happen to  have some Ox Tails in the freezer! That makes the decision what to cook today an easy one. Ox tail soup is peasant food, so there will be more vegetables than meat and the stock will be thickened with some roux in this recipe; the flour thickening may be skipped if desired.

As Mme. E. Saint-Ange states in the absolutely essential and definitive cookbook  “La Bonne Cuisine – The Original Companion for French Home Cooking”  Mirepoix ‘is used a the aromatic element for many dishes’. And of course she is correct. Her Mirepoix and mine vary just slightly, i add celery to mine and some pepper, make sure that celery is used at 1/3 volume or so  of the carrots or it will dominate the dish. (A word on “La Bonne Cuisine”, this was the book that started Juliet Child on her epic Culinary adventure. It is an essential book to have in any kitchen and accompanies the “Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Step-by-Step” perfectly.)

Mirepoix + Stock and spices + some potatoes to stretch the dish + 2-3 lbs Ox Tails….

So to begin our Ox Tail Soup:

For our mirepoix, small cube the vegetables so they brown evenly and all of the flavor is available when we move into the stock making: 2 medium Spanish onions, 4 large carrots, parsley (from the garden), bay leaf, thyme, a touch of fresh garlic, a little salt, and fresh ground pepper, all browned in bacon fat. You can use fresh cubed bacon here as well, but since the oxtails will provide the meat, we can go with just the fat.

1) Start with the Mirepoix in a heavy bottom pot (mine is  9 quart). Get the bacon and or bacon fat cooking on medium heat and toss in your cubed vegetables (basic ingredients listed above). Mirepoix is different in every kitchen and with every cook, experiment with it to make your own. The base ingredients however do not change, these are carrots, onions, celery, bacon fat or cubed bacon or cured ham, parsley, thyme, and bay leaf.  8-10 minutes of progressive browning should do it.

2) While you are sauteing your mirepoix, we also have to sear the ox tails. Dredge them in flour and sear them in bacon fat over high heat in a heavy bottomed saute pan, 2.5 lbs of ox tail  fits in a 12″ saute pan nicely. The oxtails can drain on a rack when they are done, the dripping in the pan can be deglazed with a little liquid (wine cut with stock) and the contents of the deglazed pan can be used in the stock if the ingredients are not too burned. Taste the deglazed liquid, if it tastes good, we will use it later. Do note, it will be strong though. Please, do not ever use ‘cooking wine/sherry’ it is an abomination unto the Lord and unto all things foodie. Only use wine that you would actually drink in your recipes. We happen to have a leftover bottle of Beaujolais nouveau from last season.

3) The Stock: In the large pot, the mirepoix needs a little flour, 2-3 tblsp sprinkled over it and golden-brown the flour just a touch, sort of like a roux. This will thicken the stock (optional).

I don’t happen to have any beef stock on hand, i do however have a ton of chicken stock though. Since this is Provincial, use what is on hand. Anytime we cook a chicken or even make a bunch of wings, the bones are cracked open and boiled down with some salt and pepper to make stock.I can add some high quality beef bullion to the chicken stock to get it close…have to remember to cut back on the salt in the recipe though! Perhaps salt it at the end if needed. So, eight cups of stock and some beef bullion goes into the pot of mirepoix with some red wine, a few cloves, a spare pinch of rosemary (use whatever spices you like), and tomato paste (also optional).

Notice, no water is used. Some can be added before/during simmering to retain volume, but water adds nothing to the party. Toss in the Ox tails.

4) Simmer on low for 3-4  hours until the meat is ready to fall of the bone. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan often. There is a lot of connective tissue that has to be rendered here so this takes some time.  Have a nice glass of wine and make some baguettes while you wait. When you are done making baguettes and are eying your second bottle of wine remove the ox tails and separate the meat from the bones and cut the meat into bite sized pieces and put them back in the soup.

5) Add some cubed red potatoes or some garbonzo beans or other pre-cooked beans if you want to stretch the dish.  Barley works well here as long as it is put in early enough to fully cook.  Simmer for another 15 minutes and drain some of the fat from the top of the soup. I use a turkey baster to do this. You will not be able to get all of it and you need some for flavor.  Do this at your own discretion.

Enjoy with fresh baked baguettes, or some garlic bread, and a glass of red wine!