Braised oxtail with sweet potato mash

When it starts raining in Cape Town, I start craving some of my favourite winter dishes, one of which is braised oxtail.  Make sure you are not in a hurry when you make this and also make sure you make more than enough, because it is actually better the next day. 

1.5 kg oxtail, in chunks

2 tablespoons butter

2 onions, sliced

6 carrots, peeled and sliced

4 celery sticks, sliced

4 leeks, trimmed and sliced

100g brown mushrooms

4 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 bottle red wine

500ml beef stock

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 cup medium sherry

1 strip of orange zest

3 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 stalk of rosemary

3 bay leaves

salt and black pepper

3 tablespoon Worcester sauce

12 baby onions, peeled

6 carrots, peeled and halved

8 tablespoons Brandy

Season the  and  brown the oxtail, a few pieces at a time, in the butter in a large saucepan.  In the meantime, prepare and slice all the vegetables.  Once the meat is nicely browned, remove from the pan and set aside.  Add a little more butter, if needed and add the onions, celery, carrots, leeks and mushrooms and saute for 15 minutes until soft and slightly browned.  Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, then add the red wine.  Cook for 10 minutes, until slightly reduced, then add the tomatoes, sherry, zest, garlic, herbs and Worcester sauce.  Season with salt and pepper.  Return the meat to the pan, cover and  gently simmer for 3 1/2 hours.

Now remove the meat and set aside.  Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve, pressing down on the vegetables.  Return the meat and the strained liquid to the pan and bring to the boil.  Add the Brandy and then the carrots and baby onions.  Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for at least another hour, or until the meat is tender and the onions and carrots cooked.  Bring to the boil again and reduce the liquid to a shiny sauce-like consistency. Season again.

I love to serve oxtail with mash rather than rice and last weekend I made a potato and sweet potato mash that really made the dish complete. 

Peel and slice 2 of each: potatoes, white skin sweet potatoes and yellow fleshed sweet potatoes.  Boil in salted water until soft.  Drain and return the potatoes to the pot.  Put back onto the heat, and mash with a potato masher.  Add 100g cream cheese and season with salt, white pepper and a few grinds of nutmeg.