Oxtail Tacos

If you haven’t had oxtail before, go to you next door neighbors house and cut off the tail from their pet cow. They’ll be mad at first, but after you make them tacos they’ll forget you took a machete to Marigold and ask you to do it again after the tail grows back in a few hours. If you’re next door neighbor doesn’t have a pet cow for you to butcher try getting oxtail at the grocery store. Sometimes they have them at Costco. If you’ve got a local butcher shop even better.

The bad news is that oxtails don’t have a lot of meat. The good news is that they do have a lot of bone and marrow. So when you braise them it creates an incredible broth, and the meat that comes off the bone is rich and delicious. The meat has a more deep, rich, beefy flavor than short ribs. So you’re in for a treat. When you’re done braising use the meat for tacos and use the leftover broth to cook rice. It’ll be the best rice you’ve had since the cocaine infused rice you had in college.

What you’ll need -

• oxtail

• tortillas

• guacamole

• cotija cheese

• white onion

• cilantro

• 3 chipotles in adobo

• 4 chiles de arbol

• 1 can chicken broth

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 tsp mexican oregano

• salt

• Oxtail is really fatty, so clean that up a bit first and trim the big chunks of fat.

Now dust the oxtail with salt and get it into a hot dutch oven with a little oil. Brown it on all sides.

While the oxtail is browning go to work on the braising liquid. Add the the chipotles (and some of that adobo sauce they’re in), chiles de arbol, Mexican oregano, garlic, and chicken broth to the blender. After you’ve warned your dog that loud noises are about to happen blend until smooth. Add salt to taste.

Now add a little bit of chicken broth to the dutch oven (you should have reserved a tad from the can). Deglaze and scrape those little brown bits loose on the bottom. Add the braising liquid from the blender, the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer for a couple hours with the lid on.

After the meat has been cooking for 90 minutes or so start to test it every 20 minutes. Just grab a piece and see how tender it is. When its super tender and comes right off the bone it’s ready. Some pieces may be done quicker than others, as the oxtail is not the same thickness everywhere. That’s fine, just pull them out as they finish. Shred the meat off the bone (it should be tender enough to do so very easily) and start to build the tacos. If you need to reheat any of the meat that’s fine. Some guacamole, onion, cilantro, and cotija cheese. FYI I forgot to add the cheese before taking the pics because I’m a poopoo face.

This is Dexter. He also loves tacos, and that’s a bite of rich, delicious, beefy, yummy taco awesomeness.