Last weekend when I was home-bound in the epic rainstorm, watching the leak in our ceiling grow, it seemed only right to pop out to the butcher, buy a whole oxtail, and cook it into slow submission.
Oxtail (which is actually just the tail of either gender of cattle) is an ideal meat for braising: its flavor emerges triumphantly with a long, slow cook, with each piece’s hunk of marrow only helping things along. It used to be dirt cheap, and now it’s just kind of cheap, but it is still a great choices for a meaty sauce when you’re in the mood to try something different.