I haven't made this in at least 25 years. It's quite a tasty soup.
More like stew, actually. This is how I wrote it down and made it the
last time. I'll be making some changes this time around. [By the way,
I know oxtails don't come from oxen.]

Oxtail Soup

2 meaty oxtails, disjointed
1/4 c. shortening <gasp!>
flour seasoned with salt & pepper
3 quarts water
bouquet of fresh parsley, bay leaf, marjoram and thyme
salt & pepper
1 c. each chopped celery, onion, carrots
2 Tbs. fresh parsley to finish

Dust oxtails with seasoned flour; brown in melted shortening. Add 2
quarts water, 1 tsp. salt, herb bouquet. Simmer 3 hours. Cool and skim
fat. Add 1 quart water and chopped veggies. Adjust seasonings and cook
until vegetables are tender. Stir in parsley. Serve hot. (meat may be
boned before serving.) Serves 8
****************

My Notes for this time around:

Adding chopped parsley at the end is superflous.

I won't be using shortening. Just a bit of vegetable oil. If the
oxtails are sufficiently fatty they won't need much help with the
browning phase. And yes, I think that step is important.

I may add a little dark beer to it.

If I decide to do the soup/stew in the crockpot, I'll probably brown the
oxtails in a cast iron skillet. (I much prefer it to a pewter skillet. Heh)

Stovetop, I can brown the oxtails and cook the soup in the same pot. A
(vintage) Descoware stew pot. Porcelain-coated cast iron. Looks a heck
of a lot like Le Creuset. LOL No need to wonder why:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descoware

"Desco Corporation was bought out by Le Creuset in the 1960s. Le Creuset
stopped manufacturing and marketing Descoware while promoting their
French-manufactured Le Creuset brand of porcelain-coated cast iron
cookware in its place."

My mother gave me most of her Descoware years ago. All of it marked
Descoware Belgium on the bottom. It's nice cookware. But it's pretty
darned heavy.

Jill

On Fri, 10 Jan 2014 23:53:10 -0500, jmcquown >
wrote:

>I haven't made this in at least 25 years. It's quite a tasty soup.
>More like stew, actually. This is how I wrote it down and made it the
>last time. I'll be making some changes this time around. [By the way,
>I know oxtails don't come from oxen.]
>
>Oxtail Soup
>
>2 meaty oxtails, disjointed
>1/4 c. shortening <gasp!>
>flour seasoned with salt & pepper
>3 quarts water
>bouquet of fresh parsley, bay leaf, marjoram and thyme
>salt & pepper
>1 c. each chopped celery, onion, carrots
>2 Tbs. fresh parsley to finish
>
>Dust oxtails with seasoned flour; brown in melted shortening. Add 2
>quarts water, 1 tsp. salt, herb bouquet. Simmer 3 hours. Cool and skim
>fat. Add 1 quart water and chopped veggies. Adjust seasonings and cook
>until vegetables are tender. Stir in parsley. Serve hot. (meat may be
>boned before serving.) Serves 8
>****************
>
>My Notes for this time around:
>
>Adding chopped parsley at the end is superflous.
>
>I won't be using shortening. Just a bit of vegetable oil. If the
>oxtails are sufficiently fatty they won't need much help with the
>browning phase. And yes, I think that step is important.
>
>I may add a little dark beer to it.
>
>If I decide to do the soup/stew in the crockpot, I'll probably brown the
>oxtails in a cast iron skillet. (I much prefer it to a pewter skillet. Heh)
>
>Stovetop, I can brown the oxtails and cook the soup in the same pot. A
>(vintage) Descoware stew pot. Porcelain-coated cast iron. Looks a heck
>of a lot like Le Creuset. LOL No need to wonder why:
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descoware
>
>"Desco Corporation was bought out by Le Creuset in the 1960s. Le Creuset
>stopped manufacturing and marketing Descoware while promoting their
>French-manufactured Le Creuset brand of porcelain-coated cast iron
>cookware in its place."
>
>My mother gave me most of her Descoware years ago. All of it marked
>Descoware Belgium on the bottom. It's nice cookware. But it's pretty
>darned heavy.
>
>Jill

I should have finished reading before I posted. Thanks for the
recipe.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)