Heston Blumenthal is the chef and owner of the second best restaurant in the world. It's called the Fat Duck and is located in Bray. I had the privilege of eating there for my birthday back in September of 2007. It was unbelievable.
He also owns the pub which is just a short walk from the Fat Duck called the Hind's Head. It was there that I first tried this dish a few years ago. I had been waiting to get up the courage to try it and that day finally came. This IS the recipe from the Hind's Head.
Allow TWO DAYS for this to come together. It is SO worth it when it does. We ate it today, which is cold, rainy and crappy. This is great 'stick-to-your-ribs' pub food. The bright punch of the braised cabbage is a nice counterpoint, especially with the wintry cloves and cinnamon running through it.
Yeah, there's not a lot bad I can say about this.
2.5 kg oxtail
flour for dusting
150 g (3/4 cup) dripping or lard
100 ml (7 tablespoons) brandy
250 ml (1 cup) red wine
175 g (1 3/4 cups) leeks, sliced
75 g celery (2/3 cup), sliced
175 g carrots (generous 1 cup), sliced
300 g (3 cups) onions, sliced
½ star anise
200 g (2 3/4 cups) mushrooms, sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
a little caster (superfine) sugar
250 g (9 oz) tomatoes, halved
1 bay leaf
6 sprigs of thyme
8 black peppercorns
1 liter (1 quart) beef stock
1 liter (1 quart) chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
KIDNEYS
2 ox kidneys
2 sprigs of thyme
2 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
SUET PASTRY
1 kg (heaped 7 cups) self-raising (self-rising) flour
15 g (1 tablespoon) salt
500 g (18 ounces) suet
600 ml (2 1/2 cups) water
1 egg, lightly beaten, to glaze
Season the oxtail with salt and pepper and dust with flour, Heat half the dripping or lard in a large frying pan (skillet), add the oxtail and cook until well browned all over (you will probably have to do this in batches). Remove from the pan, pour in the brandy and red wine and bring to the boil, stirring to deglaze the pan. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Heat the remaining dripping or lard in a large pan, add the leeks, celery and carrots and fry until well coloured. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onions and star anise to the pan and fry until tender and almost caramelized, then remove and set aside. Finally, add the mushrooms and fry until well coloured. Set aside with the other vegetables.
Heat the oil and a sprinkling of sugar in a large frying pan over a fairly high heat, then add the tomatoes, cut-side down, and cook until caramelized. Deglaze with a splash of water and remove from the heat.
Put the oxtail, vegetables and tomatoes in a large casserole, add the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and beef and chicken stocks and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and transfer to an oven preheated to 160C/325F. Bake for 4 hours, until the oxtail is very tender. Leave to cool, then strain the mixture, reserving the sauce. Pick the meat off the bones in as large pieces as possible and set aside.
Trim the ox kidneys and remove any sinew. Place in a pan with enough cold water to cover and bring to the boil. Drain and refresh in cold water, then return to the pan with the thyme sprigs, peppercorns and bay leaf. Cover with cold water again, bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 hours, until tender. Leave to cool, then drain and dice the kidneys.
To make the suet pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl and stir in the suet. Add the water a little at a time until the dough comes together; do not overwork the dough. Cover and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.
To assemble the puddings, take six 300ml pudding basins (ovenproof bowls), or use one 1.7 litre basin, and butter them 3 times, freezing them briefly each time. Divide the pastry into 6 balls and roll out each one into a circle 5mm (1/4 inch) thick. Cut away a quarter wedge from each circle to use for the lid, then use the rest of the pastry to line the pudding basins. Roll out the pastry for the lids to the same thickness. Put the cooked oxtail and kidney in the basins, then fill them up with the reserved sauce, so it comes just below the rim. Brush the lip of the pastry with the beaten egg, then place the lids on top and seal. Double wrap each basin in cling film (plastic wrap) and steam for 2 hours. Let them rest overnight, then reheat in a steamer before serving.
BRAISED RED CABBAGE
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 small head red cabbage, shredded
1 tart green apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 ½ cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
1 pinch ground cloves
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons currant jelly
1 teaspoon lemon juice, or to taste
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent, 6-8 minutes.
Stir in the cabbage and cook until limp, 3 minutes. Add the apple, broth, vinegar, cinnamon, cloves, sugar, 2 tsp salt and pepper to taste. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil.
Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and braise, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender. About 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the jelly and lemon juice. Taste and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving.
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