Stewed beef tail with red wine

This recipe, traditional from southern Spain, used to be cooked with the tails of fighting bulls. It was one of the least noble and cheapest parts... but a dish was cooked to say “Olé, olé and olé!”.

Nowadays, it is impossible to get fighting bull meat, so we can replace the bull with a cow and the result will be just as spectacular. I recommend that you use cow's tail and not beef, because the latter is less tasty. I had to order it from my butcher shop because it is not a product they usually have.

It is a dish that requires time and care. In total, the tail will have to cook for about 3 hours to achieve a honeyed texture that melts in the mouth. But you don't need to watch it all the time! In addition, the meat has to marinate for 12 hours in red wine to make it more tender and tasty... you see that it is a dish that requires a little forethought.

To cook it, I recommend doing it in a cast iron cocotte . The one you see in the photo is the low Le Creuset casserole-type cocotte , and it works very well for these stews (it is also perfect for cooking cheeks). And once cooked, you can take it to the table in the same cocotte. It is so beautiful that all your guests will love it as much as the recipe for beef tail stewed with red wine that I am now going to explain to you.

Le Creuset low casserole-type cocotte

Ingredients

• 2 cow tails
• 1 leek
• 2 onions
• 3 carrots
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 L of quality red wine
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 1 ounce dark chocolate
• Flour
• Olive oil
• Salt

Elaboration

1. Put the cut cow tail in a cocotte . Also put the vegetables cut into large pieces and the head of garlic cut in half. Cover with red wine. If necessary, add water until it is completely covered. Let it marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
2. The next day, remove the beef tail pieces from the marinade, lightly salt them and dust them with flour. Cut the vegetables into small cubes and reserve them for later. Reserve the marinade liquid, you will need it for cooking the stew.
3. Put a splash of olive oil in the cocotte and brown the pieces of cow's tail on all sides. Once browned, add the vegetables, rosemary and thyme and cover with the marinade liquid. Cover and let simmer for 3 hours.
4. After time, remove the tail pieces and pass the liquid through a Chinese strainer . Squeeze well to extract all the juices from the vegetables. Return the sauce to the cocotte and let it reduce until it thickens. Add the ounce of chocolate and stir well.
5. Return the tail pieces to the cocotte and let everything cook together for 10 more minutes. Drizzle the pieces of tail with the sauce so that they are shiny.

You can serve the cow's tail accompanied by some French fries, boiled basmati rice or boiled quinoa.

Le Creuset low casserole-type cocotte