I’ll keep the quarantine notes light this time – extended once again, until August 16th. They didn’t roll things back as we feared they might here once again, since numbers are continuing to climb (but not exponentially, just steadily). The health ministry is now estimating we’ll hit our “peak” right around that date, in mid-August. But, at least we now can go for a walk, at night (between 6pm and 10am) to get some exercise, and they’re being far less vigilant about people being out and about during the day. Masks obligatory, of course. Actually, a slight rollback – all social gatherings of more than ten people are prohibited for the next two weeks – then again, I didn’t realize they hadn’t been already, I don’t think anyone else did either. A lot more types of stores have reopened, and as of today, the major commercial streets have been allowed to reopen. So, things are proceeding. We hope.

Behold… Oxtail. Or parts of one anyway. I specifically selected a couple of flats at the market that just had the bigger pieces, because usually you get a flat that has a whole one from end to end, and for me, there’s just not enough meat on the thinner pieces to make it worth eating them, though they do add flavor and body to soups and stews (the two raw meat photos aren’t mine – bizarrely, for all the times I’ve cooked oxtail, I seem not to have taken a photo of them in the raw):

So, what is it? It is, yes, literally, a tail, cut into sections. Traditionally it would be from an ox, which is a castrated bull that is used for draft farm work. So being castrated they tend to, over time, fatten up. These days, they’re more likely to simply be the tails of various cattle, male or female, that have been butchered for other cuts. Why waste the tail? It’s got a lot of fat and cartilage, which lends itself well to slow cooked stew and soup type dishes, and it’s delicious.

It is not the same thing as ossobuco, which I was asked about, which is the cut cross-sections of veal shanks, the upper part of the leg between the shoulder or hip and the elbow or knee, assuming that those terms mean the same thing with cows. Ossobuco is much more meaty and less fatty because of the exercise on those muscles and joints. And yes, ossobuco is both the name of the cut of meat, and an Italian method/recipe for preparing the same.

We’re making a version of Rabo Encendio, a Dominican dish, the name translates as Tail on Fire. One might expect from the name that it would be a fiery spicy dish, but it really isn’t, just a well spiced one. Season the oxtail pieces well with salt and pepper and then brown them vegetable oil.

When browned on all sides add water to the pot – enough to cover them to about 2/3 of their thickness. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover the pot, and simmer for an hour and a half, turning them every 15-20 minutes or so to make sure they cook well on both sides. Personally, though I was following a recipe given to me, I think I’d cover them completely with water so you don’t have to fuss so much. You can always remove some or boil off some of it at the end of the hour and a half before proceeding on.

While that’s cooking away, prepare your vegetables and spices – chopped onion, minced garlic, sliced green olives, sliced red bell pepper, diced carrot, and diced tomato. And, some tomato paste or sauce, and an adobo mixture – which for me was a mix of 1 teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, cumin, and chili flakes.

At the end of the hour and a half, the oxtail should be just tender to a knife point. Add all of the above to the pot, mix it all together well, bring back to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook for another half hour. Again, I flipped them about halfway through so that both sides would absorb the flavors.

And, there you have it, the completed Rabo Encendio.

Serve with white rice. Normally it’s garnished with a half of a sliced avocado, but when I opened the ones up I’d bought, they were all well past their prime, so I tossed them and we ate the dish sans avocado.

Yum, yum, yum. If I can find enough “meaty” oxtails, I’ll put this on one of our weekend delivery menus.