If I took a holiday - do do doo do, do doo do

Some time to get away - do do doo do, do doo do

Just one day out of life

I'd cook up an oxtail - and the words wouldn't scan.

Yes, tomorrow it's my holiday in Italy. To see me well fed on the journey I cooked up a whole oxtail that my chum, Mark, from a few offices down gave me. (I seem to know a lot of people called Mark - it must be a generational thing). Mark also suggested a recipe and gave me a photocopy from an Australian chef's cookbook for oxtail in ginger and coconut.

I will confess that this is the first time I have ever cooked or eaten oxtail, apart from canned soup that is. I read the recipe, thought, "Yep, that sounds fine." and then proceeded to completely ignore it and do something different.

Actually I almost stuck to the recipe as it was. I changed a few things as I didn't have any fresh basil and I forgot to take the recipe home with me and had to go from memory of the quick read through I'd done the day before. The drop of vinegar in the first bubbling of the oxtail is my idea as I'd seen somebody suggest this on a cookery programme years ago as a way of stopping your kitchen smelling too musty when you cook the thing.

It was a great dinner, and as it bubbled away I had plenty of time to hunt around for a clean pair of pants just in case the people at customs got over zealous and wanted to check my cavities. The oxtail was really excellent, meaty, soft and quite sweet. I would definitely cook it again.


Cake Blog

Home Made coconut and honey pastries: I made some pastry, rolled it out, drizzled it with honey and dessicated coconut, then baked it, drizzling over clarified butter at regular intervals. Yum.


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