oxtail soup - oxtail cream soup

Take an oven-proof casserole and sear the oxtail pieces in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add coarsely chopped onions, carrot and garlic. Put the pot without lid in an oven preheated at 200°C for 20 minutes. Then put a few tablespoons of tomato paste on top of the preparation and let it rest in the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove the meat and the vegetables from the casserole and put everything in a soup kettle. Make a bouquet garni of celery and leek, celeriac strips, parsley stems, thyme sprigs, bay leaves. Place this on top of the meat and fill with cold water until everything is submerged. Let simmer for at least 2½ to 3 hours over medium heat. Remove the oxtail pieces from the soup and cut off the meat, without the fat. Keep the meat covered for further use. Pour the soup through a fine sieve.

Now you can choose: if you go for the version of a clear broth, you let the soup rest overnight. Scoop off the remaining fat the next day. Warm up the soup. Season with splashes of Madeira and drops of meat extract. Cut a piece of fresh carrot, leek, celery and celeriac in a fine julienne. Leave this yarn in the soup. Finally add the meat so that it is also heated. Pour the soup into preheated plates and finish with pieces of meat and julienne. You can add some chopped chives as decoration. If you go for a tichened soup, make a light roux (butter and flour). Dilute this with the warm oxtail soup until you have the desired consistency. You can even make an oxtail cream soup by mixing the tickened soup with some cream.