This November rain has been relentless, bringing with it an unfamiliar chill at this time of year. The upside is that we don’t have to reserve delicious, warming dishes like Oxtail for winter… this dish is rather welcoming right now. So easy to prepare and leave to almost self-cook while you get on with your daily chores.

Here’s what goes in:
1 large onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
Olive oil for frying
2kg of oxtail
Salt and meat spice for seasoning
1 teaspoon of dried mixed herbs
3 tablespoons of flour, for thickening
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of fruit chutney
1 tin of good quality, plum tomatoes (400g)
3 cups of chicken stock
1 cup of red wine

How to do it:
Pre-heat your oven to 160°C. In a heavy-based, oven-proof pot, fry the garlic and onions until soft and transparent. Add the oxtail and season it with the salt, spices and herbs and continue to brown it, adding the Worcestershire sauce and chutney. Add the flour ensuring the oxtail is evenly coated. (This will help thicken your stew). Add the tomato, chicken stock and red wine, ensuring that the liquid fully covers the meat and you have a good, saucy consistency. Place the lid on it and pop it into the oven for four to five hours. Stir the oxtail from time to time and check the liquid level every hour, as you don’t want it to dry out. If it needs more liquid, top it up with one cup of chicken stock at a time. The end result should be a hearty stew, with enough gravy to serve over rice or perhaps some creamy, Parmesan mashed potato. The meat should easily come off the bone.

You can also add potatoes to your stew- if you’d like to do that add them to the pot about halfway through the cooking time.