This is something I’m tempted to make when my supply of rich beef broth is low. But maybe that’s an excuse. The truth is, I love eating these cuts, spooning out the marrow from the shank, and, in the second dish, sucking off meat from the little tail bones. It’s nice, messy eating, perhaps best enjoyed alone with a kitchen towel around one’s neck. I usually still have some meat left after lapping up these two dishes—just enough to make myself a pasta on a night when I want a quick supper. Then there’s the treasure of the rich beef broth to put away.

　　

Ingredients

1 tablespoon light olive oil or duck or goose fat

　　Salt

　　About 1 1/2 pounds oxtails

　　A large beef shank, about 1 1/4 pounds

　　1 large onion, chopped

　　1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

　　1/2 cup red wine

　　Herb packet of a dozen or so parsley stems, 1 garlic clove, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 8 peppercorns

　　7–8 cups water

　　

Vegetables for the First Time Around

4 small white onions, peeled

　　3 or 4 young carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

　　1/2 medium white turnip, or 1/4 fairly large celery root, peeled and cut into chunks (optional)

　　2 or 3 smallish new potatoes, cut in half

　　

Step 1

Heat the oil or fat in a heavy pot. Salt the meats lightly, and brown on all sides. Remove the meat (or push it aside if your pot is big enough), and sauté the onion and carrot for a few minutes. Splash in the red wine and reduce for a minute, then tuck the meat back in among the vegetables, nestling in the herb packet as well. Pour on enough water to cover the meats by 2 inches, and simmer, covered, for 2 1/2hours. Add the additional vegetables, and a little more water if they are not well covered, and simmer until tender—about 20 minutes.

　　

Step 2

For my first meal, I have the shank surrounded by the vegetables with a little of the cooking liquid on top. If I have some on hand, a Winter Green Sauce (page 159) is particularly good with this. I reserve for later any meat I can’t finish.

　　

Second Round: Oxtails with Grits or Polenta

Step 3

Spoon most of the oxtails into a warm wide, shallow bowl into which you’ve dished up a generous serving of grits or polenta (see pages 196 and 193). Pour a small ladleful of the flavorful beef broth over, thickened, if you like, with a little cornstarch or instant flour. If you want to jazz up the dish, make a small amount of the gremolata (see page 249) that is used for veal shanks—just a teaspoon sprinkled on top is enough.

　　

Third Round: Penne with a Meaty Sauce

Step 4

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and start cooking 2–3 ounces of penne or ziti. Meanwhile, scrape off from the bones whatever meat remains, and chop it up. Strain the rich cooking broth into containers for freezing, reserving the vegetables. Heat a little olive oil in a medium skillet, and lightly sauté a thin-sliced garlic clove for a minute. Add the strained veggies, the chopped-up meat, and about 1/4 cup tomato sauce (or, if you don’t have any, use a tablespoon tomato paste and some of the pasta water). Scoop up the pasta when done, and mix it with the sauce in the skillet, adding more pasta water if needed. Turn off the heat, and fold in a small handful of grated Parmesan.

　　The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. Copyright © 2009 by Judith Jones. Published by Knopf. All Rights Reserved.Judith Jones is senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf. She is the author of The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food and the coauthor with Evan Jones (her late husband) of three books: The Book of Bread; Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!; and The Book of New New England Cookery. She also collaborated with Angus Cameron on The L. L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook, and has contributed to Vogue, Saveur, and Gourmet magazines. In 2006, she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in New York City and Vermont.