Oxtail soup alla Waldhütte

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg oxtail, cut into pieces
• 200 g onion(s)
• 100 g carrot(s)
• 80 g celery
• 100 g leek
• 100 g butter
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 500 g white wine, strong
• 500 g tomato juice
• 1 tbsp sautéed thyme
• 1 tbsp, sautéed rosemary
• 1 tbsp, sautéed sage
• 5 allspice berries
• 4 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick(s), approx. 8 cm
• 10 peppercorns, white
• 15 g beef broth powder
• 4 medium-sized potatoes, waxy
• 1 m.-sized carrot(s)
• 2 tbsp Madeira for refining
• 4 tbsp frozen celery leaves for garnishing

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours 40 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours 10 minutes

A spicy boneless soup served with pieces of potato and carrot.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (top/bottom heat). Heat the butter in a roasting pan. Add the oxtail pieces and brown on all sides. Trim the onions, carrots, celery, and leeks, cut into approximately 1 cm pieces, and add them to the oxtail pieces. Place the roasting pan on the bottom rack of the oven and let the liquid draw out. Turn occasionally to brown everything. Once all the liquid has evaporated, add the tomato paste and half of the white wine. Gradually add the remaining white wine and reduce by half. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and place the oxtail pieces in a 3-liter casserole dish. Strain the stock, passing the vegetables through a sieve. Add the stock to the oxtail along with the tomato juice and spices. Add enough water to cover. Simmer with the lid on for three and a half hours. Meanwhile, wash and peel the potatoes and carrot. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and the carrot into slices approximately 4 mm thick. Cook both in lightly salted water until tender and set aside. Remove the oxtail pieces from the heat and strain. Discard the boiled-down spices. Add the broth, potatoes, and carrots to the casserole dish and keep warm. Once the oxtail pieces have cooled slightly, trim the meat from the bones, chop it up, and return it to the broth. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and finish with Madeira wine. Ladle the soup among serving plates, garnish with celery leaves, serve, and enjoy.