Oxtail Soup

For somebody who enjoys eating (within reasonable limits, I suppose), oxtail soup has long been one of my favourites. I remember my grandma used to make a really delicious oxtail soup, very rich and filling. One bowl and you'll be hooked. My grandma passed on years ago, but even now I could still recall the taste of her cooking (that's just how good she was..)

The second person who makes the best oxtail soup? my mom, of course. Hers isn't as rich as my grandma's used to be (she used first quality rombutter - Dutch's term for butter), but still very delicious nonetheless. I think I can replicate her version, but these days I choose to tone down on the flavours a little. Too tasty sometimes isn't that good for your body (it desensitize your taste buds, for one)

So here goes my take on oxtail soup. Make sure to choose fresh oxtail as it affects the melt-in-the mouth factor. I like to choose the smallest pieces, plus they take less time to cook! They say slow cooking is the new trend. Let's embrace it!! ^_^

Oxtail soup

Oxtail Soup - serves 3

Ingredients

500 g oxtail (1 sml tray- approx 8-10 small & medium pcs)
1 large stalk of celery, cut into 3 parts
1 large carrot, peeled & chop thickly
2 medium potatoes (royal blue is best), peeled, chop thickly
6 candle nuts
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 medium brown onion, slice 1/2 cm thick
approx 3 L water
1 heaped tsp unsalted butter * optional
salt to taste

Method

Prepare the oxtail:

1. Wash the oxtail thoroughly, place in deep pan & cover with cold water. Boil on high heat for 10-15 minutes until scum surfaces. Throw away the water and rinse the oxtail. 
2. Cover the rinsed oxtail with fresh cold water, and boil on small heat. Throw in the candle nuts as well. - simmer for 1 hour.

1. Wash & cut all the veggies, soak the potato in cold water.
2. *optional: sautee the onion pieces with butter until tender & fragrant. Set aside. Otherwise, leave the onion raw.
3. After an hour, sprinkle a generous pinch of nutmeg & white pepper. Toss in the sauteed/raw onion & celery. Simmer for another hour. Water may be added as needed.
4. Once the meat is tender (takes approx 2-2.5 hours with small/medium oxtail pcs), add the carrot, then potato in the last 20 minutes of cooking.
5. Season to taste with salt. Scoop the soup into a bowl and sprinkle with fried shallots & chopped up celery leaves. 

If you like richer soup, do sautee the onion and add more candle nuts. They act as meat tenderizer, and will make the soup creamier. I used to put the potatoes in with the onions & celery so by the time the soup is ready, most of the potato have dissolved into the soup. Royal blue potato is superior than Nadine, I feel, it is not starchy and leaves a smooth, clean feeling when you savour them.

This is another winter staple at our house. My husband, A, loves it and he always leaves perfectly clean oxtail bones (he loves munching on the tendons), so if I slow-cook this for about 3 hours, the meat will be about to fall off-the bone, tender and has melt-in-the mouth texture - which is why it is so yummy!

6 month today

Time flies, I suppose.. When I checked the calendar this morning, I barely noticed that Rafael turns 6 months -young today! half a year! Amidst all the bottle washing and laundry, I guess dates and times are often forgotten. Looking at him now, I can hardly believe he was once weighed less than 2 kgs. Now he is a hefty 7-something kgs, and my arms are begging me to put him down in his cot for as long as possible. *LOL*

At six months he is now nibbling on his fingers like they're some kind of rare delicacy that needs to be thoroughly enjoyed. Oh, and anything else we give to him he'd put into his mouth now. Dribbles, smiles and laughter would follow suit. Sometimes when we play with him, he laughs so hard that he starts hiccuping, even then he can't stop laughing.. it's just so funny ^_^

He especially loves playing 'roller-coaster', where I  prop him up on my lap and swing on a rocking chair as fast as the chair allows (I hope this won't shorten my rocking chair's lifespan!!), jumping jelly-beans, flying high above our shoulders and peek-a-boos. Notice I make up my own terms here? :P I really can't wait to bring him out to jet-ski, ride a roller-coaster, or ride a horse. But I guess I gotta wait for a long, long time still.. heh, my other half freaked out each time I bring this topic up.

Well, I'm looking forward to his turning 1 year old, at least then I can prepare a birthday party and bake a cake for him. That's plenty of adrenaline rush for now.. heheheh

Gourmet Pizza

I've been meaning to make my own pizza dough but kept putting it off, until last night when my other half & I (and Rafael, of course), went grocery shopping and I spotted ingredients that are great for pizza-making. Mushrooms, baby rocket leaves, camembert cheese, to name a few. So, here  I am, kneading pizza dough away - coincidentally it's tuesday (cheap pizza days)

It's great now, by the way, since we've taken baby box out in the kitchen for Rafael to lie down and play in so I can work around the kitchen and don't have to run like a maniac to the nursery each time he cries/ wants attention.

Kneading, raised dough, final dough

Back to the pizza dough, it's actually very easy to make your own and more economical too... and with the topping, it's so much fun to play around with all sorts of ingredients. I'm a firm believer of  the 'anything-goes' on top of pizza.. be it savoury/ sweet, it would still taste good :)

El Savadore

Pizza base - makes 2 medium (squarish) size

250 g bread flour

7 g dry yeast

1/2 tsp salt

2 T olive oil (EVOO for best flavour)

125 ml lukewarm water (approx)

1. Mix the flour, yeast & salt; make well in the centre. Pour in the oil, then add water gradually, while working the dough, until the dough is pliable and smooth. - make sure it's not too dry.
2. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a further 10-15 mins by hand, until it is more elastic and smooth.
3. Knead into a ball, rub a little olive oil, cover with clean & damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm place for approx. 1 hour until it doubles in size.
4. On a lightly floured surface, flatten the dough, knead gently for 2 mins before rolling it out thinly as pizza base. You can prick the dough with fork at this stage if you like.

Now, the fun part is dressing the dough base before baking. This time, I choose these ingredients for a little bit of an Italian flavour. I shall call this.. erm.. "El Savadore"..? ^_~

Now, all we need is to turn on the oven to 200C (fan-forced) and throw the ingredients artistically on top of the dough, then bake 'em for approx 20 mins. Delizioso!

the topping

El Savadore

3 T instant pasta sauce - tomato & herbs

2 Elmar's beech smoked sausages

handful of mushrooms, peel the skin, chop thickly

1/2 small wheel of camembert cheese, cut into wedges

25 g kent pumpkin, peel, chop & blanch in hot water for a few mins

2 handfuls of baby rocket leaves, wash & strain

before baking