Rinse oxtails under cold water and place in a medium sauce pot covering with at least 5 cups of water and bring to a boil and skim off froth from water.    Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, 1/4 cup dry cherry or red wine of your choice, 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke and beef bouillon cube and reduce heat to low/medium and simmer from 3 to 4 hours until oxtails are tender and easily removed from the bone.

About 30 minutes prior to oxtails being done, add 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and bacon drippings to a sauté pan and heat on medium heat adding 1 cup chopped onions and 1 clove of garlic chopped fine and allow to simmer until tender.

Place oxtails in a colander and drain reserving at least 4 1/2 cups of broth.  De-bone the oxtails being sure to remove any gristle or fat.

Add 4 1/2 cups of broth back to the medium sauce pot and bring to a boil over high heat, adding the oxtail meat, 2 cups rice and sautéed onions and garlic.  Stir to blend and reduce heat to low and simmer with lid on pot for 25 to 30 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed by the rice.

Serve with marinated slaw and fried cornbread and/or your favorite sides.

YIELD: 6 large servings.

OPTIONAL METHOD:  Use a small pressure cooker and cook oxtails 45 minutes....everything else the same.

Ruth Crawford, deceased of Wadesboro, NC made the best oxtails and rice.  Her spouse Mr. Billy Crawford, retired Program Supervisor at the Anson Correctional Center in Polkton, NC would bring a large bowl of Mrs. Ruth's Oxtails and Rice to work and share it with me.  Mrs. Ruth would not give up her own recipe but this is about as close as I could come to it.

Below a few sequence pixs taken while preparing the oxtails and rice.  Click on thumbnails for a larger view:

For those that have not tried oxtails and rice; it will remind you of stew beef and rice but has a little sharper taste to it. 

Several years back while issuing weapons to our Road Squads, there were half a dozen or more Officers getting their security equipment for the start of another work day and I mentioned about doing a recent recipe of Oxtails and Rice.  At which time, a female Road Squad Officer named  Barbara Melton stated very loudly for all to hear, "I ain't eating nothing that close to no cow's butt" and my impromptu reply was, "You eat hog chit lings and it is hooked directly to his butt" and the entire place exploded into an uproar!  I still grin every time I do this recipe.

Bill aka Mickey Porter 09-26-09