Oxtail Stew

This was inspired partly by my visit to the Imperial War Museum's Ministry of Food exhibition as well as imbibing a double espresso before going shopping in a fine butcher. Canned oxtail soup is one of my favourite lunchtime treats so I was hoping this would come out as rich and tasty. I wasn't disappointed. Serves 2-4 with some mashed root vegetables (parsnips, potatoes and carrots) and some steamed savoy cabbage.

Ingredients
3 large chunks of oxtail trimmed of excess fat
2 carrots cut into chunks
1 onion cut into chunks
Few peppercorns
Few juniper berries
Few sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon of dried
2 bay leaves
2-3 tablespoons of red current jelly
1/2 a bottle of red wine
Zest of one small orange

Brown the oxtails all over in a little oil in a casserole pan. Add the carrots, orange zest, peppercorns, juniper berries, thyme and onion then cover with cold water. Bring to the boil then cover and put in a low oven (130-140C) for 3 hours or so. Remove the oxtails from the stock and leave to cool. Strain the stock and discard the stock vegetables etc. Add 1/2 a bottle of red wine to the cooking liquor and reduce to a thick gravy like consistency. Shred the meat from the bones and add to the
gravy along with the the red current jelly.