Oxtail Soup

This is definitely the most flavourful soup I have ever cooked. I bought the oxtail already some weeks before, but had no time to prepare it, so it ended up in the freezer. Actually, I wanted to serve it among oxtail tortellini, but when I had a bite of the meat, I decided to serve it without pasta because I didn't want to hide its intense flavour. So I only added some julienned root vegetables and served it real warm.



Ingredients:
750 g oxtail (cut in 2 cm thick chunks)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions
2 carrots
3 parsley roots
3 celery stalks
2 garlic cloves
100 ml Madeira
100 ml Portwine
350 ml veal stock
1/2 tablespoon tomato puree
some twigs of fresh thyme
5 allspice berries
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper

Chop onion and vegetables. Heat olive oil and fry the seasoned oxtail chunks on both sides for 3-4 minutes. Set aside. Fry vegetables and tomato puree for about 10 minutes. Add madeira and portwine and reduce. Place oxtail chunks to the pot, add stock and about 2 liters of cold water. Cook for 3 hours, then add spices and herbs, turn off the heat and let it stand until it is completly cool. Sieve through a kitchen cloth and bring it to boil once more before serving. Season if needed.