Ayer fue el Día de los Enamorados. I wanted to make something special for dinner, and for about a week had been contemplating something on the grill, like a steak, served with a special sauce. When we went to the store to look for something good to grill, everything seemed unusually expensive. Color me cynical, but it may have had something to do with Valentine's Day coming up. Doesn't every meat eater want to have a nice steak - or roast - for a special occasion? We even considered salmon, but couldn't find any that wasn't farm raised - or any that was affordable, either.
As I was looking things over in the meat counter, I noticed the beef oxtails. Javier and I used to buy these years ago for an inexpensive beef soup called CALDO DE RES, but haven't bought them recently because they're usually fatty. These particular ones I was looking at seemed to be very meaty, and when I opened them at home to began the cooking process, what little fat there was I was able to cut off before braising.
Our recipe for CALDO DE RES involves braising (as I mentioned) the oxtails in a very hot pot, then adding water to cover, garlic, bay leaf (hoja de laurel), salt and pepper. We allow them to simmer for an hour or two as the first step in making the broth. After that, we remove the oxtails, strain the broth, and remove any grease there may be. We then continue the process by adding vegetables - carrots, squash, cabbage, chayote, and small ears of corn on the cob when they're available. We season the soup with minimal amounts of salt, pepper and cilantro, then strain a well-cooked, pureed chile colorado into the broth.
CALDO DE RES is best served with hot rice and tortillas on the side, lime juice squeezed into the broth right before eating, and something cold to drink. Being Día de los Enamorados yesterday, we served wine with our soup (although I think Javier may prefer beer, and I'll remember that for another occasion) and later in the evening had a dessert of fresas con crema. Loads of calories - I know - but worth the effort and the eating!
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