Oxtail Mechado

Oxtail is one of our favorite cut of meat, but in filipino cuisine, this is only typically used in "kare-kare". What we wanted to do is to highlight this cut of meat and make it the main star to a different dish. And what better way to cook this meat than to cook it "Mechado" style! Combining both our favorite meat and favorite dish is a match made in heaven.

The first thing we did was browned the oxtail, then braised it in crushed tomatoes, soy sauce, mirepoix, lemon rind, bay leaves, peppercorns, and thyme. After brasing it for about 2 to 3 hours, we removed the meat, strained, and reduced the sauce. "Mechado" is usually serve  with potatoes, carrots, and bell peppers. So in our version, we roasted baby bell pepper and blanched baby carrots. For the potato part of the dish, we made pomme puree and piped it in a vol-au-vent, which is a puff pastry shell. Lastly, we added fried quail egg just because we liked it. =)

-Alo and Boots

"He cooks, I eat. That's it!"