Progress and Yumminess!

I'm proud to say that I'm making some more progress with my knee. I can walk, rather slowly, sans crutches and immobilizing brace. I can bend it close to 90 degrees with very little pain. I can also lift my leg up onto one of the steps on my staircase; however, I'm not able to bear my full weight on that leg to actually take the step up. Considering the fact that I couldn't lift my leg last week, this is huge! I even had enough stamina to make it to the Public Market this past weekend.

Seeing as this was the first chance I had to walk around the Market (and not have to rely on Justin), I made it a point to stock up on meats from my fave farmers, Seven Bridges. I managed to come away with a treasure trove of goodies for my culinary adventures this week. One of these goodies is a bit of meat that many Americans may not venture to try to make. (No, it's NOT organ meat... While I love the stuff, I'm going to spare you guys this week.) I give you:

Pressure Cooker Braised Oxtails

Ingredients:

• grass fed butter or coconut oil
• 2 oxtails, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5-6 carrots, cut into large chunks
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz collard greens, stemmed and roughly chopped
• 1 14.5 oz can tomatoes
• 1- 1 1/2 cups broth (all I had was veggie stock, but bone broth would do too)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
• 1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I'm guessing on this... I just wanted to add some acid to brighten the dish.)
• red chili flakes, to taste
• salt/pepper, to taste

Method:

• Heat a pressure cooker over medium high heat. Add some butter or coconut oil. Add the oxtails and cook until browned. You may need to do this in two batches. Remove the meat and set it aside.
• Add a little more butter or coconut oil, if need. Toss in the carrots and cook for a few minutes. Add in the onions and cook until softened. Add garlic, cook for another minute or so.
• Add the collard greens and stir them into the mix until wilted.
• Return oxtail pieces to pressure cooker. Add bay leaf, thyme, sage, broth, tomatoes, salt, pepper, chili flakes and balsamic vinegar. Put the lid on and bring it to high pressure. Reduce the temperature enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 40-45 minutes. Use the quick release method to release the pressure.
• Open the lid, remove the bay leaf, taste and adjust seasonings.
• Serve over roasted spaghetti, zucchini noodles, kelp noodles or pasta.

Can I just say how much I love oxtails?! They're such an underrated cut of meat! This recipe highlights just how yummy they are. The oxtails little fatty and a little cumbersome to eat. But... I think it's fun to suck the meat off the bones. (I just treat them like the beefy version of chicken wings. You could also cut the meat off of the bones. The pressure cooker makes it so that it's tender and pretty much falls off by itself.) The carrots are sweet and delicious. The collards are slightly bitter and the balsamic creates a wonderful brightness. I served this all over some roasted spaghetti squash. All in all, fantastic!

For those of you scared to try oxtails, don't be! They're great and their cheap! If you want to try this and don't have a pressure cooker, you could brown the meat and the add everything to a slow cooker. Set it on low and cook for 8-10 hours.