Great British Food - Christmas 2025

Recipes extracted from Ginger Pig One Pot by TimWilson and Rebecca Seal is published by Mitchell Beazley. Photography by Sam A Harris. Oxtail Stewwith HorseradishDumplings Oxtail has become popular recently, having once been an unloved cut – not least byTim, who was served rather fatty oxtail by his former father-in-law every Friday night for years. ‘I have now grown to love it,’ he says. ‘The best thing I’ve had made with it was an oxtail terrine, layeredwith carrots.’ He still finds it amusing that people want might want multiple oxtails at once, when it can at times be scarce.Why? ‘Cows have only got one tail.’ Serves: 4 Prepare: 45minutes Cook: 3 hours 30minutes 1.2kg oxtail, cut into 3–4cmchunks 3 tbsps plain flour Oil, for frying 2 onions, cut intowedges 50g smoked lardons, chopped small 1 large carrot, cut into chunks 1 stick of celery, finely chopped 1 leek, trimmed and finely sliced 1 tbsps tomato purée 300ml ale 2 tspsMarmite 500ml hot beef stock 1 sprig of rosemary Salt and freshly ground black pepper For the dumplings: 150g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 75g beef suet 1 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley ⅛ tsp fine salt 3 tbsps creamed horseradish froma jar (optional) About 150ml water 1. Trim any excess fat away from the chunks of oxtail. Place a large, heavy-based pan, for which you have a lid, over a high heat. Dust the oxtail pieces with the plain flour. Pour a little oil into the pan and thoroughly brown the oxtail all over, 8–10 minutes. Remove the oxtail from the pan and set aside. 2. Preheat the oven to 160ºC (325°F), Gas Mark 3. 3. Add the onions, lardons, carrot and celery to the pan and brown, still over a high heat, for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to medium and add the leek. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the tomato purée and cook, stirring, for another minute or so. 4. Add the ale, Marmite, stock and rosemary to the pan and bring up to a simmer. Return the meat to the pan, cover the pan with the lid and place in the preheated oven for 2½ hours. After 2 hours of cooking, check the liquid level and add a little water if necessary. Taste and decide if you want to add any salt and some freshly ground black pepper. 5. While the stew cooks, make the dumplings. Mix together the flour, baking powder, suet, parsley, salt and horseradish (if using) and add enough cold water to make a soft and pliable dough. Divide this dough into 12 small pieces, each a little smaller than a ping pong ball. Roll them with your hands into neat balls and set aside until ready to cook. 6. Remove the pan from the oven after 2½ hours, or when the meat is tender and beginning to fall from the oxtail bones. Allow the dish to cool slightly and skim off any excess fat that pools on the top. Pull the meat off the bones and shred, discarding any fat or cartilage. Place back in the pan with about 150ml (¼ pint) of water, place the pan over a medium heat and bring it back up to a simmer. 7. Rest the dumplings on top of the simmering stew, leaving enough space between them for them to puff up. Cover with the lid again and return the pan to the oven at the same temperature for 20 minutes with the lid on, and then 10–15 minutes with the lid off, in order to lightly brown the dumplings. Leave to rest for 5–10 minutes before serving. “Oxtail has become popular recently, having once been an unloved cut – not least byTim” RECI PES | GINGER P IG 67 greatbr i t i shfoodawards.com