Oxtail with Rioja

Sticks to your ribs ... perfect for a winter day and won't break the bank!
You simply chuck it all in the oven and forget it - but what you end up with is big-flavoured, collapsing meat, a few spoonfuls of intensely flavoured juice and some big knobs of bones to suck at.

• An oxtail - cut into joints
• Flour - a little for dusting the oxtail
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp dry mustard powder
• 25g butter - a thick slice
• 2-3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2-3 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1-2 celery stalks, chopped
• Seasonings - garlic and bay leaves, plus 1 or 2 of the following: orange peel, juniper berries, thyme
• A bottle of ballsy red wine, such as Rioja
• Ground black pepper

1. Set the oven at 160 degrees.

2. Toss each joint in the flour, seasoned with cayenne pepper, dry mustard and some ground black pepper. Melt the butter in a roasting tin over medium heat. Brown the meat.

3. Add the carrots, onions, celery and a few garlic cloves, let them colour.

4. Tuck in the bay leaves, pour over the wine and add extra seasonings of your choice (see ingredients list).

5. Bring to the boil, cover with greaseproof paper rubbed with a little olive oil or butter, transfer to the oven. Leave well alone for 1 hour, when the meat will be distinctly brown.

6. Turn the meat over and leave covered for a further hour.

Serve with mashed potato or swede ... and get stuck in!