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Cuban Spicy Oxtail Stew (Rabo Encendido); Review of To Cook Is To Love
December 12, 2014 by Laura 7 Comments
This flavorful Cuban Oxtail Stew is everything that is wonderful about winter food: warming, comforting and filling. And it can cook all day in a slow cooker if necessary. A copy of To Cook Is To Love was provided to me by the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Affiliate links were used in this post to link to items being discussed.
Guys I fought so long with these photos. Winter is so frustrating! And this stew is so naturally red that all of that excess warmth in the indoor light spectrum just really messed with these pictures. So please, whatever you do, do not hold the white balance (or lack…
View Full Recipe at The Spiced Life
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;%20Review%20of%20To%20Cook%20Is%20To%20Love%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EDecember%2012,%202014%20by%20Laura%207%20Comments%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThis%20flavorful%20Cuban%20Oxtail%20Stew%20is%20everything%20that%20is%20wonderful%20about%20winter%20food:%20warming,%20comforting%20and%20filling.%20And%20it%20can%20cook%20all%20day%20in%20a%20slow%20cooker%20if%20necessary.%20A%20copy%20of%20To%20Cook%20Is%20To%20Love%20was%20provided%20to%20me%20by%20the%20publishers%20in%20exchange%20for%20an%20honest%20review.%20Affiliate%20links%20were%20used%20in%20this%20post%20to%20link%20to%20items%20being%20discussed.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EGuys%20I%20fought%20so%20long%20with%20these%20photos.%20Winter%20is%20so%20frustrating!%20And%20this%20stew%20is%20so%20naturally%20red%20that%20all%20of%20that%20excess%20warmth%20in%20the%20indoor%20light%20spectrum%20just%20really%20messed%20with%20these%20pictures.%20So%20please,%20whatever%20you%20do,%20do%20not%20hold%20the%20white%20balance%20(or%20lack%20thereof)%20against%20this%20dish!%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EI%20was%20sent%20John%20Verlinden%E2%80%99s%20To%20Cook%20Is%20to%20Love:%20Nuevo%20Cuban:%20Lighter,%20Healthier%20Latin%20Recipes%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3Eby%20the%20publisher,%20and%20it%20was%20a%20complete%20revelation.%20It%20is%20not%20your%20typical%20cookbook.%20The%20recipes%20themselves%20are%20typical%20in%20the%20sense%20that%20they%20are%20excellent%20Cuban%20recipes%20made%20a%20bit%20more%20healthy,%20but%20nothing%20shockingly%20unique%20(and%20I%20truly%20do%20not%20mean%20to%20damn%20them%20with%20faint%20praise%E2%80%93I%20have%20a%20lot%20of%20them%20bookmarked).%20But%20what%20makes%20this%20cookbook%20special%20is%20that%20it%20is%20a%20love%20letter.%20A%20love%20letter%20to%20Cuban%20cooking,%20the%20Cuban%20immigrant%20experience,%20and%20most%20importantly,%20a%20love%20letter%20to%20Verlinden%E2%80%99s%20mother%20in%20law,%20Mama%20Aida%20Mondejar.%20And%20because%20of%20this%20last%20component,%20the%20book%20is,%20as%20Verlinden%20himself%20describes%20it,%20equal%20parts%20conversation,%20cookbook%20and%20memoir.%20Much%20of%20the%20book%20is%20in%20her%20voice,%20as%20told%20to%20Verlinden,%20but%20his%20voice%20is%20strong%20also.%20And%20because%20she%20is%20an%20immigrant,%20the%20book%20therefore%20is%20also%20very%20much%20about%20the%20Cuban%20immigrant%20experience.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EI%20loved%20it.%20It%20is%20the%20kind%20of%20cookbook%20you%20actually%20stay%20up%20late%20reading.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAs%20for%20the%20recipe%20itself,%20I%20chose%20to%20make%20it%20in%20the%20Dutch%20oven,%20in%20the%20oven,%20but%20it%20could%20easily%20be%20done%20in%20a%20slow%20cooker%20as%20well.%20Verlinden%20creates%20it%20as%20an%20oxtail%20stew,%20and%20I%20want%20to%20emphasize%20that%20I%20did%20not%20avoid%20oxtail%20in%20any%20way.%20Oxtail%20is%20an%20amazing%20piece%20of%20beef,%20and%20I%20hope%20you%20do%20not%20pass%20it%20by%20out%20of%20squeamishness,%20especially%20if%20you%20like%20slow%20cooked,%20braised%20meats.%20But%20the%20fact%20was%20I%20had%20brisket%20sitting%20around%20waiting%20to%20be%20used%20and%20I%20just%20could%20not%20see%20the%20point%20in%20shopping%20for%20oxtail%20when%20I%20had%20a%20cut%20of%20beef%20that%20would%20work%20perfectly%20well%E2%80%93especially%20given%20that%20I%20was%20only%20serving%20it%20to%20my%20own%20little%20family.%20So%20brisket%20it%20was.%20In%20my%20opinion,%20chuck%20and%20short%20ribs%20would%20also%20work.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3ENext,%20yes%20I%20chose%20to%20make%20it%20in%20the%20Dutch%20oven,%20but%20it%20could%20easily%20be%20made%20in%20the%20slow%20cooker.%20Just%20brown%20as%20directed%20before%20adding%20it%20all%20to%20the%20slow%20cooker.%203-4%20hours%20on%20high%20or%206-8%20hours%20on%20low.%20And%20add%20the%20potatoes%20toward%20the%20end%20so%20they%20do%20not%20become%20mush.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe%20dish%20was%20a%20big%20hit%20with%20my%20family.%20We%20all%20argued%20over%20the%20potatoes,%20so%20I%20suggest%20you%20add%20more%20unless%20you%20prefer%20to%20serve%20it%20with%20rice%20and%20beans%20as%20they%20might%20in%20Cuba.%20The%20tomatoes%20(I%20used%20canned%20chopped%20instead%20of%20sauce%20because%20it%20was%20what%20I%20had),%20chorizo%20and%20red%20wine%20all%20combine%20to%20make%20this%20dish%20just%20about%20the%20most%20scarlet%20I%20have%20ever%20made!%20So%20that%20part%20is%20not%20the%20white%20balance%E2%80%93it%20really%20was%20that%20red!%20Don%E2%80%99t%20give%20it%20to%20your%20kids%20if%20they%20are%20wearing%20white%20shirts!%20Actually%20don%E2%80%99t%20any%20of%20you%20wear%20white,%20just%20to%20be%20on%20the%20safe%20side.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3ECuban%20Spicy%20Oxtail%20Stew%20(Rabo%20Encendido)%20%20%20Recipe%20shared%20with%20permission%20of%20the%20publisher.%20From%20Verlinden:%20Literally%20translated%20Rabo%20Encendido%20is%20%E2%80%9CTail%20on%20Fire.%E2%80%9D%20Rabo%20Encendido%20is%20one%20of%20the%20few%20picante%20Cuban%20dishes.%20While%20Cuban%20cuisine%20is%20highly%20seasoned,%20it%20is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