Itching.

This week month is gluten-free month. Why? For science! My other half and I are working on a theory. He was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis YEARS ago and it has been acting up the last few months. After discussing dietary changes with friends who know stuff (yes, that's the technical name for them), he noticed that he got itchier after a gluten feeding frenzy. Tonight's meal was our intro to going gluten-free.

I chose to start with this recipe for a few reasons.

1. I had NO IDEA what ox tail is. A few days ago, a friend of mine asked me for a crock pot recommendation (Hi Ken!) because he was itching to make ox tail stew. (I should ask for commission from Hamilton Beach.)

2. Once I learned what ox tail is, I HAD to make it. It's BEEF, people!

3. My favorite gluten-free crocking blog had a recipe for (you guessed it) ox tail stew.

4. I got to see how my shiny new crock pot handles crocking something FOREVER.

"Ox Tail Stew" (6 quart pot)

The original recipe is HERE.

~olive oil
~3-4 lbs ox tail
~2 green onions, chopped
~1 c frozen corn
~5 baby potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
~1 c celery, sliced
~1 c baby carrots
~4 garlic cloves, whole
~1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice
~1/2 t Italian Seasoning
~1/2 t ginger
~1/2 t cumin
~1 c white wine (I used St. Michael's Viognier)
~1 c beef broth
~1 square semi-sweet baking chocolate

Rub some olive oil in the botton of the crock pot.
Add all ingredients.
Cover and cook on low forever.*
Stir to incorporate the chocolate.
Remove bones to the best of your ability. (Or not. Up to you.)

*The original recipe says "probably about 14-20 hours" I started mine at 8pm, crocked it overnight, and then let it go all day long. We ate it at 6:30pm. In a related note, my shiny new pot is programable to 24 hours.

(6 servings)

My other half called me at hour 21 to see if we had enough food for a friend to join us. We did! (Hi Zach!) I probably don't have to say it, but the meat was so tender, it fell right off of the bone. Ox tail is super yummy. Who knew? (Probably lots of people!) I'm just a little excited that I got to try something new! So excited that I forgot to mention that it took me 3 different grocery stores to find ox tail. When will I learn that the "good" Lauer's (we have 2) is the place to go for random cuts of beef?