Oxtail Sweet Potato Stew

Our three girls are 9, 11 and 13. Currently, I spend all afternoon driving them around to different activities. At 6PM everyone is finally home and starving. Lately, I've been experimenting with baked dishes that come out of the oven hot and ready when everyone arrives home. Slow cooker meals work sometimes, but the kids don't always like the consistency 5 nights a week.

Oxtail Sweet Potato Stew

All of our beef comes from Kretsinger Farm. I place an order every few months and fill the freezer with the finest beef available. Finding a local farmer in your area is one of the best things you can do to prepare healthy meals for your family. Eat Wild and The Weston A. Price Foundation are two good places to start.

Here's what you'll need:

1 oxtail (you could easily substitute stew meat here)

2 tablespoons lard

4 sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1" cubes

4 carrots cut into 1" cubes

1 bag of frozen peas

1 can of diced tomatoes

1- 2 cups of sliced mushrooms

1 onion peeled and chopped

1 small jar of tomato paste

1/2 cup red wine

3 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped

2 bay leaf

2 teaspoons of fish sauce

salt & pepper

Here's what to do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

In the morning salt and pepper the oxtail.

In a large dutch oven melt lard on medium high heat.

Add oxtail and saute until brown on each side.

Add onion and saute for 2 minutes.

Add garlic and saute until fragrant.

Add red wine to deglaze the pan.

Add fish sauce, tomatoes, paste, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, bay leaf and carrots.

Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 2-3 hours.

When ready to serve, stir in green peas.

Be in health.