I'm Not Buying Oxtails Anymore — This Old MISSISSIPPI Trick Gets Twice the Meat for Half the Price

You bought that meat because you know it has something to give. Two hours on the stove later you're chewing rubber: grey on the outside, stringy all the way through. You didn't fail that meat. The price tag and the fire did. I'm Odessa Mae Tillman. Thirty-one years I cooked in a school cafeteria, and I learned this pot from my grandmother, who fed field hands from dawn till dark and never sent one of them away hungry. In this video I show you three tricks, step by step, from the raw bones to the gravy over rice. WHAT YOU NEED 3 lb beef neck bones Salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder Oil, just enough to coat the pot 1 onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper, chopped 2 celery stalks, chopped 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped fine 2 bay leaves, dried thyme, black pepper, a little smoked paprika About 6 cups beef broth About 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1-2 tablespoons tomato paste White rice to serve HOW Trim the hard white fat, rinse the bones under cold water and pat them completely dry. Season and sear in batches of 4 or 5 pieces over medium-high heat, 3-4 minutes a side, until dark brown. Soften the onion, pepper and celery in the same pot for 5-6 minutes, add garlic and herbs for a minute, then the broth, Worcestershire and tomato paste. Bones back in, lid on, heat low: just a few tiny bubbles. 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Rest off the heat, lid on, 20-30 minutes. Serve over white rice with the gravy on top. Next day it's even better. About $2.50 a plate at home. Meat that slides off the bone, dark gravy over rice. So tell me where you're cooking from, and settle it: oxtails or neck bones? 00:00 Chewing rubber 01:14 Who I am 02:26 Trick 1: Beef neck, not oxtail 04:17 Trick 2: Sear hard, in batches 06:02 Trick 3: The simmer you can hardly see 09:38 Rest it off the fire 10:25 The three tricks again 10:44 What not to do 11:34 What it costs 11:50 A Sunday dish