Ox tail soup

One of my favorite soups my mom makes is Ox tail soup.  When I started to make this 10 years ago.  It was a 2 day soup.  It took forever to cook the meat down till it was soft, then I would cool it, skim the fat, then heat it up and add the veggies.

Now, it all takes me under 2 hours.  Why?  Pressure cooking.  My mom has been insisting I use one for years, but this past summer she bought me one for $15 at an estate sale.  It truly is an old fashioned one.  I am learning to love it.  We fixed it up, got a new gasket and, voila, soup, beans, etc, cooked in no time.

Well, my fears of pressure cooking are slowly going away, but in the meantime, I'm able to whip up some of our favorite soup fast even while the meat is bought from the frozen isle.


How to:

Put Ox tail in pressure cooker with water 3/4 way.
Add onion chopped up
peppercorns
large tomato chopped up
salt

Cook for about an hour reducing the fire after the steam comes out.  Turn off fire and wait till pressure has escaped.  (PLEASE, follow the instructions for your pressure cooker).

Add potatoes, carrots, and anything else you might like, and taste for salt.

Cook another 30 min till meat is tender.  Once the steam is released open and add cabbage.  cover and let sit in hot soup for 10-15 min.  No need to cook it.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate and skim off fat. 

My kids love the soup over rice or with buttery toast.  I like small teaspoon of Vegemite or Marmite with my soup.

MMmmmm.. delicious!

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