Rabada com Agrião e Angu (Oxtail with watercress and polenta)
Lots of people have a little ‘prejudice’ when we are talking about ox tail, but this is really a delicacy, flavor and soft meat, and I bet will be a good, pleasure experience. And the watercress is a surprise delicious in this dish.
1,5 kg oxtail, clean and cut in the joints (trim all the excess of fat)
3 Tbsp olive oil
100 g bacon, in cubes
2 medium onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, mashed
2 brunches watercress (about 6 cups) (is going to be added in the end of the recipe
In a pressure cooker, put the olive oil and fry the bacon, garlic and onion, just until start to smell good. Add the oxtails, big pieces first and little pieces on top of the big ones. Than add in this order:
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup tomato sauce
dedo-de-moça pepper (or any chili pepper) to taste
2 bay leaves
1 rosemary twig
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
hot water enough to cover the meat
Make sure everything is delicately mixed inside the pressure cooker, close it, reduce the heat to medium, and when it start to make the pressure noise, count 45 minutes.
While the oxtail cooks we going to prepare the Angu
2 cups fuba mimoso (It is a really fine corn meal, possible to found in Latin stores. I found it in the Compare Foods Supermarket) (*)
1 liter cold water
salt and pepper to taste
1 can cream table (or heavy cream)
Mix very well the fuba with the water, than put in a sauce pan and place in medium heat, add salt and pepper (to taste, but not too much. It is interesting that the angu get a little ‘missing salt’ because it will be eating with the oxtail juices this is what is really going to season the angu). Now it have to be mixed without stop, until it start to get heavy, and making bubbles (now be careful it can jump out of the pan when this bubbles explode, and it can burn). When this bubbles start to explode, cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and let cook for 20 minutes. When this 20 minutes pass, open the pan, add the table cream, mix and it is ready to serve.
Back to the oxtail, in the pressure cooker, when the 45 minutes pass, open the pan, with extreme caution. You have to wait for the pressure be released first, so you can open the pan. When it is possible to open, turn back the open pan in the heat, and add the watercress. Close the pan, but do not put the pressure on, and wait for 5 minutes only. The watercress have to be little crunchy.
Serve the oxtails over the angu and enjoy the mix of this flavors.
(*) Fuba mimoso (fine corn meal)