Yield: 10 Servings

Ingredients:

Oxtails:
• 10 pounds oxtail, cut
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 head celery, chopped
• 4 white onions, chopped
• 2 cups red wine
• 1 ½ gallons brown veal stock
• 6 black peppercorns
• 1 bunch fresh thyme sprigs
• ½ bunch whole parsley
• 2 bay leaves

Ravioli:

• 4 butternut squash
• 4 Tablespoons chopped fine herbs
• Salt and pepper
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1 package small wonton wrappers
  
  Sweet Potato Hay:
• 1 gallon canola oil
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• Salt and pepper
  
  Muscat Demi:
• 2 Tablespoons canola oi
• 6 shallots, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups Muscat wine vinegar
• Oxtail braising liquid
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper
  
  Additional Ingredients (per serving):
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
• 3 Tablespoons chopped fine herbs
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup squash water
• 1 Tablespoon sliced black truffles
• 1 Tablespoon scallion puree

Method:
For Oxtails:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Dredge oxtails in flour. Sear in a braising pan with oil over high heat, and remove from the pan. Set aside. In the same pan, sweat the carrots, celery, and onions until slight browning occurs. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and allow to reduce. Add the veal stock and bring up to a simmer. Add the oxtails to the pot, and add the peppercorns, thyme, parsley, and bay leaves. Cover with aluminum foil or a lid, and braise in oven for 2 ½ hours, or until tender.

When tender, remove from the oven. Using a pair of tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the oxtails from the braising liquid. Allow to cool slightly. Place the pot with the braising liquid back over medium high heat, and reduce the liquid until a sauce consistency is achieved. Strain and set aside. When oxtails are cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bone, discarding the bone, and shred the meat by hand. Set aside.

For Ravioli:
Place the butternut squash in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender. Remove the squash from the water and set aside. Using a strainer lined with cheesecloth, scoop out the inside of the butternut squash into the strainer. Do not discard the water that comes out of the squash, it is needed for the final steps of the dish. After all of the squash has been scooped out, twist the top of the cheesecloth to form a sack containing the squash. Twist it as tight as you can to remove excess water from the squash. Place the sack in the strainer, and place heavy weights, such as plates or cans, and let it render for about half an hour to remove the maximum moisture from the squash. Then pass the squash through a ricer and puree. Add the herbs, salt and pepper, and butter. Set aside. Beat the egg and water to make an egg wash. Laying out the wonton wrappers, fill one side with enough filling to make ravioli, about 1-2 Tablespoons. Using the egg wash, brush around the mixture, and place another wonton sheet on top to make ravioli. Using a cutter or a fork, or whatever you wish to use to shape the ravioli, cut and set aside. Repeat until all of the mixture is used up.

For Sweet Potato Hay:
Heat the canola oil to 325° F. Peel the sweet potato and using the finest setting on a mandolin, julienne the sweet potato very finely and place into cold water. Continue running water over sweet potatoes until water runs clear. Remove from water and drain excess off. Fry until golden brown, but not too dark because they will get bitter. Season with salt and pepper.

For Muscat Demi:
In a small sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and sweat until translucent. Add the sugar and cook until caramelized or light amber in color. Add the Muscat wine vinegar and reduce to syrup. Add the reduced braising liquid and continue cooking until a sauce consistency is achieved. Stir in the butter and season to taste. Strain through a chinoise and set aside.

To Assemble and Serve:
Boil a pot of water for the ravioli. In a sauté pan, gently heat up the oxtail. When hot, add half of the Muscat demi, the lemon zest, salt and pepper, and half of the herbs. Finish with a tablespoon of butter. Set aside.

Place the ravioli in the boiling water. In a small sauté pan, heat up the squash water, with the truffles, remaining herbs, and work in about 2 Tablespoons of butter. When cooked, remove ravioli from water. Add the ravioli to the butter sauce and set aside.

Using a 3 ½-inch ring mold, place the oxtail meat in the center of a plate. Lay the raviolis overlapping each other on top of the meat. Spoon the remaining demi around the meat, then spoon the butter sauce over the ravioli, and some over the demi to add a contrast in color. Garnish with the sweet potato hay on top, and drizzle with a little scallion puree.