Daube of beef with oxtail

It is cold, miserably cold... I just love this weather. Perfect time of year for a beef daube. I was a little hesitant in offering this to Hannah, its very rich dish with the sort of gravy that sets if you let it cool down, but she adored it. I now make enought for lots of left-overs as it freezes and reheats beautifully. It is supposed to be served with pasta, we often do mashed spud as it's so good with the gravy. This version is from Escoffier's Ma Cusine and I use oxtail. The downside of this is that you will want to refridgerate this once cooked in order to skim the copious amounts of fat off. But oxtail is so worth it. Certainly other cuts of beef are possible. The original recipe merely requests lean beef.

1/2 kg of Oxtail (approximately) or one Oxtail chopped up
2 small onions or one large, quartered
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tbs Brandy
2 cups red wine
2 tbs wine vinegar
1/8 tsp ground clover,
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger

2 rashers of bacon
2 tbs olive oil
skin of an 1/8 of an orange
1 clove of garlic
1 bouquet garni
(sprigs of thyme, marjoram, parsley and a bayleaf tied together)

Rub oxtail with garlic and spices. Mix with carrots, onion, and liquids and marinate for 5 hours (or overnight).

In an ovenproof casserole fry bacon in olive oil, remove bacon from the pan and brown drained oxtail. Add marinade and remaining ingrediants. Cover tightly and cook in a slow oven 150 degrees C for five hours.