Keep the oxtail but here's an easy stew recipe, made a bunch the other night. I just toss everything in a crock pot and set it to low and walk away for 6 to 8 hrs.
Cut up 1 to 1.5 lbs of stew meat or steak into bite size pieces brown in frying pan.
I use just simple stew mix packages, schilling or something like that. It's just my wife and I now, but I still use two packages of the mix. for each package add 3 cups of hot water.
Add meat and mix to a crock pot, cut up potatoes, I just eye ball how much I have in the pot, I think it's 6 to 8 potatoes maybe (I like meat and potatoes). Cut up 1/2 onion and carrots (again I just eye ball the carrots, but since I'm lazy I just halve baby peeled carrots)
. At times I'll add corn or peas, or anything that might trip my trigger that day. Salt and pepper to taste. I'll cook on low until about an hour before dinner then add sliced up celery so they don't dissolve into the stew.
Just before we eat, I'll mix in "wondra" (fine sifted flour for making gravy), the key is to keep mixing and only add a little bit at a time until the stew is in a gravy rather than a broth.
We'll eat it for a night or two with warm bread and the rest goes in a freezer bag for a night I'm really feeling lazy.
This is a very easy recipe and as you can see, with any stew you add what you want.
Alan