Oxtails with butter rice

When I met my hubby, literally, the first night..I agreed to cook for him.  We went to the store and I said pick out what you want.  He wanted fried pork chops, mac and cheese, green beans and rolls.  Easy enough...and good enough for a 2nd date and so on...and the rest is a crazy, roller coaster meant-to-be story..but anyway...he's definitely the kind of man that wanted a woman who could cook like his mama and his sister.  This meant he requested some dishes I hadn't made before.  His mom's corn pudding is sweet...my mom's was more savory.  His sister made fried apples and he loved his dad's blueberry pancakes.  Another first for me was oxtails.  Not only were they a first for me to prepare, but I hadn't eaten them either.  I have to admit, they are prettttty gooood.  I saw an oxtail stew on Down Home with the Neely's that I plan to make for him soon.  Shhh..don't tell him.  He'll figure out where I got the recipe when I start calling him daddy and dance around while I cook, a la Gina Neely ;)  Ooooo baby...STIR that stew and BUTTER them noodles. MMM mmmm!  They are too cute.


Ingredients


2 whole oxtails, sliced into 2-inch pieces

Favorite seasoning (I used Lawry's, garlic salt, black pepper)

Several dashes soy sauce and Worcestershire

2 large yellow onions, diced
3 to 4 bay leaves

Buttered Rice:

2 cups uncooked rice

4 cups water

1 stick butter

Kosher salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.



Trim fat from oxtails. In a broiling pan, toss oxtails with seasoning, soy sauce and Worcestershire. Top with onions and bay leaves. Add water to fill pan 1/4 of the way to the top. Cover pan with foil and bake until oxtails are tender, about 2 1/2 to 4 hours. Prepare rice according to package directions, adding butter and salt, to taste. Serve rice alongside oxtails.

I used pan drippings and added flour for a gravy for the rice with butter in this picture.