Cuban born Bren Herrera is an award-winning celebrity chef, TV personality, entrepreneur, actress, and author. She left a career in law to find her other passions, which include cooking. She now has a show on CLEO tv called Culture Kitchen, where she shares her cooking with others. Most recently she shared her Jamaican style Oxtail and Brown Sugar Recipe.

In her very soulful kitchen, she combine’s Cuba’s vibrant plate, seeded in African, European, and Spanish culture and cuisine, with modern flavors and textures, to create memorable and smart dishes. She is the pressure-cooking Queen whose philosophy is to save time and energy so that you can spend precious time with your loved ones without sacrificing flavor and nutrition.

Jamaican Style Oxtail
Recipe courtesy of Bren Herrera

Ingredients:
Olive oil
3 pounds oxtails
Kosher salt
Black pepper
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 cups beef stock
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Spanish onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh bay leaves
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2-3 tablespoons honey
1 scotch bonnet pepper, sliced
2 teaspoons freshly ground allspice berries
2 fresh scallions, rough chopped
White rice for serving (recipe follows)

Method:
1. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a Dutch oven over high heat.
2. Season the oxtails with salt and pepper and sear in oil on each side until
golden brown.
3. In the meantime make the brown sugar sauce in a separate small pot. Add
the brown sugar to the pot over medium heat until it melts and begins to
caramelize for about 2-3 minutes. It should almost caramelize into a golden
brown color. Make sure it doesn’t get too dark and burn.
4. Carefully add stock to the caramel continuously stirring with a wooden
spoon as it will bubble quickly. It will harden due to temperature change
(cold stock to hot caramel) or you can heat the stock up prior to adding.
5. Add the brown sugar liquid to the oxtails making sure they are submerged
and bring up to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
6. Add the cumin, Worchestershire sauce, onion, garlic, bay leaves, ginger,
honey, scotch bonnet, allspice berries, and scallions. Give it a good stir to
marry the flavors. Adjust for salt to taste.
7. Continue to simmer the oxtails on the stove for about 90 minutes to 2 hours
until the oxtails are tender and falling off the bone.
8. Serve the oxtails with white rice!