A couple of weeks ago I saw Homemade Zagat make oxtail mac and cheese, and it had me wanting to do my own version! What makes this oxtail mac and cheese so good is a combination of a rich and creamy bechamel sauce with nutty gruyere and swiss cheese. This is definitely one of my favorite cheese sauces to make, and it goes great with beef.
This post is sponsored by the Crock-Pot® brand. All opinions are mine alone.
A bowl of this oxtail mac and cheese is rich and comforting, and is the perfect meal to keep you cozy this fall. To make this mac and cheese I used the Crock-Pot® Express Crock Multi-Cooker, and it has instantly become one of my favorite kitchen gadgets to have. I was able to cook the mac and cheese all in this pot (except for boiling the noodles), and it was a breeze! 
I started off by browning the oxtails in the Crock-Pot® Express Crock Multi-Cooker. It has a feature where you can brown/sauté and I was able to get a nice sear on the outside. I then switched to the meat/stew setting to let the oxtails cook on high for 3 hours. After that I removed it from the pot, cleaned it out and finishing making the mac and cheese from there. I even cooked the bechamel sauce in the pot using the sauté function. Certainly one of the best reasons to have the is because it can do so many things other than just slow cooking. It also has a rice cooker function, and I tested it out and came out with perfectly cooked rice!
Crock-Pot® Express Crock Multi-Cooker Oxtail Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
- 2 pounds oxtails, cut into pieces
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 small shallot, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 bottle (750 ml) red wine, such as Beaujolais
- 1 pound small elbow macaroni
For the béchamel sauce:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, divided
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup whole milk, warm to touch
- 1/2 cup chicken stock, warm to touch
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup Gruyere cheese, grated
- ½ cup swiss cheese, grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Pat-dry and season the oxtail pieces generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside.
- Heat butter in your Crock-Pot® Express Crock Slow Cooker on the sauté/brown function. Add the meat and brown well, 4-5 minutes on each side.
- Stir in the onion and shallot, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes or so. Add in the garlic, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, and wine. Bring it to a simmer.
- Turn your slow cooker to the meat/stew function, set to high and cook until the beef is tender, 3-3 1/2 hours.
- Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Remove the meat from the bones and roughly chop. Set aside.
- Clean out the express multi-cooker.
- To make the béchamel sauce. Start with heating the butter in your express cooker on the saute setting.
- Stir in the flour.
- While whisking the flour constantly, gradually stir in the milk and chicken stock. Add in the nutmeg, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens, 8-10 minutes.
- While the sauce thickens, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add in the elbow macaroni and cook according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Once the sauce has thickened pour in the gruyere and swiss cheese and mix until smooth.
- Pour in the oxtail, some of the leftover stock from the oxtails, and the macaroni noodles. Mix well to combine.
- Turn you express cooker to low and cook for 2 hours.
- Serve immediately.
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