Oxtail Paprika

It has been a week of unseasonable and "record-setting" March weather in Vermont, but the grey and the general rainy dreariness has reared its ugly head upon us this weekend. Without the promise of much outdoor recreational activity, we have opted to play the game where you say you're going to be productive and get a lot of things done indoors, but really your not accomplishing much of anything.
It wasn't until about 6:02 that we finally became a little more motivated and P is managed some cleaning, while I got an oxtail paprika on the stove!
I acquired the oxtail from the White River Junction Food Coop, which I had the good fortune of visiting when it was in the process of cleaning out freezers in order to prepare for the installation of brand new energy efficient ones. Everything in the freezers was 25% off, so I did a mandatory sweep of the cases, and stopped in front of the dwindled selection of Hardwick Beef. It was down to 4 pieces of beef shanks - with marrow bones - and two oxtails. Being partial to these cuts of beef, at first I grabbed all six pieces thinking we'd surely make use of them in quick fashion. However I then remembered the 1/2 a cow-worth of beef already sitting in the freezer, and so I put back two of the shanks and one tail and proceeded on my way before I could change my mind again.
Today's paprika is inspired by the fond food memories I have of Austria where we were treated to a homemade stock pot full of goulash.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 lb oxtail (Hardwick Beef), cut into pieces
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 celery sticks, sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
10 sprigs thyme
3/4 bottle dry red wine
1 teaspoon paprika

Heat the oil in a heavy dutch oven or other such pot. Add the oxtail pieces and sear on all sides. Remove the pieces of meat from the pot and add the vegetables, the tomato paste, and thyme. Cook until the vegetables soften then add the meat back to the pot and add the wine, the paprika, and enough water to cover the meat. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer until your meat is tender.

Hour 1

 Hour 2

Hour 3

Dinner