**Preheat your oven to 425 degrees before preparing your dish.**
Cooking time 3.5 hours
This soup is almost a meal in itself. Heat the margarine and fry the
pieces of oxtail until lightly browned. Drain off excess fat and stir
vegetables, bacon, herbs and barley in with meat. Pour on cold water and
bring to the boil. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer
covered for about 3 hours until meat falls away from the bone. Skim off
excess fat and return stock to pan. Remove meat from oxtail pieces and
return this to pan with sherry and tomato puree. Blend flour with cold
water. Pour some stock onto blended flour and return all to the pan.
Bring to the boil stirring and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Taste and
adjust seasoning. Garnish with plenty of chopped parsley and serve with
small squares of toast.
