A, unusual yet very tasty meal. Braised beef cheeks are very tender if cooked correctly. Here is my version of how to cook a stunning dinner for friends using these delicious ingredients.
Braised Beef Cheeks - Ingredients
- 1 kg beef cheeks
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery stick
- 1 parsnip
- 2 white onions
- olive oil
- 1 cup plain flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- salt
- whole peppercorns
- bouquet garni (Few herbs tied together with butcher string. Usually parsley, thyme, and bay leaves. Herbs are cooked with the food and taken out just before finishing.)
- water
Braised Beef Cheeks - Cooking Method
Chop root vegetables into small cubes. Preheat large pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Add the root vegetables and sweat for few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomato puree and onions and sweat for further few minutes. Fill the pan with water and bring to the boil.
Season cleaned beef cheeks with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover the cheeks with plain flour in a small dish then shake to get rid of any excess flour. In a non stick frying pan heat up the oil over medium high heat. Sear and colour the cheeks from both sides. Once nice and golden brown add the cheeks into the prepared already boiling stock.
Add bouquet garni and simmer on a low heat for about 2,5 hours or until cheeks are nice and soft. Take the cheeks out of the stock and clean from any excess fat.
Continue cooking the stock taking the foam from the top.
Red Wine Sauce - Ingredients
- 4 shallots
- 2 tablespoons finely diced pancetta
- 1 cup good forest mushrooms of your choice
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 3 cups beef stock (in this case we will use stock from beef cheeks)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Red Wine Sauce - Cooking Method
Heat up non stick frying pan over medium high heat. Add diced pancetta and fry for few minutes until it releases fat. Add finely chopped shallot and sweat for a minute then add roughly chopped mushrooms and sweat for another minute or so. Put fried mixture into the sieve and allow the fat to drip off.
In the same pan, caramelise sugar. Once sugar is caramelized add red wine and beef cheek stock. Reduce over medium heat to a syrup consistency. Add bacon, shallot and mushroom mixture and mix with the liquid.
Serve beef cheeks with mash or roast potatoes with red wine sauce.
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