Any chance of a recipe for those beef cheeks, I've got a good farm nearby and have gotten into the habit of buying alot of the lesser cuts from their cows and swine. Never cooked beef cheeks but it sounds delicious.
So yeah, hook it up with a recipe with all those crazy metric measurements!
No written recipe.
Like most of the things I cook it's in my head.
Here's a cople of recipes.
The second is closest. You do need to cook long and slow and pull the cheeks out so you can remove the fat.
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Beef cheeks
Other Names: Guancia (Italian),
joue (French), jowl,
mejilla or
cachete (Spanish).
General Description: Beef cheeks are rich morsels of dense, finely grained
meat. Along with
veal cheeks, beef cheeks are being featured on trendy restaurant menus, especially those serving French bistro cuisine. Quite inexpensive, beef cheeks can be found either by special order or in ethnic meat markets and are usually frozen. Cheeks are always braised, and they reheat beautifully.
Part of Animal: The cheeks are the
muscles on either side of the cheekbones.
Characteristics: Cheeks are rich and dense-fleshed with a fine grain and a layer of silvery white connective tissue running through the middle.
How to Choose: Buy well-trimmed beef cheeks.
Amount to Buy: Allow two trimmed beef cheeks per person.
Storage: If frozen, defrost in the refrigerator. If fresh, store up to 2 days refrigerated.
Preparation:
- Trim any exterior gristle off the cheeks. It is not necessary to trim the silverskin, which runs horizontally through the middle and cooks up tender.
- Marinate overnight refrigerated up to 2 days in red wine, seasonings, and cut-up aromatic vegetables. Drain the meat, reserving the liquid and vegetables.
- Pat dry and brown the cheeks in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, cover with the vegetables and marinade from step 2, and then cover.
- Bring to a boil and braise, partially covered with liquid, for at least 3 hours at low temperature (300°F), or until fork tender.
- Allow the cheeks to cool in the liquid to firm.
- When cool, remove the cheeks, strain the cooking liquid, if desired, and boil till syrupy. Reheat cheeks in sauce before serving.
Flavor Affinities: Bay leaves, celeriac, chives, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, horseradish, red wine, tarragon, thyme, tomatoes.
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Braised Beef cheeks Recipe
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 6-24hrs depends on what you want
Makes: about 5 serves
By
podge
Now this dish takes a while to cook so i have set it out over 2 days but as stated you are able to do it n about 6-8 from start to dine, I have added some extra ideas as i do this on a Sat for Sunday Lunch with a charcoal grilled rib eye on the bone BBQ Dinner in between!!!
I love slow coooking and make all kinds of things in the cooker this is a no hard fast rules ecipe how ever the sauce steps shoould be follwed for a gourmet style meal
INGREDIENTS
- Speaking of the braised beef cheeks throw this lot into a slow cooker and get ready for one of the best meals you can make and it only takes like 6 hrs!!! (possibly 24 really)
2-3kg trimmed beef cheeks 2 tablespoons coco powder 3 pints of Indian pale ale (beer) probably make that 6 of the little creatures and whack 3 in the fridge to consume when cooking 1 litre beef stock (home made or say continental is fine) 2 carrots peeled and fine diced 2 large celery sticks fine diced 2 brown onions fine diced 1 head garlic peeled only Toss all this in the slow cooker and ensure the beef cheeks are covered with liquid, if they are not then put more beer in until they are. Turn the slow cooker onto LOW mix it up a little whack the lid on and walk away, have a little creatures Indian Pale Ale watch the Rugby Union or some sport lite the Charcoal fired BBQ and cook some large rib eye on the bone whilst having another couple of Indian Pale Ales and maybe a fairly large ballsy Cab Sav and then come back in 5 hrs. The beef cheeks should be soft but still whole and able for you to pick them up, if this is the case then turn off the cooker and remove with a slotted spoon and place in a dish to allow to cool, strain the cooking liquid over them and cool in the liquor. At this point toss all the veg and other bits in the bin.
I would usually allow these to cool to room temp and then place covered in the fridge over night and the result is a firm jelly set with the beef in it and the fat will have come to the top and you can remove and toss out. Seeing that you didnt eat these last night I imagine that the other Indian Pale Ales would have gone well with the Charcoal BBQd rib eye on the bone you would have had????
Now remove the cheeks from the jelly and place on a plate wrap with cling film and place back in the fridge. Pop the Jelly into a saucepan and add a bottle of Cab Sav ensure its a quality wine like any of the Redbank ones (I like them) and reduce skimming the whole time to remove the rubbish. Once this is reduced by about 1/2 pass thru a fine strainer and allow to cool. Once cool add the beef cheeks and place back in the fridge (if using later) or if you intend to use now I would suggest peel some good mashing potatos and about 1 head of garlic per 2 people and boil them and begin the mash process.
If using the beef now (open and decant a bottle of good red possibly a 1999 Sallys Paddock) then return to the straining phase and strain the liquid into a clean pot add the cheeks and simmer for about 15 minutes to heat the cheeks (at this time mash your spuds) add a little brown sugar to sweeten the jus and season, once the potato and garlic mash is ready plate in the middle of your serving plates and place one or two cheeks on each mash with the sauce napped over them I have then used blanched fresh asparagus and finely curled pecorino cheese to garnish and the whole thing is great.
I know it takes a long time to make it but really it cooks all day Sat you get a good BBQ Sat night as a reason to drink the Little creatures Indian Pale Ale, the come Sunday you finish it off and there you have a great Sunday lunch boozy and fun with great food and your fav Red what more is there a weekend needs?
