Once unfrozen, I was hoping to be able to kick off and start browning however the cheeks had not been trimmed as I don't think there is a huge demand for them and they had come straight from the freezer out back. I highly advise you get your butcher to do this for you in advance (unless you have good butchering skills - I don't) as I am sure I wasted a lot of the meat as I hacked away at it. Nevertheless, after it's very slow cooking, the meat was so tender it just fell apart on the plate.
Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil
2 x 500 g beef cheeks, well trimmed
2 carrots, cut into chunks
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
600 ml good red wine
1.2 litres beef stock
2 fresh sprigs thyme
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Heat one tablespoon
of the oil in a large casserole dish. Add the pieces of beef cheek and brown
all over for 4-5 minutes, turning regularly with tongs. Transfer to a plate.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the casserole, reduce the heat a little and
add the carrots, onion and garlic. Cook for a further 5 minutes until golden
brown, stirring.
2. Return the beef cheeks and any juices to the casserole and pour over the red
wine and beef stock. Add the herbs and season to taste, then bring to the boil.
Cover tightly with foil and a lid. Bake for 3 hours until the beef cheeks are
meltingly tender.
3. Carefully remove the beef cheeks from the braising juices
and leave to rest on a warmed plate. Strain the cooking juices into a pan and
reduce down on a rapid simmer for 40-45 minutes until reduced by a quarter.
Reserve the vegetables with the beef cheeks, covered in foil to keep warm.
4. For the mash, take my recipe from New Year's Eve: http://an-italian-in-london.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/nye-meal.html
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