Beef Cheeks Recipes

Steps:

• For the braised beef cheeks: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Sprinkle beef cheeks with salt and pepper. Pan-sear in olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add beef stock, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, carrots, garlic, celery and onion. Cover with foil and bake 3 to 4 hours.
• For the Korean fried rice sauce: Add gochujang, soy sauce, ginger, mirin, sesame oil and garlic to a saucepan and simmer to reduce. Add a little water if too thick.
• For the fried rice: Heat a large skillet over high heat and add oil. Add rice, kimchi, bacon, garlic/ginger mixture, pickled mushrooms and pickled vegetables. Cook for about 4 minutes. Add 8 ounces Korean fried rice sauce and cabbage mixture and cook, tossing together for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off and set aside.
• Cook 2 eggs at a time to sunny-side up in a separate small pan. Plate rice and top with cooked eggs and 12 ounces warm beef cheeks. Garnish with diced green onions.

Steps:

• For the arbol salsa: Preheat the broiler to high.
• Place the tomatillos, tomatoes and garlic on a sheet pan and drizzle with the oil. Toss to combine, then place under the broiler and broil, turning occasionally, until the tomatillos and tomatoes are slightly blackened, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer to a medium saucepan with 1/2 cup water and turn the heat on to medium. Bring to a boil, then add the chiles de arbol, vinegar and salt. Turn to medium-low, then cover and cook for 20 minutes. Place in a blender and blend to smooth, then taste and adjust salt as needed. Reserve in a bowl.
• For the beef cheeks: Place the beef cheeks, guajillo chiles, oregano, garlic, bay leaf, white onion, 1 tablespoon salt and 2 cups water in a stovetop pressure cooker. Seal the lid and bring up to high pressure. Reduce to medium pressure and cook for 45 minutes. Carefully remove the pressure cooker from the heat, then allow the pressure to subside and carefully remove the beef cheeks to a cutting board. Discard the aromatic ingredients. Cut the beef cheeks into small pieces. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt.
• To build the tacos: Heat a griddle or 14-inch cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Working 3 at a time, place 3 tortillas on the griddle and heat until pliable, 1 minute on each side. Transfer to a cutting board and put 2 tablespoons chopped beef cheeks in the center of each tortilla. Fold over and secure with a toothpick by threading through to close the tortilla. Repeat until you have formed 18 little tacos. (You may have extra tortillas; these are backup for the ones that might tear.)
• Place the vegetable oil in a medium pot and bring up to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet tray with paper towels.
• Add the formed tacos, 3 to 5 at a time, and fry, flipping halfway with tongs, until golden brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to the paper towels to drain and continue cooking the remaining tacos. Place the tacos on a platter with the bowl of salsa.

Steps:

• Take the beef cheeks and trim the large fatty membrane off (or ask you butcher to do this). If the cheeks are whole, cut in half so you have four pieces of meat. Place the beef cheeks in a container and add the wine, garlic and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours but a minimum of 3.
• Preheat the oven to 1460C/ Fan 140C/ gas 3. Remove the meat and reserve the marinade. Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the cheeks, one at a time and then place in a casserole dish. Finely chop the onion and fry in the meat juices and then add to the casserole. Add the marinade and balsamic vinegar to the pan use to deglaze. Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes to burn off the alcohol. Add to the casserole with the pint of stock and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the casserole dish and place in the oven for 4 hours. Turn the meat every hour.
• Trim the tops off the beetroot so only an inch remains. Leave the roots on. Place in a roasting tray with the oil, garlic and thyme and roast for 2 hours at 160C/ fan 140C/ gas 3. Remove once beetroot feels tender to the touch.
• After 4 hours remove the lid to the casserole and cook for the remaining 2 hours uncovered. Baste the meat regularly. Once the beetroot is tender to the touch it is ready. Remove and allow to cool slightly.
• For the fondant potatoes peel the potatoes one at a time and cut down into rectangular shapes. Make the potatoes even in size and halve them. Melt the butter over a medium heat in a saucepan. Stand the potatoes in the butter once it is bubbling, leave them to brown for 5-6 minutes without moving them. Then turnover and leave for another 5-6 minutes. Then add the stock (CAUTION: the butter will spit when it comes into contact with the stock), garlic and thyme. Reduce the heat so the stock is simmering. Cover the pan and leave the stock to reduce. The potatoes are cooked when a knife can easily be inserted into the side of them (around 10 minutes). Remove from the heat but leave in the pan to stay warm.
• Turn off the oven. Peel the beetroot, being careful not to burn your fingers. Slice thinly and place on an oven tray and place in the oven to stay warm.
• Remove the beef. Place 10 ladles of the liquid into a frying pan. Cover the meat so it keeps warm. Bring the liquid to the boil and allow to reduce until it is syrupy. Stir regularly.
• Remove the potato fondant from the saucepan and discard the stock. Plate up with the beef, beetroot and sauce.

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in an ovenproof 6-quart wide heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. While oil is heating, pat beef cheeks dry and season with salt and pepper. Brown beef, without crowding, on all sides, about 20 minutes total, and transfer with tongs to a bowl. Pour off fat from pot, then add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and cook onion, carrot, and celery over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Stir cocoa powder into vegetable mixture, then add wine and scrape up any brown bits. Increase heat to high and boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
• Return cheeks (with any juices) to pot and add tomatoes with juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then braise, covered, in middle of oven until very tender, about 3 hours.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
• Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef in batches and cook until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Add onion and carrot; cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Pour beef stock and wine into the Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Stir in porcini mushrooms, bouillon cubes, thyme, and bay leaves. Lay a piece of parchment paper over the surface. Cover with a tight lid.
• Bake in the preheated oven until beef is very tender, 5 to 6 hours.
• Transfer beef to a plate. Discard bay leaves. Blend cooking liquid with an immersion blender to make a smooth sauce. Serve beef with sauce.

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a Large Pressure Cooker.
• Brown the beef and onions.
• Brown the garlic.
• Add the wine and let it reduce about 50%.
• Add the thyme, tomatos, tomato paste and carrots.
• Put the cooker on high setting and high heat on the stove top and bring to pressure.
• Reduce heat to low and cook for at LEAST 90 minutes. (120 minutes is better though).
• Remove the meat from the cooker and place in a bowl, shred the meat with two forks, (this step may not be nessessary if you cook for longer.).
• Return the meat to the cooker and then reduce until sauce is thick.
• Meanwhile, while reducing the sauce, get your pasta cooking.
• When you are happy with the sauce and the pasta is ready, serve and enjoy!
• If you are using a crockpot/slowcooker, leave on low heat for 14 hours.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• To make the Bouquet Garni, gather herbs in a small square of muslin and tie with kitchen string to secure.
• Heat half of the oil in a large, ovenproof casserole dish over a medium-high heat and cook the beef cheeks in 2 batches for 8 minutes each batch, until browned all over and set aside.
• Heat remaining oil in the dish over a medium heat and add onion, celery, carrot and leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened and lightly browned.
• Return beef cheeks to dish with the stock, tomato, wine, lemon zest and bouquet garni and season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.
• Transfer dish to the oven and cook, covered for 2 hours.
• Stir in eschallots and mushrooms and cook, uncovered for a further 40 minutes or until sauce has thickened and beef is very tender.
• Remove from and reserve beef, eschallots and mushrooms; strain the sauce and discard vegetables and then return beef, eschallots and mushrooms to strained sauce.
• Meanwhile cook potato in a large saucepan of boiling water over a medium heat for 15 minutes or until tender, drain and pass through a potato rice and then stir in milk and butter and season with salt and pepper.
• Lightly spray a large frying pan with oil and heat over a medium heat and cook zucchini ribbons for 4 minutes or until just tender and season with salt and pepper.
• TIP 1 - for a shortcut use a pre-prepared bouquet garni made with dry herbs.
• TIP 2 - for a more intensely flavoured mash, try roasting instead of boiling the potatoes before mashing them.
• TIP 3 - if you prefer a chunky sauce, omit straining the sauce, in step 8, so that you retain all the vegetables.