Description
We’re talking melt-in-your-mouth, slow-cooked beef cheeks, and vegetables in red wine gravy. Serve with lashings of creamy mashed potato, and buttered beans for a delicious dinner party or family dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 + 2 tbsp oil
- 2 heaped tbsp plain flour
- 1kg beef cheeks
- 2 brown onions, sliced
- 200g streaky bacon, cut into a rough 2cm dice
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 500ml red wine – I used a merlot
- 500ml beef stock
- 2 large carrots
- 1+1/2 tsp porcini powder
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 10cm sprig of rosemary
- 200g brown mushrooms
- sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celcius.
- Coat the beef cheeks in plain flour.
- In a cast iron French oven add 2 tbsp oil and seal each beef cheek. It’s very important to seal the meat and not stew. We are redering the fat in the beef cheek which will then break down and make the meat palatable. After sealing each beef cheek, pop them on a plate to rest while the others are rendered.
- In the French oven saute the onions in the reamining oil on low heat till translucent. Add the bacon and cook for 2 -3 minutes. Add the garlic. stir through and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the red wine, beef stock, porcini powder, carrots and fresh herbs. Stir to combine. Add the beef cheeks, pop on the lid, and bring the pot to a simmer.
- Once simmering, pop the whole pot into the preheated oven for 2.5 hours.
- Remove the pot from the oven, add the mushrooms, give it a stir, and return the stew to the oven for the remaining hour.
- Remove from the oven. By now you should have a beautifully slow-cooked stew with a reduced gravy. If your gravy needs to be reduced further, remove the beef cheeks and simmer the stew on the stovetop until you have the desired consistancy, then re-add the beef cheeks.
- Season with sea salt and pepper, then serve!
Notes
This recipe was cooked in a 29cm oval enameled cast iron French Oven.
How to render… Sear the beef on all sides until sealed. This normally takes a few minutes on each side. We are not cooking through the beef cheeks, only locking in all the flavour and they’ll continue cooking for the next few hours.
Using your cast iron cookware… Be sure to let your French oven heat up as opposed to blasting it on a high heat which will only cause damage to your pot. Pop it on low heat and let it heat up. This may take a few minutes, however, it will stop your pot from thermal shock and permanently damaging the enamel.
Keywords: slow-cook, one-pot, beef, red wine