Beef Cheek Bourguignon Recipes

BEEF CHEEK BOURGUIGNON

Steps:

• Ensure the beef cheeks are trimmed of any outer sinew and fat. Fold each one in half and tie with butcher's string.
• To a large heavy based casserole dish add the beef cheeks, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, bouquet garni, leek, brown onions, garlic cloves, veal stock and bottle of red wine. Leave to marinade in a fridge for 3 hours. After 3 hours remove the beef cheeks from the marinade and set aside. Then drain the vegetables and bouquet garni and set aside. Reserve the marinade.
• Preheat an oven to 150 deg C. (300 deg F.)
• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the heavy based casserole dish and add the beef cheeks. Sprinkle one tablespoon of flour over the cheeks and brown them on all sides. Set the beef cheeks aside. Add a further 1 tablespoon of oil to the casserole and brown half of the vegetables and set aside. Repeat with the other half of vegetables and set aside.
• Add the marinade to the casserole, bring it to the boil and on medium heat reduce by one third. Skim any foam scum that rises to the surface. Once reduced, add the beef cheeks, vegetables and bouquet garni to the marinade. Cover the casserole dish with two sheets of foil and then the lid. Put in the oven for 3 hours.
• Meanwhile, blanch the carrots in boiling water until tender. Remove the carrots and then add the bacon lardons to the water. Blanch for about 30 seconds and then drain. Blanching the bacon removes the smokiness, a flavour that is not required in the Bourguignon.
• Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and fry the drained lardons until browned, then set aside. In the same pan add 15g of butter and fry the mushrooms until browned and slightly soft to the touch. Set aside.
• Add another 15g of butter to the frying pan and sauté the baby onions until browned. Then add a little water (a tablespoon or so), one teaspoon of white sugar, and salt and pepper for seasoning. Cover the frying pan with a lid and on a medium heat cook the onions until tender. Add a little more water of they start to dry out.
• After 3 hours remove the beef cheeks from the oven (leave the oven on). Very carefully remove the beef cheeks and set aside. Now drain the vegetables and bouquet garni and discard; reserve the cooking liquid. Clean any leftovers from the casserole dish and pour in the reserved cooking liquid. On the stove bring to a simmer. Take the remaining 10g of butter and 1 tablespoon of flour and mix until a smooth paste is formed (known as beurre meunière); add this to the simmering cooking liquid and whisk until all the butter has melted. Take the liquid off the heat and carefully add the beef cheeks, carrots, mushrooms, bacon and baby onions. Put the lid on the casserole dish (no foil this time) and put it back in the oven for a further 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately - one cheek per person. If there are only four of you then one lucky onion gets an extra cheek!
• The recipe for bouquet garni is here.
• The recipe for veal stock is here.