Food & Drink

How To Cook Beef Cheeks

Beef cheeks are the ideal meat for slow cooking as they retain their moisture and get melt-in-your-mouth tender. In this step by step guide Paul Webbe, restaurateur, chef and cookery school owner, shows you how to cook beef cheeks in red wine. Enlarge

How To Cook Beef Cheeks

Beef cheeks are the ideal meat for slow cooking as they retain their moisture and get melt-in-your-mouth tender. In this step by step guide Paul Webbe, restaurateur, chef and cookery school owner, shows you how to cook beef cheeks in red wine.

Prep:
10m
Cook:
6h:10m
Total:
6h:20m
Serves:
4
Temp:
160° c  -  320° f

Ingredients

  • 2 beef cheeks
  • 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 olive oil
  • 1 large glass of red wine
  • 1 ltr beef stock
  • 1 water with arrowroot dissolved in it
  • salt
  • pepper

Step 1: Trim the Beef

Trim the excess sinews off the cheeks, then cut the meat into portions and season with salt and pepper.

Step 2: Brown the Cheeks

Heat a pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil in it, and brown the cheek pieces on both sides. Season with salt and pepper. Add the carrots, celery,onion, garlic and the thyme. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Step 3: Slow Cook the Cheeks

Add the wine and enough beef stock to cover the meat. Cover tightly with foil and cook in an oven at 160C for about 6 hours.

Step 4: Reduce the Sauce

After 6 hours, remove the pan from the oven, then remove the meat and set it aside. Strain the sauce through a sieve into a hot pan and reduce it to a syrup. Add 1 tbsp of the arrowroot solution and mix it in.

Step 5: Finish and Serve

Coat each piece of meat in the sauce, then plate it up with more sauce poured over the top. Serve with roasted garlic and parsley mash.