Braised Beef Cheeks

We are back.... not that we really went anywhere!  More a case of being uber busy and overwhelmed with life.  Jobs (both hubby and mine) have been very intense of late - mine has been all year.  We have a teenager living out her last year of high school and in the midst of exams as I type and to top it all off we decided to move house.

Moving house has brought it's ups and downs. The ups being a bigger house, including an extra bedroom and a swimming pool, along with a bigger and brighter kitchen.  The downs obviously being packing and moving everything given that we were at the last house for 10 years.

The kitchen is pretty much sorted however the rest of the house looks like an episode of Hoarders.  Needless to say I manage to cook over the weekend which I was determined to do as I am totally over takeaways after the previous weekend.

Armed with my trusty slow cooker (well one of the four that I own) I decided some tender Braised Beef Cheeks and Garlic Mash would fit the bill nicely for an easy dinner.  And I wasn't wrong at all.  The beef cheek melted in your mouth not to mention the herb and chilli infused sauce married with them perfectly.  I left the seeds in the chillis I used as I have not been finding them to have a high heat rating of late but you can deseed them if you wish.  The trick for a richer sauce is to ensure that your brown the meat well.  The darker the tones on the cheeks at this stage, the richer the sauce will be.

Beef cheeks are something that you definitely need to cook low and slow - so obviously the slow cooker is perfect for this.  However the original recipe was cooked on a stove top (both instructions for cooking are below).

Braised Beef Cheeks

(recipe adapted from Good Food)

Serves: 4

salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 large beef cheeks

1 brown onion, diced

2 tablespoons crushed garlic

2 long red chillies, deseeded (if desired) and finely chopped

2 tins diced tomatoes

560 ml bottle red wine

½ bunch rosemary, finely chopped

½ bunch thyme, finely chopped

½ bunch parsley, finely chopped

Season the beef cheeks, both sides, with salt and pepper.

Put a large cast-iron pot or large heavy based frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil, add the beef cheeks and brown them in the pot. Remove the cheeks from the pot and place in slow cooker vessel.

To the same pot add the onion, garlic and chilli and cook until the onions are translucent.

Add the tomatoes, red wine, rosemary and thyme and bring to a simmer.

Add the tomato sauce to the beef cheeks, put the lid on and cook on low for 8 - 9 hours.

Serve with creamy garlic mashed potatoes and garnish with parsley.

Stove top instructions:

Season the beef cheeks, both sides, with salt and pepper.

Put a large cast-iron pot or large heavy based frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil, add the beef cheeks and brown them in the pot. Remove the cheeks from the pot and set aside.

To the same pot add the onion, garlic and chilli and cook until the onions are translucent.

Add the tomatoes, red wine, rosemary and thyme and bring to a simmer.

Add the beef cheeks, put the lid on and simmer on the stove for 2-3 hours.

Serve with creamy garlic mashed potatoes and garnish with parsley.

(Click here for a printable version of this recipe)