Beef cheeks, anyone?
The splendid Jackp picked up several packages of beef cheeks on his last trip to Super Wal-Mart. He has requested some for dinner this weekend, specifying that they be seared before they are braised. Okey-dokey, I can do that.
I had planned to cook them very slowly with some carrots, garlic, shallots, a great deal of thyme and lots of red wine, a la braised short ribs. My intent is for them to be meltingly tender when I serve them to him.
Does anyone else have a preferred way of preparing them?
jillp
Aug 14, 2007 05:39PM
that's basically a beef daube. marinating the cheeks for a few hours will be good too. sautee some pancetta and then add the shallots and garlic to that. (i'd prefer leeks here.)
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My favorite recipe came from epicurious - aromatics were onion, carrot, celery. Braising liquid was red wine and canned tomatoes. The key component was the 1/2 tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder added to the mirepoix before the wine was added.
After braising, I threw some into the food processor and used the paste to fill ravioli - they were so intensely flavored I had to forego the chicken liver sauce I was planning to make (I was adapting from a Mario Batali recipe) and ended up either panfrying them in butter or eating them plain. I shredded the rest of the beef cheeks and used them to sauce butternut squash gnocchi.
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Just braise them as you would always do...they sometimes need a bit more time than regular stewing cuts.
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That sounds good. If you make them a day in advance then reheat the next day they'll be even better. Egg noodles on the side.
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The one time I've done them it was basically exactly like what you've outlined. They were delicious.
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The recipes I've looked at want about four hours for the braise.
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