Slow-Cooked Beef Cheeks with Creamy Mash and Peppercorn Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 Beef cheeks
• 3 tbsp Flour (For coating the beef; source spells this as “four.”)
• 1 White onion (Diced)
• 2 Carrots (Diced)
• 8 Celery sticks (Small; diced)
• 1 bulb Garlic (Halved)
• 2 tbsp Tomato purée (The method calls this tomato paste.)
• 1 bottle Red wine (Bottle size not specified.)
• 1 L Beef stock
• 2 sprigs Rosemary
• Fresh thyme (A handful)
• Fresh black peppercorns (A handful, for the braise)
• 4 Bay leaves
• 4 Maris Piper potatoes (Peeled; potato size not specified.)
• 4 tbsp Butter (Cubed; the source also calls for butter in the peppercorn sauce but gives no amount.)
• 0.25 cup Cream (For the mash)
• Milk (A splash, to loosen the mash)
• 1 tsp Salt (Listed with pepper for the mash; method says season to taste.)
• 1 tsp Black pepper (Listed with salt for the mash; method says season to taste.)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard (For the mash)
• Fresh peppercorns (A handful, for the sauce; crush before cooking.)
• 4 Shallots (Diced)
• 2 tbsp Brandy (Flambé)
• 1 ladle Reduced braising liquid (Reserve from the strained, reduced braising liquid; ladle size unspecified.)
• 0.5 cup Cream (For the peppercorn sauce)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard (For the peppercorn sauce)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Salt (For the peppercorn sauce)
• Chives (For garnish)

Steps

1. 1

   Pat the beef cheeks dry, then coat them with flour.

2. 2

   Sear the floured cheeks in a hot pan for a couple of minutes on each side, until deeply browned. Remove them from the pan.

3. 3

   Add the diced onion and carrots, diced celery, and halved garlic bulb to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes.

4. 4

   Add the tomato purée and cook for a further 5 minutes.

5. 5

   Return the beef cheeks to the pan. Add the red wine, beef stock, rosemary, thyme, black peppercorns, and bay leaves. Cover the braise with a cartouche and cook at 140°C for 4½ hours. The description and transcript differ on the duration (4½ hours versus 4 hours); the written method specifies 4½ hours.

6. 6

   Strain the braising liquid. Reserve one ladleful for the peppercorn sauce, then reduce the remaining liquid by half.

7. 7

   Peel the potatoes and boil them for 30 minutes, until soft. Drain and mash them.

8. 8

   Add the cubed butter, cream, milk as needed to loosen, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper to the potatoes. Mash until creamy.

9. 9

   Crush the peppercorns for the sauce. Place them in a dry pan with butter; the source gives no butter quantity for this sauce.

10. 10

    Add the diced shallots and sauté for a few minutes.

11. 11

    Add the brandy and flambé carefully.

12. 12

    Add the reserved braising liquid, cream, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. Cook until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.

13. 13

    Serve the beef cheeks with the creamy mash and peppercorn sauce. Garnish with chives.

Notes

The source does not specify the red-wine bottle size, exact amounts for handfuls or a splash, or how much butter to use in the peppercorn sauce. The method says to add red wine, while listing it as an ingredient. A cartouche is a parchment-paper lid laid over the braise. Serving and chive garnish are indicated by the ingredient list/title, though no detailed plating instructions are supplied.

Nutrition per serving

• main
• comfort food
• slow-cooked
• braised
• French-inspired
• beef
• dairy