We're all Cheek today - Day 33 of 100 Food Stories.

Beef Cheeks in a rich red wine sauce with beer battered onion rings.


Ingredients. Serves 2:

2 beef cheeks, make sure to ask your butcher to remove any sinew.
1 tablespoon of oil.
1 onion, peeled & roughly chopped.
2 carrots, peeled & chopped.
2 sticks of celery, cleaned & chopped.
2 peeled cloves of garlic.
2 bayleaves.
2 sprigs of thyme.
1/2 carton of passata.
1 tablespoon mustard.
1/2 pint of beef stock.
1/2 pint of red wine.
Pinch of sugar.
Salt & pepper.
2 tablespoons of flour.


Method:

1. Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan which has a lid. Brown off the cheeks for a few minutes & then remove.
2. Add all of the vegetables, garlic & brown well. 
3. Add the flour & give everything a good stir.
4. Add passata & mustard & seasoning.
5. Then add the beer, stock & herbs. Bring to the boil, giving everything a good stir.
6. Pop back in the beef cheeks, cover with a lid and simmer for around 3 hours until the cheeks are completely tender.
7. Remove the cheeks from the sauce. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve. Discard the vegetables. Pour sauce back into pan & add a good glug of port. Simmer for a few minutes & add back in cheeks.
8. Serve on a bed of buttery mash & top with beer battered onion rings. ( I use the same batter as we used in the post for ‘Fiash Tacos’)😉