Slow Braised Beef Cheek with Caramelized Onion Marmalade

Serves 4

Cally

ingredients

Beef
• 4 pieces Beef cheek
• 1 Carrot
• 1 stick Celery
• 1 Onion
• 2 Garlic
• 1 Bay leaves
• 1Sprig Thyme
• Salt
• Pepper
• 250ml Veal Jus
• bottle Red wine
• bottle Ruby port
Mash
• 2 large Potatoes
• 100g Butter
• 10ml Milk
• Salt
• Pepper
Onions
• 4 large Onions
• 75ml Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Sherry vinegar

directions

1
Trim the beef cheeks and seal in a heavy based pan until dark golden on all sides. Remove and
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reserve and season with salt and pepper.
3
Peel and dice the carrot, celery and onion, crush the garlic and caramelize until golden.Add the beef pieces back into the pan and throw in the thyme, bay leaves, a good pinch of salt and a
4
few turns of freshly milled pepper.
5
Deglaze with a good slouch of red wine and port. Reduce by half add the veal jus and stock. Bring to
6
the boil. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
7
Cover and place into a slow oven 140C for 4 hours, when the beef is tender, remove from the liquid
8
and reserve.
9
Strain and reduce the stock until you achieve a good beef and red wine flavour. The sauce should
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not be too sticky but with enough body to coat the back of a spoon. Adjust with more red wine as a
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reduction if necessary or a gastric of sugar and red wine vinegar if the sauce is not sweet enough.
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Mash
13
Scrub the spuds under running water to remove any dirt, dry and place on bed of rock salt approx
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5mm thick – place into moderate oven 180C until the skins are crisp and the potato is fluffy inside.
15
Pass through the mesh of a fine sieve quickly and place into a heavy based pot.
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Add a splash of boiling milk a sprinkle of salt and add half the butter.
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Wisk vigorously until smooth and creamy add the remaining butter to enrich and stiffen the puree.
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Reserve warm.
19
Onions
20
Peel and slice the onions finely and add a splash of oil to the pot. Start on a low heat to extract the
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sugars from the onions as they begin to wilt and soften. Add a pinch of salt a sprig of thyme.
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Increase the heat a notch and begin to brown and caramelize the onions, you should smell lovely
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sweet onion aromas. Add a splash red wine and reduce until almost gone.
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The onions should be soft, deep red and jammy in consistency.
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To serve: place a piece of beef cheek into a bowl, pile a spoon of the red onion marmalade onto the
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beef and add a quenelle of mash to the back of the plate. Sauce and serve.