midwinter daube of beef

Posted on | June 24, 2007 | 2 Comments

the weather continues to be miserable here, and this type of ongoing drizzle and chill requires serious food.
liam gave me a kilo of ox cheeks earlier, and shouted a recipe after me as i was departing.

this is what i’ve done and it smells magnificent so far.

1 kilo ox cheeks
2 brown onions
4 carrots
2 celery stalks
8 cloves garlic
1 bottle of red wine
3 bay leaves
4 tomatoes
a mandarin peel
6 big mushrooms, cut in quarters
a small handful of black olives
salt, pepper, dried herbs

trim the ox cheeks and cut into fairly large chunks of around 150g.
get a nice heavy pan and start heating it.
flour them and brown them in some olive oil, then set aside.

pre-heat your oven to 180 Celsius.

make a mirepoix out of your carrots, celery and onions.
peel and smash the garlic cloves.
fry that all together with the bay leaves.

then add a big splash of red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan.
now add tomatoes, diced, the mandarin peel, a bottle of red wine, some tomato paste if you desire, and the mushrooms.
let that cook for a couple of minutes, add the salt, pepper, herbs and olives and return the ox cheeks to the pan.

the sauce should cover the meat.
if not, add a little water or even more wine.
a glass of port added now will make for a very rich and delicious sauce later…so consider that too.

now slap a lid on the whole thing, a tight fitting lid, and place the whole pan in the warmed oven.
turn the heat down to 150 Celsius and let it cook and comingle for 3 hours or so.
in the meantime you can be peeling, boiling and mashing a huge pot of mashed potatoes…..now is not the time to be getting all cute and minimalist with butter and cream either.
lash on the dairy products and don’t forget plenty of chopped parsley, salt and pepper, maybe some scallions.

i’m going to take a very slow and careful look around the wine racks for something suitably splendid and red to drink with this dish.
don’t even think about rose or champagne or white wine….the daube will bash them senseless in a second.
some dark beer would also be pretty good, if you are one of those freaks who doesn’t care for red wine.
i can totally see a guinness with this dish.

EDITED TO ADD:
we have just consumed a bowlful each of this and it is DELICIOUS.
real winter food.
the slow-cooked ox cheeks are soft and gelatinous and they just melt in the mouth.
the mandarin peel was a wonderful touch….you get a little mandarin hit as you take the first spoonful.
o and after 2.5 hours, i took the pan out of the oven and added 3 tsp of organic flour mixed in a little water….mixed it in to the sauce thoroughly and threw the pan back in the oven for 30 minutes.
the sauce thickened slightly and clung to the mash just a little bit more.
YUMMYYYY.

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hi, i'm patti flynn

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