Braised beef cheeks in red wine

Ingredients

• 1000 g Trimmed French beef cheeks
• 150 g Whole smoked pork belly
• 200 g Fresh pearl onions
• 250 g Whole white button mushrooms
• 300 g Fresh carrots
• 1 piece Yellow onion
• 4 cloves Purple garlic cloves
• 75 cl Full-bodied Burgundy red wine (Pinot Noir)
• 400 ml Unsalted beef broth
• 30 g T55 all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp No-salt-added double-concentrated tomato paste
• 30 g Unsalted cultured butter, 82% butterfat
• 2 tbsp High-oleic sunflower oil
• 1 piece Fresh bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf)
• to taste Fine grey Guérande sea salt
• to taste Whole Kampot black peppercorns

Method

1. Carefully pat the beef cheeks dry with paper towels, then cut them into large, even pieces.
2. Remove the rind from the whole smoked pork belly and cut it into even lardons.
3. Peel the carrots and cut them into thick rounds. Peel and slice the yellow onion. Peel and crush the purple garlic cloves under the blade of a knife.
4. Heat a large cast-iron Dutch oven over medium heat with a spoonful of high-oleic sunflower oil, add the lardons and brown them until they are crispy but not dry. Transfer them to a plate using a slotted spoon, keeping the fat in the Dutch oven.
5. Turn up the heat under the Dutch oven. When the fat is smoking slightly, sear the beef cheek pieces in a single layer. Let a crust form on each side until you achieve an intense, mahogany-brown caramelization. Transfer the meat to the plate with the lardons.
6. Lower the heat, toss the sliced yellow onion and the carrot rounds into the cooking juices. Sweat for five minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spatula.
7. Stir in the double-concentrated tomato paste and cook for two minutes to cook out its acidity.
8. Sprinkle the T55 all-purpose flour over the vegetables. Mix vigorously for two minutes to toast the flour without burning it.
9. Return the beef cheeks and half of the lardons to the Dutch oven. Pour in the Burgundy red wine and vigorously scrape up the fond at the bottom of the pot.
10. Pour in the unsalted beef broth to cover the meat. Add the crushed purple garlic cloves, the bouquet garni, a pinch of fine salt, and a few turns of the black pepper mill.
11. Bring to a simmer, cover the Dutch oven tightly, and bake at 140°C or let simmer over very low heat for three hours. The meat is ready when a knife blade pierces it like warm butter.
12. While it simmers, prepare the garnish: peel the pearl onions. Place them in a saute pan with half of the unsalted butter, a pinch of salt, and enough water to come halfway up the sides. Cover with a parchment paper cartouche with a hole in the center and cook over medium heat until the water has completely evaporated, then roll the onions in the remaining butter to glaze them until blonde, then slightly browned.
13. Clean the white button mushrooms, cut the largest ones into quarters, and leave the small ones whole. Melt the remaining unsalted butter in a very hot skillet, sear the mushrooms over high heat until they take on a beautiful golden color, then season with salt and pepper.
14. When the cheeks are incredibly tender, carefully remove the pieces of meat from the Dutch oven and keep them warm. Remove the bouquet garni.
15. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing lightly on the vegetables to extract their juices. Return the strained sauce to the Dutch oven and let it reduce uncovered at a low boil until it becomes syrupy, dark, and perfectly coats the back of a spoon.
16. Return the braised beef cheeks, the remaining crispy lardons, the glazed pearl onions, and the sauteed button mushrooms to the hot sauce. Let everything reheat over very low heat for five minutes, basting the meat to glaze it completely before plating.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

797.3 kcal

Protein

62.26 g

Carbohydrate

29.09 g

Fat

33.94 g

Fibre

5.1 g

Calcium

56.92 mg

Iron

1.82 mg

Magnesium

44.85 mg