Beef Cheek Slow Cook

Turning the other Cheek:

As many Beef cheeks as you like as better to have and not need.

Trim the carapace or silvery bits by laying skin on board press knife between the meat and skin bearing down and dragging. Dust the cheeks in potato or ordinary flour and sear in oven as high as the machinery will take (fast and furious) …12 minutes should do.

Chop finely:

• 2 onions
• As much good Ozzie garlic as you like….me 8 cloves
• 3 stems of celery
• 1 x red capsicum
• Sea salt flakes & cracked pepper to taste
• Handful of Italian/Flat parsley….Basilica…Thyme
• Sweat this little menagerie up in the French La Creuset… remember to keep low and gentle sauté going as it roots the ceramic base

When the colours in these suckers is browning up….Pour a red in a large glass and toss the rest into the Cast pot to de glaze the unit.

Add the worlds best demi glace below… or a cheats deep brown… “a small container of this velvety nectar is enough”.

Place the dish into a slow oven 120C for 4 hours….checking the viscosity whilst clutching with Tannic grip a newly opened Chianti Classico.

Serve with polenta/roasted tubers or go the Garlic mash.

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Semi-demi glace or a rich going down brown sauce

• 2 to 3 kgs veal or chicken bones sawed into 2-inch pieces
• 2 to 3 kgs beef marrow bones sawed into 2-inch pieces
• 2 to 3 bacon bones
• Small tin tomato paste
• 1 tin crushed tomato
• 6 chopped onions
• 4 chopped carrot
• 4 chopped celery
• 2/3rds bottle dry red wine
• 1 bouquet garni or Thyme, 4 x garlic cloves, 4 x bay leaf
• Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees C. Dust the bones and roast for 1 hour. Remove the bones from the oven and brush with the tomato paste and cook for 30 minutes more.

Combine the onions, carrots, garlic and celery together and wok them in olive oil Place the large stockpot on the stove and deglaze the pan with the red wine, using a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pan for browned particles.

Put everything into a large stockpot with the tomato puree, bouquet garni and season with salt.

Add plenty of water bringing the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

Simmer the stock for 6 to 8 hours until liquid will coat the back of a spoon, skimming regularly.

Remove from the heat and strain through chinoise or meshed strainer.

Massively reduced semi-demi-glace may be frozen in ice cube trays or small plastic tumblers for future use… should be a jelly like, fine velvety substance…….rich as.