Slow roasted Beef Cheeks, served with Butternut Squash and Baby Arugula
Beef Cheeks:
1.5 kg Australian Beef Cheeks
40 gm Minced Garlic
10 gm Fine Salt
400 gm Spanish Onion, peeled and diced
200 gm Carrot, peeled and diced
40 gm Dried Porcini Mushrooms
5 gm Black Peppercorn
5 gm Juniper Berries
1 Sprig Fresh Thyme
Half Sprig Rosemary
1 Bay Leaf
160 gm Tomato Purée
40 ml Brandy
300 ml Red Wine
800 ml Beef Stock
800 ml Water
Butternut Squash Purée:
150 gm Butter
150 gm Brown Sugar
6 Cloves
1 large piece Butternut Squash
275 gm Crème Fraîche
To Serve:
Unsalted Butter
Baby Arugula
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Manchego Cheese, shaved
Beef cheeks:
Crack some black pepper over the beef cheeks before lightly coating them in flour. Pan-fry beef for 2 minutes on both sides and leave to rest.
To cook the sauce, add garlic cloves and sauté before adding salt and onions. Then add carrots and cook for 5 minutes before adding porcini mushrooms, black peppercorn, juniper berries, herbs. Cook until soft before adding tomato puree.
Stir in brandy and red wine, wait for the sauce to boil before adding beef stock.
Pour the sauce over the beef cheeks, before roasting in the oven at 200°C for 3 hours, flipping the beef cheeks every 20 minutes.
Butternut puree:
In a pan, melt some butter and brown sugar, then add cloves. Pour the mixture over butternut wedges, and roast in the oven at 200°C for 30 minutes.
Once ready, add the roasted butternut and creme fraiche into a blender and blend to a puree.
To serve:
Place the beef cheeks in a pan and add 100g of the sauce and 20g of butter. Glaze the beef cheeks to finish.
On a plate, lightly drizzle extra virgin olive oil over baby arugula and shave some Manchego cheese.
Assemble your beef cheeks, butternut puree and baby arugula on a plate.
Recipe Tip
Choose a red wine that is young and full-bodied like Shiraz or Merlot. It gives the sauce a more rich and round taste and brighter colour!