Things are a bit chilly here in the Loire and today it’s raining outside so I thought I’d share the recipe for a long slow cooked beef cheek (joue de boeuf) that will brighten up even the most miserable day.
Here’s how you pronounce it in French
You will need:
A beef cheek or joue de boeuf (or around a kilo of stewing beef if you can’t find cheek)
A 200g packet of smoked lardons (or smoked bacon cut into pieces)
A couple of bay leaves
A couple of large sprigs of fresh thyme (or half a teaspoon of dried)
A large onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic peeled and smashed
3 pieces of orange rind (remove from an orange using a speed peeler)
A bottle of red wine (don’t used faulty wine but cheap and cheerful is fine!)
A couple of tablespoons of plain flour
Slow cooked beef cheek is very popular in France but it can be hard to find in other parts of the world so if you can’t find it then substitute the beef cheek with stewing beef.
The night before you want to cook the dish, put everything in a large bowl and leave to marinate overnight. You could leave it for 2 days if you don’t have time the day after.
The marinade ingredients
The next day, drain the wine from the other ingredients and remove the beef, pat it dry with kitchen roll and season with salt and pepper. Heat a pan that can hold all the ingredients and add a tablespoon of olive oil. When hot, seal the meat until brown on all sides and then remove from the pan. If necessary, add a little more olive oil and then add the onions, garlic and lardons to cook for a few minutes. Add a tablespoon or two of flour and cook out for a couple of minutes before adding the wine. Stir well to avoid any lumps and then add the beef back to the pan along with the orange rind, thyme and bay. Bring it to the boil and then place in a low oven (140°) for 3 hours turning it over after an hour and a half.
I cooked this last week and after the 3 hours the meat still seemed a bit tough but as it was for the day after (long slow cook dishes like this benefit from being left to cool and being reheated although it’s absolutely not essential), I didn’t worry.
If you are not happy that the meat is tender at this point then just keep it in the oven longer and give it a prod after another 20 minutes. If you are using pieces of stewing beef then the cooking time may be shorter but a beef cheek is one solid piece of meat so will take longer.
If you, like me, allow it to cool and intend to serve the following day or later on the same day, just slowly bring it back to the boil and replace in a low oven to warm through and finish cooking. You should be left with tender meat and a delicious rich winey, smokey sauce.
Be careful not to add any more seasoning until the dish is cooked. Smoked bacon is salty and the sauce reduces substantially during cooking. You can always add seasoning before serving but you can’t easily take it away.
This cheek served 4 generously with some left over for the following day.
On the wine side, serve a bottle of red with a bit of character as the flavours in the dish are rich and intense so something light would be dominated. A Cabernet Franc that has had some time in oak such as Mathieu Vallées Chateau Yvonne, Saumur Champigny would be a great match as would a Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux or a Shiraz from Australia.
We served little cubed roasted potatoes with fresh rosemary from the garden alongside. Cube the potatoes and par boil until tender but not too soft (they need to hold their shape). Heat a little olive oil in a roasting pan, add the potatoes, stir to make sure they have all sides coated with the oil, add a couple of large sprigs of rosemary and roast in the oven at 190° for about half an hour. Sprinkle with a little sea salt before serving.
Well that’s it from me, bon appetit! Do let me know if you like it, I’d love to hear your comments.
