Braised beef cheeks with red wine sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients
Marinate beef cheeks overnight:
1 kg of beef cheeks
1/2 bottle of red wine (preferably full bodied wine)
1 large carrot, chopped up into large pieces
1 large brown onion, chopped up into large pieces
4-5 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 celery stalk, cut into small pieces
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs of thyme

Braising liquid
1 large brown onion, diced
2 cups of beef stock
Plain flour, for dusting
Vegetable oil
Butter
1 heaped tbsp full of tomato paste
Italian parsley, chopped finely

Method
- Mix all the ingredients for marinating the beef cheeks and refrigerate covered overnight.
- Remove the beef cheeks and pat dry, set aside the red wine marinate.
- Season the cheeks with salt and pepper on both sides, dust with flour and shake off the excess.
- Heat the oil in a casserole pot over medium/high heat and brown the cheeks on both sides. Leave abit of gap in between each cheek, fry in batches if necessary.
- Fry the onions in the same pan until translucent. Add the tomato paste and fry for another 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the cheeks, beef stock and red wine marinate, along with all the marinated vegs. Season with salt and pepper.
- Turn up the heat until simmering, cover with parchment paper or lid and transfer to the oven, cook at 160 degree C for about 3-4 hours until tender, turning the cheeks every hour.
- Remove the cheeks and strain the sauce, keep the cheeks tightly covered with clingfilm to prevent drying).
- Heat the sauce in a saucepan until reduced by half and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the butter until you see a rich/glossy consistency. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.
- Slice and serve the beef cheeks with chopped parsley and sauce. Goes very well with pasta or mashed potato.