Joues de Boeuf Braisées au Vin Rouge

In the hierarchy of beef cuts, the cheek is often overlooked. This is the tragedy of modern eating, for the Joues de Boeuf Braisées represent everything magnificent about French country cooking: patience, transformation, the alchemy that turns humble ingredients into gold.

 

Ingredients:

1.5kg beef cheeks, trimmed

1 bottle red wine (Côtes du Rhône)

500ml beef stock

200g pearl onions

200g mushrooms

150g lardons

2 carrots, diced

2 onions, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

4 cloves garlic

Bouquet garni

 

Sear the beef cheeks in batches until deeply browned. Remove and set aside. In the same pot, sauté the lardons until crisp, then add the aromatics and cook until softened. Return the beef to the pot, add wine, stock, and bouquet garni.

 

Cover and braise at 160°C for 3-4 hours until the meat is spoon-tender. Sauté pearl onions and mushrooms separately in butter, then add to the pot for the final hour.

 

Strain and reduce the sauce until glossy. Serve the beef cheeks with the garnish, the sauce poured generously over everything.