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Beef Cheeks


KensethFan

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Having recently been introduced to the incredibly yummy world of beef cheeks I thought it might be fitting to start a thread relating to them?

How do you cook them?

What are some of your favorite recipes?

What are some of your favorite things to do with them?

--- KensethFan

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I love cheeks! I usually make barbacoa with them. Put the cheeks in a slow cooker with a little water and let them ride for a day or two. It takes a while but eventually you will have the richest most tender potroast. Pull it with forks and eat it with tortillas and lime.

Edited by Zeke (log)
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I had Braised Beef Cheeks for the first time for lunch in a small cafe in Sabadell Spain. This cafe which is in the Industrial Park area caters to the locals only. A delicious experience. I tried them a week later at the cafe at the Hotel Urpi in Sabadell where the lunch special for 9 euros includes a bottle of house wine. Also excellent.

Now I have to find them at a butcher here in Chicago to make my own.

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slow braise them with star anise, pepper corns, cloves, cinammon, red wine, soy and sugar for about 4 hours and serve in the braising jus with mashed potatoes mmmmmm

"Experience is something you gain just after you needed it" ....A Wise man

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  • 2 years later...
  • 5 months later...

I bought a 3 lb package from Walmart, cleaned the silverskin for an hour and got about 1 pound 10 ounces of meat. I thought, "Interesting, but never again". The yield is more expensive per pound than boneless chuck, and it is not any better. I followed the Rioja Braised Beef Cheeks with Creamy Polenta recipe, found here --- except that I used dried spices, Italian seasoning instead of essence, and I did a second reduction of the broth into the vegetables, then I packaged the reduction, vegetables, and the meat into sous vide bags and cooked at 140 for 35 hours. It got things nicely tender - but would the cheeks have been better than chuck roast?

The process of getting the silverskin out of the cheek gave me one large lump of meat, one smaller lump and a bunch of nasty mince. The dog appreciated the scraps.

Then, as I said, all the browned meat and the wine reductions and the minced meat went into a bag.

Creamy polenta was easier to make once I realized that the proportions called for were way low regarding the liquid - you were expected to adjust it - I adjusted with double strength dry milk (reconstituted dry milk that was mixed double strength - the polenta came out nice and creamy). Put in a layer of the creamy polenta on the bottom of a deep plate and then spooned bits of beef, the browned veggies and the reduction - it tasted really good, but I'll make it with chuck the next time.


SousVideOrNotSousVide - Seller of fine Artificial Ingredients such as Lactisole through Amazon.Com....

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I like it for barbacoa. Unlike Zeke I do mine wrapped in foil in a low oven, other people just steam it. For this application all that lovely connective tissue is a big plus.

This is my skillet. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My skillet is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as I must master my life. Without me my skillet is useless. Without my skillet, I am useless. I must season my skillet well. I will. Before God I swear this creed. My skillet and myself are the makers of my meal. We are the masters of our kitchen. So be it, until there are no ingredients, but dinner. Amen.

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I bought a 3 lb package from Walmart, cleaned the silverskin for an hour and got about 1 pound 10 ounces of meat. I thought, "Interesting, but never again". The yield is more expensive per pound than boneless chuck, and it is not any better. I followed the Rioja Braised Beef Cheeks with Creamy Polenta recipe, found here --- except that I used dried spices, Italian seasoning instead of essence, and I did a second reduction of the broth into the vegetables, then I packaged the reduction, vegetables, and the meat into sous vide bags and cooked at 140 for 35 hours. It got things nicely tender - but would the cheeks have been better than chuck roast?

The process of getting the silverskin out of the cheek gave me one large lump of meat, one smaller lump and a bunch of nasty mince. The dog appreciated the scraps.

Then, as I said, all the browned meat and the wine reductions and the minced meat went into a bag.

Creamy polenta was easier to make once I realized that the proportions called for were way low regarding the liquid - you were expected to adjust it - I adjusted with double strength dry milk (reconstituted dry milk that was mixed double strength - the polenta came out nice and creamy). Put in a layer of the creamy polenta on the bottom of a deep plate and then spooned bits of beef, the browned veggies and the reduction - it tasted really good, but I'll make it with chuck the next time.

I've gotten cheeks from Walmart as well. A brand called Rumba. There is a lot of waste and like you there is about 1/3 of the product that is useable. I've done mine in a pressure cooker. What you get is quite nice and rich but again there is a large amount of waste from these packages.

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I love cheeks, pork, beef, whatever - had some nice cod cheeks the other day.

for ox cheeks it might be worth having a go at the catalan beef stew from ad hoc at home. The recipe uses braised short ribs but was great last night with feather steak braised with onions, fennel and carrot then incorporated into the catalan recipe. I'm sure cheeks would be even better. I really like Keller's way of cooking the main veg (in this case baby leeks, fennel and my addition last night some sweet summer carrots) separately from the braise - they end up perfectly cooked and a lot fresher and more distinctive than they do when braised for hours with the meat. The olives and orange give real interest to the dish. Perfect with some nice white bread with loads of salted butter.

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  • 1 year later...

I bought roughly a kilo of wagyu beef cheeks this morning and am looking for a good recipe. I'm leafing through my books but at the moment I'm most interested in the one from Pelaccio's book, Eat With Your Hands. The cheeks are marinated with red wine, Scotch, onion, carrot, parsley, mustard seeds, tomato paste, fish sauce, sriracha, dried chilli, garlic and dates. They are seared before being placed in this (cooked) marinade. The eventual braising liquid includes all this stuff--and there is a lot, I know--along with some master stock and a satchet of cumin seeds, black cardamon and a little coffee. I have never tried the recipe but I have cooked beef cheeks before.

Anyone got any better ideas or, bettet still, cooked or eaten this dish?

Chris Taylor

Host, eG Forums - ctaylor@egstaff.org

 

I've never met an animal I didn't enjoy with salt and pepper.

Melbourne
Harare, Victoria Falls and some places in between

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The recipe sounds pretty awesome. If I had some cheeks, I'd definitely try it. I have put the book on my Amazon wishlist.

Probably one of the best things I have ever made is this:

http://food52.com/recipes/2731-barbacoa-beef-cheek-tacos

It was the coffee in your recipe that reminded me of it. There is just something about beef, peanut butter, coffee, and chiles that, in the right proportions, are just fantastic. And cheeks in particular because they are so beefy. I swear I cannot detect peanut butter or coffee in the final dish.

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Yeah, I decided to go for it. At first I was holding back because, man, there are a lot of ingredients in this thing--even though I had everything except the fresh vegetables on hand. Then I stepped back and realised that, hey, this damn near ticks all the boxes on a list of my very favourite things. I shall report back.

Chris Taylor

Host, eG Forums - ctaylor@egstaff.org

 

I've never met an animal I didn't enjoy with salt and pepper.

Melbourne
Harare, Victoria Falls and some places in between

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I like this recipe: http://norecipes.com/blog/beef-cheek-confit-with-caramelized-turnips-recipe/#sthash.2IDkiAEB.dpbs

I skipped the turnips part and just make the cheeks. They came out well.

Or, I just confit them without seasoning. Once that's done, I dice up the cheeks and make a stir fry. I like using flat beans and a spicy sauce.

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Wow. Wagyu beef cheeks + this sauce = crazily intense. I ate what seemed like a small portion initially and now feel like I've been hit with a cattle truck. Wonderful.

Chris Taylor

Host, eG Forums - ctaylor@egstaff.org

 

I've never met an animal I didn't enjoy with salt and pepper.

Melbourne
Harare, Victoria Falls and some places in between

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