Beef Cheeks cooked sous vide

[ElsieD]

I would like to get some beef cheeks and cook them sous vide. I did some googling and it seems that some people cook them at high temperatures for not so long and others cook them for days at lower temeratures. If anyone has cooked them this way, I would appreciate hearing about how you cooked them. Thank you.

[lesliec]

Hi Elsie.

Your timing is perfect - as it happens, I prepared some cheeks just yesterday, to be cooked SV at some future time.

I must credit Nickrey for the time/temp I like to use: 30 hours at 70°C. You'll end up with melting chunks of delicious meat, nothing like the vile-looking tough stuff you started with!

My preferred prep method is to start reducing a mix of red wine and beef stock (say two-thirds wine; the total starting volume is largely up to you and will partly depend on whether you have a chamber sealer. I haven't, so I can't handle too much liquid; I suppose I start with about a cup in total). While it's simmering, finely chop an onion, a celery stick and a carrot (or whatever other mix takes your fancy). Sweat the veges in oil until soft, then toss in some herbs - yesterday I used a mix of rosemary, sage and thyme.

Cut the cheeks into chunks - this is an optional step; I've done them whole and they're also fine, but I seem to prefer chunks, like a normal stew - and brown them quickly in oil. Remove from the heat and mix in the vegetables, salt & pepper and the reduced wine/stock mix. Once this has all cooled down you're ready to bag and cook or freeze.

The above has worked very well for me many times. The resulting bag juice can be thickened to your liking with flour - in fact, I forgot to do it yesterday but you can mix some flour in with everything before you bag it to start the thickening process. The end product is great served plainly with some good mashed potatoes to soak up the juice, or wrap it in pastry for a fine New Zealand/Aussie-style meat pie.

The nice thing about beef cheeks, at least here, is they haven't been 'discovered' yet, so they're still cheap - unlike lamb shanks have become.

Let us know how you get on.

[Simon Lewinson]

Hi Elsie and Leslie,

I have been cooking beef cheeks for a few woks with spectacular results. 9 hours at 81 degrees C eliminates the long wait and I reduce the bag juices to a glaze type consistency and serve on a bed of mash. Look here for a photo ... http://forums.egullet.org/topic/144603-dinner-2013-part-2/?p=1911678

Let me know if you want the entire recipe.

Simon

[lesliec]

Looks good, Simon. I'll have to get some more cheeks now ...

[ElsieD]

Thank you, lesliec and Simon for your responses. Yes, Simon, if you could post the recipe I would appreciate it.

Elsie

[Simon Lewinson]

Thank you, lesliec and Simon for your responses. Yes, Simon, if you could post the recipe I would appreciate it.

Elsie

RECIPE: SLOWLY BRAISED BEEF CHEEKS

Serves 6

6 beef cheeks

80ml olive oil

3 carrots, roughly chopped

2teaspoons garlic, crushed

1 brown onion, sliced

500 ml medium sherry

500 ml red wine

3 bay leaves

3 tablespoons thyme leaves

3 small sprigs rosemary

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Trim the beef cheeks to neaten them up and remove any sinew and silver skin. Season well.

2. Heat half the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Brown the beef cheeks for 1 -2 minutes on each side then remove from the pan.

3. Add the remaining olive oil, then add the carrot, garlic and onion and sauté over high heat for 12-15 minutes, until well browned. Stir in the sherry, wine, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and sea salt, reduce sauce to approx 150-200ml.

4. Bag the beef cheeks in pairs, add sauce and herbs divided evenly and seal. Cook for 9 hours at 81 degrees.

5. Unbag and reserve beef cheeks. Reduce sauce until glaze-like. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve and return to the pan; gently reheat the cheeks in the sauce if necessary.

Serve the cheeks and their sauce on a bed of mashed potato.

[ElsieD]

Thanks Simon. Now all I have to do is find some beef cheeks. I am hoping my butcher can get them for me. If I can get them, I will post how they turned out.

[Simon Lewinson]

Have fun - they are quite rich and one cheek with some mash is a good feed. Another favourite of mine is pork shanks or belly with ginger, garlic, shiitake and soy for 10 hours at 80 degrees C.

Simon