Marinated beef cheeks, gently braised

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg beef cheeks
• 400 ml red wine
• 300 ml port wine, red
• 3 bay leaves, fresh or 2 dried
• 3 carnations
• 3 allspice berries
• 3 tbsp oil for frying
• 1 carrot(s), roughly diced
• 2 onions, roughly diced
• 100 g celeriac, roughly diced
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 sprig(s) of thyme
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• some cornstarch, to bind
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Rest period approx. 1 day; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 day 3 hours 10 minutes

buttery tender meat with a fabulous sauce

Mix the ingredients for the marinade. Add the beef cheeks and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. If they are not completely covered, turn them occasionally. Then remove the beef cheeks from the marinade and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish and brown the meat on all sides. Remove from the dish. Sauté the diced vegetables in the remaining frying fat. Add tomato paste and sauté it as well. Add the beef cheeks and thyme and deglaze with the marinade. Cook in the oven at 180°C (top/bottom heat) with the lid on for about 2.5 hours. Then remove the meat and keep warm. Strain the sauce through a sieve and reduce slightly. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch or plain butter, if desired. Season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Return the meat to the sauce. A potato and apricot gratin goes very well with this. Note on beef cheeks: The cheeks are pure muscle meat (the chewing muscle of the beef), which is interspersed with plenty of marbled connective tissue and intramuscular fat. The long braising process makes the beef cheek as soft as butter, and the connective tissue permeates it like a gelatinous mass that can be safely eaten (no fat).