Beef cheeks in red wine-cognac-balsamic sauce

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 2 beef cheeks, approx. 900 g
• 400 ml red wine, dry
• 500 ml beef stock
• 1 ½ tbsp, heaped tomato paste
• 1 bunch of root vegetables (celery, carrots, leeks, parsley root)
• 2 sprigs of rosemary, fresh
• 1 m.-large onion(s), quartered
• 1 large garlic clove(s), quartered
• 6 allspice berries
• 10 black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 20 ml balsamic vinegar
• 60 ml cognac
• salt and pepper
• Lard for frying

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours 45 minutes

Trim the cheeks, season with salt and pepper. Shape them like roulades using kitchen string and sear them all over in a roasting pan in hot clarified butter, remove from the pan and set aside. Add the chopped onion to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes. Then add the remaining finely chopped root vegetables and fry for another 5 minutes. Only now add the quartered garlic cloves. Stir in the tomato paste and fry briefly. Deglaze with the red wine and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour in the stock. Add the rosemary, bay leaf and meat to the roasting pan. Stir, cover and braise in the oven at 170°C with fan for 2.5 hours. Baste with the stock every 30 minutes and turn the cheeks over after 1 hour. For the sauce, puree the root vegetables very finely with a hand blender and add this puree to the sauce a little at a time until it reaches the right consistency. Season with salt and pepper if desired, and stir in the cognac and balsamic vinegar. Tip: If desired, you can refine the sauce with cream. This goes well with bread dumplings, potato dumplings, spaetzle, and even pasta and salad.