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Awhile ago I made my first ever pig’s cheeks and they turned out to be a resounding success that I have made several times since. Then I saw some beef cheeks at the supermarket the other day and, given some of the negative reports of them here, I wondered if I could make some delicious ones. And I totally did! Thanks to Carlos Riva for the recipe suggestions. I kind of put them all together and came up with this one. And quite tender and succulent darlings they turned out to be – even better eaten the day after…

Recipe below the links…

• 2 beef cheeks (approx 1 kilo)
• 1 large onion
• 2 leeks
• 3 carrots
• 1/2 – 1 head of garlic, peeled
• 1 stalk of celery
• 12 or so black peppercorns
• 400 ml rioja (or more)
• 2 tins peeled tomatoes (with juice)
• olive oil
• sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Clean the beef cheeks, removing membrane and fatty bits (srsly will ask my butcher to do this next time), then pat dry and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cut cheeks into thirds and sear in a large skillet with some olive oil, when done on both sides transfer to a plate. In the same oil, sautée the garlic, onion, leeks, carrots, celery and black peppercorns … then transfer the beef cheeks and veg to a large casserole or oven-proof pot.

Place casserole on medium heat and then stir in the tinned whole tomatoes and rioja. Let mixture bubble a little, and skim off the frothy stuff. Then place casserole with lid on into a slow oven for about three hours.