Beef Cheeks with root vegetable mash

[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]

• 2 beef cheeks about 400g each
• 1 teaspoon of cacao powder
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 bottle of Chianti or Shiraz
• 2 cups of beef bone broth
• 1 large carrot
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 sprig of rosemary and thyme
• FOR THE ROOT MASH
• ½ bulb of garlic
• 5 large carrots peeled and cut into cubes
• ½ celeriac – peeled and cut into cubes
• ½ swede – peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 parsnip peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• sea salt and pepper
• 60g butter

[/ingredients]

[directions title=”Directions”]

1. Take your beef cheeks and trim any excess fat, not too much, you need the fat for flavour and nutrition.
2. Season them with salt and pepper and with a little ghee/oil,  sear in a large heavy based pan until you have a lovely deep colour, set aside.
3. lightly fry the vegetables in the same pot as the beef cheeks, add more ghee if you need to, until soft and golden, add the teaspoon of cacao powder and stir for 1 min, remove the vegetables and set aside.
4. Add half the bottle of wine and deglaze the pot, scraping the bottom to loosen all the goodness, then add the rest of the wine and reduce by almost half
5. if using a slow cooker transfer the vegetables to the slow cooker and place the beef cheeks on top, pour over the wine, the beef bone broth/stock, add the sprigs of rosemary and thyme, the bay leaves and cover on high for 6 hrs or low for 8-10hrs
6. If using the heavy based pot, add the vegetables to the reduced wine, then the beef cheeks, stock and herbs and put on a low flame for 4-5 hrs. the beef cheek is done when you can push a fork into the cheeks and they will break apart easily. Once you are happy with the beef cheeks, remove the cheeks from the pot and set aside, take the stock and vegetables and in a pot on the stove blitz with a stick blender until you have a smooth gravy, you can increase the heat and reduce until you have a thicker consistency, once done add the beef cheeks back to the pot and keep warm till you’re ready for plating.
7. Take your garlic and place in the centre of some tin foil, add the bay leaf, a pinch of the thyme and drizzle with a little olive oil or knob of butter, wrap lightly and roast in the oven on 200c for 40 minutes, when done you will then be able to squeeze the garlic from the bulb into the root mash once ready.
8. Place a pot of salty water on the stove, add and simmer your root vegetables, for 20-30 minutes until soft.
9. When done drain, and return to the pan, add the roasted garlic, butter, chopped thyme and then mash, season with salt and pepper, divide the beef cheeks between four and serve on top or on the side of the root veg mash.

[/directions]