This is based on Beef Bourguignon, but I use a bit more flour for a thicker gravy, and I don’t use celery or carrots, or Beef. You can use stewing Beef if you want to, but it is a much ‘harder’ meat. We don’t like cooked celery or carrots so you won’t find them in any of our casserole dishes, you could add them in if you like. Ox Cheek is one of those cuts that’s making a come back in popularity, it’s cheap, and it’s very tender.
If you can marinate the Ox Cheeks in the red wine for a few hours, or even overnight – great. If not, I tend to trim, cut them up, then pour over a bottle of red wine and leave on the side while I do all the other bits. Then when I’m ready to start the casserole, I dry them with paper towel, toss in flour and start browning them (to make this Gluten Free, just use Gluten Free Flour for browning the meat). The longer they marinate, the greater depth of flavour (as with all things), but it’s lovely just cooked slowly in the red wine if you don’t have time to marinate.
As this is a slow cooked recipe it’s great for a weekend meal, and, like a lot of recipes (curry’s etc) its lovely the next day as left overs as the flavours develop nicely. Serve with mash, or rice, whichever you prefer. The dish goes nicely with cabbage, kale or greens.
Ox Cheeks in Red Wine
Ingredients
- 1.5 Kilo's Ox Cheek
- 4 Cloves Garlic - diced
- 1 Onion - Diced
- 10 strips Bacon, cut up. Smokey is my preference
- 12 Shallots
- 400g Brown Mushrooms Or Button Mushrooms if you prefer
- 2 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 Bottle Red Wine - Something strong and earthy is good
- 2 Bay Leaf's
- 1/2 Cup Seasoned Flour - Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160°C 325°F
- Trim and cut up the Ox Cheeks into one inch squares (as close as you can get). I then pour the red wine over the Ox Cheeks while I do other bits. If you can do this earlier in the day and let the cheeks marinate so much the better.
- Chop the white or red onion up finely, peel your shallots (and trim the ends), slice up the brown mushrooms, slice up the bacon into strips (I use scissors) and chop up your garlic cloves
- Add salt and pepper to the flour in a large bowl.
- Dry the ox cheek with kitchen towel, and toss in the seasoned flour
- Heat some plain oil (not olive oil) in the casserole dish and brown the meat in small batches. Don't put too much in, or it will steam rather than brown. You can't rush this. It takes a good 30-40 minutes. Put the browned meat on a plate at the side as you go. You will need to add a bit more oil as you go.
- Once all the meat is done, add the bacon to the casserole and fry for 5 minutes, then add in the chopped onion and continue to cook until both are brown. Add in the garlic and fry briefly. Pour in a bit of red wine and scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan, add the meat, the rest of the wine, bay leaf's and mustard. Stir, add in 2 - 2/12 cups of hot water and stir.
- Pop in the oven for 3 1/2 hours,, checking now and then. At the three hour mark, fry up the shallots and mushrooms in a bit of dairy free butter or margarine. Season with salt and pepper and add to the casserole. You can add in a bit more water at this stage if the sauce looks too thick.
- Leave the casserole in the oven for the last 30 minutes - and make your mash, or rice and your green veg.
This Kale recipe is perfect with slow cooked meats:
If you like Chocolate with your Beef, you could try our Slow Cooked Beef and Chocolate Recipe:
