Name: Braised beef cheek, burghul salad, and bread and anchovy sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 260 min
Total time: 280 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 80 ml olive oil (⅓ cup); 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 carrot, finely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 thyme sprig; 4 beef cheeks (about 350gm each), trimmed; 1 tbsp plain flour; 350 ml dark ale; 100 ml red wine; 100 gm tomato purée; Burghul salad; 150 gm coarse burghul; 1 Lebanese cucumber, seeds removed, finely diced; 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 2 tsp red wine vinegar; To serve: micro-herbs, such as baby lamb's lettuce or micro-cress; Bread and anchovy sauce; 125 ml chicken stock (½ cup); 30 gm day-old white crusty bread, coarsely torn; 3 anchovy fillets; 2 tsp olive oil

Braised beef cheek, burghul salad, and bread and anchovy sauce

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Braised beef cheek, burghul salad, and bread and anchovy sauce

Serves 4

Prep

20M

Cook

4H 20M

Total

4H 40M

“I recently celebrated my 40th birthday at Embrasse. Chef Nic Poelaert served a wonderful braised beef cheek with burghul; I would love to make the recipe at home.”

Margaret Georgesen, Carlton, Vic

To request a recipe, write to Fare Exchange, , GPO Box 4088, Sydney, NSW 2001, or email us. All requests should include the restaurant’s name and address or business card, as well as your name and address.

Ingredients

80 ml olive oil (⅓ cup)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 thyme sprig

4 beef cheeks (about 350gm each), trimmed

1 tbsp plain flour

350 ml dark ale

100 ml red wine

100 gm tomato purée

Burghul salad

150 gm coarse burghul

1 Lebanese cucumber, seeds removed, finely diced

30 ml extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

To serve: micro-herbs, such as baby lamb's lettuce or micro-cress

Bread and anchovy sauce

125 ml chicken stock (½ cup)

30 gm day-old white crusty bread, coarsely torn

3 anchovy fillets

2 tsp olive oil

Method

Main

1.Preheat oven to 140C. Heat half the oil in a casserole over medium heat, add onion, carrot, garlic and thyme, stir occasionally until onion is tender (8-10 minutes), transfer vegetables and thyme to a bowl and set aside. Heat remaining oil in pan, add beef cheeks and cook, turning once, until browned (3-4 minutes). Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add flour, stir occasionally until sand-coloured (1-2 minutes), add ale, wine and tomato purée, then return vegetables, thyme and beef to casserole. Add enough water to just cover, cover with foil, pierce foil with a sharp knife and braise until beef is very tender (3½-4 hours).

2.Meanwhile, for burghul salad, cook burghul in a saucepan of boiling salted water over medium-high heat until tender (2-3 minutes), drain well and spread on a tray to cool. Combine in a bowl with cucumber, oil and vinegar, season to taste and set aside.

3.Meanwhile, for bread and anchovy sauce, stir ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until bread is very soft (2-3 minutes), remove from heat, purée with a hand-held blender and season to taste. Serve warm with beef cheeks and burghul salad scattered with micro-herbs.