Gettin’ Cheeky with Beef – And in a Slow Cooker, No Less

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Guance di Manzo Brasato

Let me say from the onset that this is not a Bartolini family recipe. In fact, I can say with some certainty — feel free to back me up, Zia — that beef cheeks never graced a Bartolini dinner table. This all changed the last weekend of last October. That was the weekend the vendor with certified organic meats returned to the farmers market.

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Beef Cheeks 1*     *     *

You may recall that I had been waiting for him to return because he sold goat and, even though I’d found some at a nearby market, I prefer to buy organic when its available. As it is, I buy chickens from him all Summer long. It had been weeks since he last set up his stall and I was, frankly, surprised to see him. The following weekend was to be the market’s last for the year and I thought him gone until 2014.

His stall, for lack of a better word, is a set of folding tables arranged in a “U” shape. On them he’s places about 6 ice chests in which he keeps the week’s frozen inventory. That week there wasn’t any goat meat but I was surprised to find a package labeled “beef cheeks.” I bought it, along with a chicken, and placed both in the freezer when I returned home.

Well, as this Winter unfolded, I exhausted my repertoire of comfort foods. Last week’s tuna noodle casserole was proof that I’d run out of options. It was about that time that I remembered that there were beef cheeks in the freezer, though they had somehow managed to work their way to a back corner. Another Sunday braise was suddenly in the offing.

Although still below freezing, that Sunday turned out to be the warmest day of the month to date. Since there was no real need to heat the kitchen, I switched gears a bit and opted for using the slow cooker rather than the Dutch oven. Best of all, with a fridge well-stocked with braising vegetables, there would be no last-minute trip to the grocery that morning — until I realized that I’d need side dishes. Curses!

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This braise is like most, with one minor exception. I started by making a form of battuto, an Italian soffrito. In our part of Italy, a battuto consists of finely diced onion, parsley, garlic, and salt pork. Battuto is the first thing into the pan, after the olive oil is heated, and will flavor the dish as its aroma fills your kitchen. Here, I made my battuto with guanciale, parsley, and garlic. (Yes, this recipe mixes the cheeks of both pork and beef. Shocking!) The onions were added with the other braising vegetables, once the battuto was cooked. The rest of the recipe is easy enough to follow and you should have no problems.

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Beef Cheeks Braising*     *     *

Braised Beef Cheeks Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 beef cheeks, approximately 1.2 lbs (540 g)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 oz guanciale, chopped – pancetta or bacon may be substituted
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/4 c parsley, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, leaves included, roughly chopped
  • 2 carrots, roughly chopped
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 3/4 c red wine
  • 3/4 c Madeira
  • 1.5 c beef stock
  • salt and pepper
  • lemon zest

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Battuto*     *     *

Directions

  1. Combine chopped guanciale, parsley, and garlic on your cutting board and chop them together until uniform. This is the battuto.
  2. Warm oil in a sauté pan over med-high heat. Add the battuto and sauté until the guanciale’s fat is rendered, about 5 – 7 minutes. Do not allow to burn.
  3. Add onion, carrots, and celery to the pan and sauté until the onion is translucent.
  4. Add the rosemary and thyme to the pan. Continue sautéing until both begin to wilt.
  5. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pan’s contents and place all into the slow cooker. Do not drain the oil.
  6. Season beef cheeks with salt and pepper before placing into the hot pan. Turn when brown, about 5 minutes. Remove when both sides have been browned. Place into the slow cooker atop the other ingredients.
  7. Add the tomato paste to the pan and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  8. Use wine to deglaze the pan.
  9. Add the Madeira and beef stock and bring to a boil to burn off the alcohol.
  10. Add the liquid to the slow cooker. (See Notes)
  11. Cook on high for one hour before reducing to low for another 6 hours. Turn over the meat occasionally, about once every 90 minutes, or so. (See Notes)
  12. Remove meat and cover while the liquids are strained and the sauce prepared. (See Notes)
  13. Just before serving, garnish with a bit of lemon zest.

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Beef Cheeks 2*     *     *

Sides

As pictured, there were 2 sides served, neither of which is complicated nor difficult to prepare.

  • Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips with Roasted Garlic:Parsnip-Potato Mash
      Prepare mashed potatoes as you would normally, substituting 1/3 of the potatoes with peeled, chopped parsnips. Once boiled and drained, mash before adding warmed heavy cream into which butter and roasted garlic cloves have been added. Serve.
  • Sautéed Broccoli Rab (Rapini) with Pancetta and Garlic:Rapini with Pancetta
      Sauté chopped pancetta in a bit of olive oil to render its fat and until it’s not quite fully cooked. Add garlic and, after about a minute, add the broccoli rab, season with salt & pepper, and sauté until cooked to your satisfaction. Serve.

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Notes

The braising liquid should not be so deep that the meat is totally submerged like you would do for a stew or soup. When using a slow cooker. the liquid should come about half-way up the side of the beef cheeks. When using a Dutch oven, I use enough liquid so that it comes up 2/3 of the side of the protein to allow for evaporation. Use more or less liquid to arrive at the recommended level. Just maintain the same ratio of the braising liquid’s ingredients: 2 parts beef stock to 1 part each of Madeira and red wine.

A slow cooker works by applying a low, even temperature over a long period of time. Do not uncover the cooker unless necessary or you’ll run the risk of extending the cooking time.

Parsnips are a bit more firm than potatoes. When preparing them, chop the parsnips in pieces that are slightly smaller than the potatoes to insure that all will finish cooking at the same time.

Once you’ve strained the liquids and removed the fat, you can:

  • serve the sauce as-is;
  • reduce it and serve; or,
  • use a thickening agent — flour, corn starch, or arrowroot — to make gravy.

No matter how you finish the sauce, be sure to taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

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When blogs collide

On the very day that I was cooking my beef cheeks, Phil, of “Food, Frankly“, posted his recipes for preparing an ox cheeks dinner. Do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to check out the delicious meal that he prepared.

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And finally

In the Comments for last week’s post, my Cousin mentioned that there’s a recall of beef that was processed by a California company and sold across the US. Though the beef I purchased was locally grown and processed, that is hardly the case everywhere. You can read about the recall and the reasons behind it in this USDA News Release, dated February 18th, 2014.

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It’s déjà vu all over again …

Tricolor Risotto 4It won’t be long now before we are once again celebrating St. Joseph’s Feast Day. Today’s look back will show you how to prepare a risotto of 3 colors, each of which, not so coincidentally, corresponds to one of the colors of the Italian flag. You needn’t be Italian to make this expression of Italian pride and you can learn how to do it by clicking HERE.

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Coming soon to a monitor near you …

Chocolate Torte Preview 2 Gluten-Free Chocolate Torte

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173 thoughts on “Gettin’ Cheeky with Beef – And in a Slow Cooker, No Less”

    • Thanks. Yes, that’s a liner. My last slow cooker was defective and would burn foods. I used the liners with it to help with the clean-up. Now, I’ve a new slow cooker but still use the liners. They are every bit as convenient as you would hope. A rarity these days. 🙂

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  2. Cheeks look fantastic, John, but I don’t think I’ll be able to find them at the Halal butcher! I’ve always wanted to try them but short of getting my own cow, I don’t think I’ll be able to find them.
    The meal looks wonderful though and when I see this easy slow cooker recipes, I think I should use mine more! I think of it too late, then end up using my pressure cooker to quick cook vs slow cook 🙂
    Can’t wait for the chocolate torte!!

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    • Thanks, Nazneen. Well, there are other cuts that will do equally well with a slow braise. Can you get beef short ribs? They are fantastic and respond well to a slow cooker. I’ve got a great recipe for them. If you’re interested, you can see it HERE. Either way, you’ll get a great meal with minimal fuss. Slow cookers are great that way. That torte recipe will be up late tonight — if I can get it written. Yikes! 🙂

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  3. You’ve always got a new ingredient that I haven’t tried, I will be on the look out for cheeks, but my hopes aren’t too high. How lovely to find something so wonderful hiding in the back of your freezer. If you looked at the back of mine, you’d likely find a dried out old bag of buns. I do need to get organized, if I froze more meats I’d have less grocery shopping to do!!

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    • Hey, Barb! You may need to talk to your butcher — even one at the grocery — and order beef cheeks. Until I found this vendor, that’s what I would have had to do. Every time I open my freezer, I say to myself, “I’ve got to clean this thing out!” Instead, I keep stuffing things into it like it has no back. Worse yet, I’ve got another one in the basement and it’s not in much better shape. Yikes!

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  6. When I was a child, CJ, my mother cooked a variety of beef parts, such as tongue and heart along with the expected roasts and burgers, but I don’t remember ever partaking of cheeks! Right now I’m craving your potato-parsley mash with some of the cooking sauce. Yummy. Will be pinning.

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    • Thanks, Kathleen. (Love your new Gravatar image, by the way). Mom, too, cooked plenty of beef but nary a cheek. I asked my Zia about them and she hadn’t prepared them, either. Too bad because they make a great meal. Yes, those parsnips are a nice addition to mashed potatoes. I’ll be making them again quite often.

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    • Hi, Lisa. I see your name and start smiling because of your wonderful news. Whether this has earned a spot in the Bartolini recipe repertoire remains to be seen. It sure has earned a spot in my personal cookbook. 🙂

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  12. Beef cheeks are one of my favourite things… actually, make that ANY slow cooked meat! These look delicious John. Glad that you managed to find some from the organic meat stall at the market! My local farmer’s market also sells organic capretto which is wonderful. Never knew how good goat could taste until I tried capretto! Anyway, I am definitely going to try this recipe as soon as the weather cools down a bit here. It’s now officially Autumn but still in the 30’s (celsius). Thanks John!

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    • Thanks, Laura. This really is a wonderful World. You’re facing Fall and just today we had our first Spring-like day of the year. Granted, it’s going to snow again on Wednesday but never mind that. 🙂
      I’m with you and slow-cooked beef. For some cuts, it is the only way to go and the result is a great meal. I am so looking forward to the reopening of our farmers markets. I want to talk to that vendor and see what he offers by special order. I was surprised he had cheeks. Let’s see what other surprises he may have. 🙂

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  16. How important is it to turn the cheeks over throughout the cooking time, and has anyone not followed that part? I ask because I would normally put my slow cooker on before going to work, and I wouldn’t be home to turn them….

    Cheers!

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    • I think it is far more important to turn them when braising them in the oven, where the temperatures are higher. Though I’ve never left them “alone” all day in the slow cooker, I bet they’d be fine. Just make sure to turn them as soon as you can to prevent the exposed portions from becoming too dry.

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