Braised Beef Cheeks with Mashed Potato

Method

1. Heat the oven to 140°C (275°F).
2. Trim the outer fat and shiny silver membrane from the cheeks, keeping each cheek in one piece.
3. Season the cheeks and oxtail with the salt and ground pepper.
4. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in the casserole over medium-high heat and brown the cheeks for 3–4 minutes per side; move them to a plate.
5. Brown the oxtail on all sides for 6–8 minutes and add it to the plate.
6. Pour off all but 1 tbsp of fat, add the remaining oil and fry the carrots, onions and celery root for 8–10 minutes, until golden.
7. Add the garlic and peppercorns and fry for 1 minute.
8. Pour in the wine and boil for 5 minutes, scraping up the brown bits, until reduced by half.
9. Return the cheeks and oxtail to the pot with their juices.
10. Add the stock, rosemary and thyme; the liquid should come about three-quarters of the way up the meat, so top up with water if needed.
11. Bring to a simmer, press a sheet of baking paper onto the surface and cover with the lid.
12. Braise in the oven for 3½–4 hours, turning the cheeks halfway, until a fork slides in with no resistance.
13. Take the pot out and leave the cheeks to cool in the liquid for 45–60 minutes, as the chef does; they reabsorb some of it and stay juicy.
14. Lift the cheeks onto a plate, and the oxtail onto another (pick off its meat for another day or shred it into the sauce).
15. Strain the liquid through the sieve into the wide saucepan, pressing on the vegetables, and spoon off the fat.
16. Boil the sauce for 15–20 minutes, until reduced to about 400 ml and thick enough to coat a spoon.
17. Taste the sauce and season with salt.
18. Return the cheeks to the sauce and keep them warm over low heat, spooning the sauce over now and then.
19. Peel the potatoes, cut them into even chunks and cover with cold salted water.
20. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15–20 minutes, until a knife slides in easily.
21. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan over low heat for 1 minute to steam dry.
22. Heat the milk and cream in the small saucepan.
23. Mash or rice the potatoes, beat in the butter, then the hot milk and cream.
24. Season the mash with salt and the nutmeg.
25. If using mushrooms, fry them in the butter in a hot frying pan for 5–6 minutes, until golden, and season with salt.
26. Put a spoonful of mash in the centre of each warm plate, set a cheek on top, spoon over the sauce and add the mushrooms.

1. Sauce: cut the vegetables into medium dice.
2. Cut the oxtail into pieces and fry it with the vegetables. Add water and simmer over low heat for 3 hours.
3. Strain the finished stock, discarding the vegetables and bones. Add the red wine and cook for another hour.
4. Beef cheeks: clean the cheeks of membranes, season them with salt and pepper and fry them on both sides.
5. Cut the vegetables into medium dice and fry them until golden.
6. Put the fried cheeks and vegetables into a metal gastronorm pan and pour the meat sauce over them. Add the rosemary, thyme and garlic.
7. Heat the oven to 140 °C and cook the cheeks for 3.5 hours.
8. Leave the cooked cheeks in the sauce until they cool to room temperature. Strain the sauce through a sieve.
9. Make the mashed potato with the potatoes, water, milk, cream, butter and salt, and add the nutmeg to the finished mash.
10. Reheat the cheeks in the sauce.
11. Put a little mash in the center of the plate, place a piece of cheek on top and pour over the sauce. Fried ceps can be added.
12. The dish can be made in advance, even a week ahead.

The dish in the photograph was cooked by the restaurant for this story. Photo: Oleksandr Slyadnyev.