Braised beef cheek with pea purée and horseradish cream
- Prepare
- overnight
- Cook
- over 2 hours
- Serve
- Serves 2
- Dietary
- Egg-freeGluten-freeNut-free
This dish showcases a beautiful marriage of rich and light elements - unctuous braised beef cheek with herby pea puree and horseradish cream.
Ingredients
For the beef cheeks
- 1 beef cheek
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 garlic bulb, cut in half
- 10g/½oz thyme
- 250ml/9fl oz red wine
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 400g tin tomatoes
- 300ml/10fl oz beef stock
For the pea purée
- 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 2 tbsp chopped tarragon sprigs
- 250g/9oz frozen peas
- 150-200ml/5-7fl oz chicken stock
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 100g/3½oz sugar snap peas, to serve
- 2 tbsp pea shoots, to serve
- 2 tbsp tarragon oil, to serve
Method
To make the beef cheek, add the cheek, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves, garlic and thyme to a large bowl. Cover with the red wine and leave to marinate overnight.
The next day, drain the cheek and vegetables, reserving the red wine, and pat dry.
Heat a lidded pan. Add the cheek and colour well all over, this will take 2–3 minutes. Remove the cheek to a plate and add the vegetables. Cook for 10 minutes before adding the reserved wine.
Reduce the wine by 3/4 then add the tomato purée and tinned tomatoes. Reduce for 5 minutes before adding the cheek back to the pot and almost covering with the beef stock.
Cover with the lid and simmer gently for 2–3 hours.
Meanwhile, to make the pea puree, heat half of the butter in a pan. Add the shallots, garlic and tarragon and cook. Add the peas, then the stock and bring to a fast boil.
Turn the heat off and blitz immediately with a hand held blender. Add the rest of the butter and just enough stock to loosen. Taste, season with salt and pepper, and keep warm.
When the beef cheek is cooked, sieve the cooking liquor and taste. Reduce as needed to form a sauce.
To serve, spoon some of the pea purée onto a serving plate and garnish with the cooked peas and pea shoots.
Sit the cheek next to it and spoon over the sauce and horseradish cream, finish with the tarragon oil.
