To me, eating a good steak feels like an iron infusion, however these days I find slow cooked meats way easier to digest. Beef cheeks are a great way to practice eating ‘nose to tail’. This is a great, healing and simple recipe that you can prepare on the morning, while motivation is high, then enjoy the nurturing smells whilst it cooks away. I freeze any excess ‘sauce’ to use as a nourishing gravy with other meals like Bangers & Mash.

Ingredients

• 4 beef cheeks (grass fed ideally)
• 400ml red wine (preservative free if pos)
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 sprigs of time, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 large onion
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1L beef or chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves

Method

Serves 4

1. Place the beef cheeks in a container and add the wine, garlic and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours but a minimum of 3.
2. Preheat the oven to 160C / Fan 140C.
3. Remove the meat and reserve the marinade.
4. Heat the ghee in a frying pan and brown the cheeks, one at a time and then place in a casserole dish.
5. Finely chop the onion and fry in the meat juices and then add to the casserole dish.
6. Add the balsamic vinegar to the pan to deglaze. Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes to burn off the alcohol. Add to the casserole dish with the stock and bay leaves.
7. Optional: after 2 hours, remove the lid to the casserole and cook for the remaining 2 hours uncovered. Baste the meat, or just leave for 4 hours with lid on, the sauce will be more runny.
8. Serve with potato or vegetable mash and steamed seasonal veggies.