How to cook Ox cheek Bourguignon

Name: How to cook Ox cheek Bourguignon
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 3 h 30 min
Total time: 3 h 45 min
Yield: 4-6

15 mins
3 hours 30 mins
medium
4-6

Recipe by

Jeff Baker

Ingredients

1 kg Ox cheek
500g Red wine
Few sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
150g Pancetta slab to cut into lardons (equal strips approximately 5mm wide)
Beef dripping or Schmaltz to cook
1 onion diced
4 cloves garlic crushed
2 sticks celery diced (optional)
500g Beef Stock
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. Tomato puree
1 tbsp. corn flour mixed with a little cold water
Punnet button onions or shallots peeled
Ingredients to garnish
3 carrots peeled & diced
Punnet chestnut mushrooms cut in half
Salt & black pepper

Shop our Grass Fed Beef

Introduction

Here's my take on the world-famous Bourguignon, beef slowly simmered in red wine with smoked bacon & mushrooms. In this version, I use ox cheeks, a chef's favourite choice though you could use shin or skirt & get excellent results. I like to cook the garnish separately & add it at the end to give freshness to this super rich dish. Serve with fresh pappardelle tossed in butter & parsley or simply served with mashed potatoes.

Method

Cut into 8 equal pieces & marinated in the red wine, thyme & bay leaf ideally overnight (or any other diced beef of your choice)
Drain the cheeks reserving the red wine for later
Preheat oven to 130°C for fan-assisted or 150°C for ovens without a fan (gas 2)
Gently fry the pancetta lardons in a flameproof casserole dish until golden then remove from the pan using a slotted spoon & reserve
Season the cheeks then in the rendered pancetta fat sear over high heat until browned all over, remove from the pan & set aside
Add a little extra fat then soften the diced onions, garlic & celery over low heat until soft then deglaze with the reserved wine, mustard & tomato puree then reduce a little, bring to a boil & thicken a little with the corn flour
Add the ox cheeks to the gravy, cover with a lid & place in the oven for 3½ hours or until fork-tender
Pass the gravy through a fine strainer into a clean pan, skim away any fat that rises to the surface then reduce a little until rich & glossy & pour back over the ox cheeks & lardons