Beef Cheeks With Sweet Potato Puree Recipes

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in an ovenproof 6-quart wide heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. While oil is heating, pat beef cheeks dry and season with salt and pepper. Brown beef, without crowding, on all sides, about 20 minutes total, and transfer with tongs to a bowl. Pour off fat from pot, then add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and cook onion, carrot, and celery over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Stir cocoa powder into vegetable mixture, then add wine and scrape up any brown bits. Increase heat to high and boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
• Return cheeks (with any juices) to pot and add tomatoes with juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then braise, covered, in middle of oven until very tender, about 3 hours.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Poke holes in the sweet potato halves with a fork. Place on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet and bake until fork tender, about 1 hour. Alternatively, microwave on high until the flesh is fork tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside.
• Tie the sage, thyme and rosemary sprigs together with kitchen twine or a clean rubber band and set aside.
• Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat and cook the bacon, stirring often, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate and discard all but 1 tablespoon of the pan drippings.
• Pat the beef dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Return the Dutch oven to the stovetop on medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the meat on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the broth, onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, garlic and herb bundle. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour on low heat.
• Uncover and cook at a low simmer until the meat is tender and the vegetables are cooked through, 45 minutes.
• Scoop out the flesh from the cooked sweet potatoes and place in a blender. Carefully add 1 cup of the stewing liquid and the cashew butter to the blender, then puree until smooth. Add the puree to the stew and stir well. Simmer to thicken, 5 minutes, then season with salt and pepper. Remove the herb bundle and serve the stew garnished with the bacon bits and parsley leaves.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• To make the Bouquet Garni, gather herbs in a small square of muslin and tie with kitchen string to secure.
• Heat half of the oil in a large, ovenproof casserole dish over a medium-high heat and cook the beef cheeks in 2 batches for 8 minutes each batch, until browned all over and set aside.
• Heat remaining oil in the dish over a medium heat and add onion, celery, carrot and leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened and lightly browned.
• Return beef cheeks to dish with the stock, tomato, wine, lemon zest and bouquet garni and season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.
• Transfer dish to the oven and cook, covered for 2 hours.
• Stir in eschallots and mushrooms and cook, uncovered for a further 40 minutes or until sauce has thickened and beef is very tender.
• Remove from and reserve beef, eschallots and mushrooms; strain the sauce and discard vegetables and then return beef, eschallots and mushrooms to strained sauce.
• Meanwhile cook potato in a large saucepan of boiling water over a medium heat for 15 minutes or until tender, drain and pass through a potato rice and then stir in milk and butter and season with salt and pepper.
• Lightly spray a large frying pan with oil and heat over a medium heat and cook zucchini ribbons for 4 minutes or until just tender and season with salt and pepper.
• TIP 1 - for a shortcut use a pre-prepared bouquet garni made with dry herbs.
• TIP 2 - for a more intensely flavoured mash, try roasting instead of boiling the potatoes before mashing them.
• TIP 3 - if you prefer a chunky sauce, omit straining the sauce, in step 8, so that you retain all the vegetables.

Steps:

• Place sweet potato cubes and garlic in a saucepan and pour in chicken or vegetable broth to within a half inch of the top of the potatoes.
• Boil until very soft (the potatoes will sink down into the liquid as they cook), 12-15 minutes.
• Drain, reserving cooking liquid.
• Return potatoes to saucepan and mash with potato masher.
• Slowly add some of the cooking liquid, stirring until you get the consistency of a loose puree. It need not be perfectly smooth.
• Stir in thyme and butter, adding more to taste if needed, and season with salt and white pepper to taste.
• Keep warm in a double boiler.
• Drizzle aged balsamic vinegar over each portion just before serving.
• For Vegetarian use the Vegetable Broth only.