Beef Cheeks Stew

This is a simple dish, made in the style of a "daube," a traditional French stew. Instead of herbes de provence, I used only thyme, building flavor by adding a light sweet/sour element at the end.












1/2 kg of beef cheeks, cut into large chunks
2 slices of bacon, cut into short strips
1 tbsp olive oil
1 parsnip, cut into large bite-sized chunks
1 carrot, cut into large bite-sized chunks
1 onion, cut into large chunks
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup of dry red wine
1 cup of beef or vegetable stock

8-10 brown mushrooms, cleaned and cut into halves
1 shallot, sliced thinly
2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter

Using a medium pot set on medium heat, saute the garlic, onion and bacon until onions are cooked down. Toss in carrots and parsnips and saute for another 5 minutes. Set vegetables aside in a bowl. Using the oil in the pot, put beef cheeks, thyme and tomato paste in pot and brown on medium high heat. Add the wine and make sure the browned bits are scraped off into the wine as it lends flavor to the stew. Put the vegetables back into pot and add stock. Turn heat down to the lowest setting and simmer for 2 hours.

In small saute pan, melt butter until sizzling and then add the shallot. Fry until golden brown and add sugar and half of the vinegar. Add mushrooms and the other half of the vinegar and saute until mushrooms are half cooked. Pour contents of the saute pan into the pot with beef. Cook together for another 30-45 minutes.

The cheeks will be tender and you'll have an amazing sauce for which you can eat with good crusty french bread, mashed potatoes, rice or pasta.