Chef - Marcello Tully

Ark of Taste Product - Blue Grey Cattle

Producer - Karen Telford

The Blue Grey cattle are slightly smaller in stature than other breeds, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in flavour. Marcello uses a humble cut of meat for this recipe, slowly braising the cheek which he serves with a rich red wine sauce and a silky celariac purée.

Method:

Braised Beef Cheeks

– Combine all the ingedients in a large bowl and leave to marinate, covered, in the fridge overnight.

– The next day, transfer the ingredients into a heavy based sauce pan and bring to the boil.

– Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cook for 2 1/2 hours, skimming off any impurities that rise to the surface.

– Take the pan off the heat, keeping the cheeks in the liquor.

Sauce

– In a pan, heat the oil with a little salt and sweat the carrots, onions, celery, leeks and garlic.
– Add the tomato purée and flour and mix well.
– Add 200ml of both the red wine and the beef stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cook slowly for 45 minutes.
– Strain the sauce and return to a clean pan.
– Add all remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Season with salt and pepper.

Celeriac Purée

– Add oil to a pan and sauté the diced onions for 3-4 minutes, then add the peeled and  diced celeriac and cover with water.
– Bring to the boil and simmer for a good 40 -50 minutes.
– Drain in a colander and blitz in a food processor until smooth.
– Add the butter, salt and pepper to season.

Serve the Celeriac Purée with the beef cheeks and sauce, along with some gently cooked courgette and carrots.

Ingredients - serves 4

Braised Beef Cheeks

2 Beef Cheeks

350g Shallots (diced)

1 Garlic Clove

1 Tablespoons Tomato Purée

750ml Red Wine

750ml Good Quality Beef Stock

Sauce

50g Sunflower Oil

50g Carrots (roughly sliced)

50g Onions (roughly  diced)

50g Celery (roughly diced)

50g Leeks (roughly diced)

25g Flour

25g Tomato Puree

200ml Red Wine

200ml Beef Stock

150g Redcurrant Jelly

10g Marmite

5g Black Treacle

Salt and Pepper

Celariac Purée

500g Celeriac Peeled and Diced

Water to cover the Celeriac when boiling

A small Onion

35g Butter

Salt and Pepper to season

15ml Oil