Why is it that fillet and sirloin steak are the only cuts of beef that the general public seems interested in eating? As much as I enjoy a good steak, I get far more pleasure in both cooking and eating other, much less popular cuts. They take a little more work but, if you enjoy cooking, that can be part of the pleasure.
You can't beat an osso bucco of beef. A piece of shin, cut across the bone, braised with vegetables and red wine and served with honey roast carrots, mash and its own juices, reduced to a sauce consistency.
I was not long ago asked to do a cookery demonstration for the West Waterford Good Food Tree, a worthy grouping of food producers, restaurants and guesthouses in the west Waterford region which is trying to raise the standard of food in the area and, in the process, encourage tourism.
I decided to be controversial and do a number of dishes featuring ox cheek. Ox cheek is usually used for daube of beef, a classical French beef stew that is garnished with button mushrooms, onions and lardons of bacon and served with either potato puree or buttered noodles.
The search for this cut of beef began a week or so before. Many butchers could not procure the cut of beef for me as it is generally considered unsellable in one piece by the meat factories and is usually ground down to mince for burgers. I finally managed to get some and tried my daube and was blown away by the result. Meltingly delicious and as rich as Bill Gates. Now I can rescue as much as I want from the blades of the mincer, providing I give plenty of notice to my butcher.
So, one Monday morning I was on a stage, brandishing a 14oz piece of jaw meat, being scrutinised by 100 or more pairs of sceptical eyes. After an hour or so of awkward stagecraft I produced the three dishes given below. I know I didn't convince everyone - the work involved might put off anyone who is not a keen cook but I can guarantee the results are very satisfying.
As I drove away from the beautiful Nire Valley I felt that, in my own way, I had stood up for the much maligned and mistreated and neglected fellow, the ox cheek.
Braised ox cheek
Serves 4
4 ox cheeks approx 14oz per cheek untrimmed
1 medium onion
1/3 head of celery
4 carrots
4 rashers smoked bacon
4 cloves of garlic
4 oz butter
3 oz flour
4 bay leaves
1 spring of thyme
1 pinch of blackpeppercorns
bottle of red wine (optional)
4 pints of light chicken stock (cubes will do)
3 oz flour for dusting
3 oz oil for frying
Trim all the sinew from the ox cheeks, dust with flour and fry in hot oil, turning periodically until brown all over. Remove from the heat and reserve.
Cook the finely chopped vegetables in the butter in a large pan until golden brown. Add the flour and cook until golden brown, Add the red wine and stir over moderate flame until no lumps are present. Then add the stock, herbs and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer, making sure the flour doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Place the meat in the liquid and cook over very low heat for about 1 1/2 hours until meat is very tender.
When cooked, strain the stock, remove the meat and reduce the stock by half. Leave to cool; then place the meat back in the stock and refrigerate.
This is the basis for the next three dishes.
Creamy parsnip, onion and beef broth with crispy Blas, Ring Cheese and dripping
Serves 4
2 parsnips in small chunks
1 large onion, sliced
1 beef cheek, diced
4 fl oz Crinnaghtaun apple juice
8 fl oz beef cooking juice
8 fl oz light chicken stock
1 oz chopped marjoram
2 oz butter
2 Blas (speciality Waterford bread - any light loaf, such as baps, will do)
2 oz grated Ring Cheese
1 oz melted dripping
Salt and black pepper
2 oz flaked almonds
In a large pan cook the onion gently (without colour, with the lid on). When soft add the parsnips and continue to cook for a further three minutes. Add all the liquid and bring to the boil and simmer until cooked. Then add the diced cheek. Add chopped marjoram and reserve.
Crispy Blas
Tear Blas into one to two inch chunks. Sprinkle with dripping, salt and pepper. Bake until light golden brown. Sprinkle grated Ring cheese and return to the oven for a further two minutes. Tip into serving dish. Sprinkle with almonds and serve with soup.
Warm salad of ox cheek, red onion, radish and butterleaf lettuce
Serves four
2 ox cheeks
6 radishes thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber cut into thin batons
1 red onion, sliced thinly into rings
1 oz baby capers
Flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 head butterleaf lettuce
1 oz creamed horseradish
3 oz cream
1 fl oz olive oil
1/2 clove of garlic crushed
Dash of sherry vinegar
2 boiled eggs, cooked for eight minutes from boil
Thinly slice the ox cheeks at a 45 degree angle and assemble, overlapping each other in order to cover the entire plate. Whip up the cream into a soft mound and fold in the creamed horseradish. Add the salt and pepper and reserve. Whisk the olive oil, sherry vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper and reserve.
Assembly
Place the sliced ox cheeks on plates in the oven for two minutes at a moderate heat - all you want to do is warm them as they are already cooked. When warm, spread a thin layer of horseradish cream over the meat. Toss the butterleaf lettuce in the dressing. Place in the middle of the plate and scatter the assorted vegetables around the outside of the plate. Place a half a boiled egg on the top of the lettuce and serve.
Parsley crusted daube of beef with spiced pepper, red bean and tomato stew, rosemary and garlic Kerr Pinks
Serves 4
Rosemary and garlic Kerr Pinks
Melt 4 oz butter, crush three cloves of garlic and a handful of rosemary and place over a warm heat for one hour. Peel and steam the Kerr Pinks. Strain off the butter and spoon over the potatoes on a side dish.
Pepper Stew
2 red peppers
1 large onion
2 oz butter
1 tin of chopped plum tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 chopped red chilli
1 tin of kidney beans
1 pinch of paprika
1 pinch cumin
Finely slice the onion and peppers. Cook in the butter until soft and golden. Add the chopped garlic, chilli and tinned tomatoes. Then add the cumin and paprika and cook slowly for half an hour over a low heat. The end result should be syrupy and fairly solid.
Herb Bread Crumbs
4 oz breadcrumbs
2 oz parsley
2 oz assorted herbs, thyme/sage etc
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 oz melted butter
salt and pepper
1 oz creamed horseradish
Add all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until an even texture and a deep green colour.
Remove ox cheeks from the cooking liquor. Brush with horseradish cream and smother with herb breadcrumbs. Reserve.
Assembly
Place ox cheeks on a roasting tray in a moderate oven until golden brown and crispy, serve on top of the pepper stew with the rosemary and garlic potatoes on the side.