your butcher should be able to provide you with ox cheeks. If not, you can use featherblade, shin, or even oxtail. The art of braising and slow cooking – which is not simply putting a chunk of meat with some seasoning and herbs in the oven at a low temperature – seems to be in danger of disappearing, which is a shame because it’s a great skill to have and makes great use of cheaper cuts of meat. 

Edited  by |ANNA sam

Food   section -  CJ journalist

World  - February 28, 2023  

Ingredients

1½ tbsp plain flour

4 x 220-250g pieces of ox cheek, shin, featherblade or oxtail

vegetable oil, for frying

30g butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed or grated

1 tsp tomato purée

a few thyme sprigs

500ml Guinness or other stout

1½ litres good-quality beef stock

1 bay leaf

cornflour, if needed, for thickening

Method

1. Lightly coat the meat with half a tablespoon of the flour and season all over. Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the meat on a high heat until nicely browned all over. Set aside.
2. Heat the butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan and gently fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes until softened.
3. Add the rest of the flour, the tomato purée and the thyme sprigs, and stir over a low heat for a minute or so.
4. Meanwhile, boil the stout in a separate saucepan until it has reduced by two thirds, then slowly add this to the onion pan along with the stock, stirring constantly to avoid lumps forming.
5. Bring to a simmer and add the pieces of beef and the bay leaf. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for about 2-2½ hours, until the meat is tender (it is difficult to put an exact time on braised meats, sometimes an extra half an hour may be required, depending on the meat itself – the best way to check is by tasting it). You could use a pressure cooker instead, which would halve the cooking time.
6. Once the meat is cooked, the sauce should have thickened to a gravy-like consistency; if not, dilute a little cornflour in some water, stir into the sauce and simmer for a few more minutes.
7. Serve with mash or roasted root vegetables.