The Best Beef Cheek Stew Ever
- erinna Chng
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
Super love this Stew! This is another creation that was inspired by a Cafe – Populus Cafe.
This is definitely not any Mediocre Beef Stew!
The 1st time we had this stew, we were surprised by how flavorful and how my fork slipped through the ultra tender beef with literally no resistance. Accompanied with the melt-in-your-mouth gelatinised and riched flavored beef, this dish made us go back to the cafe many times in a month, irregardless of how long the queue and how far the distance we had to travel to savour it.
However, to ensure that every of my friends get to enjoy this pieces of heavenly delish, I decided to recreate at home and share it with everyone. The result is ultra satisfying. The taste is spot on and the texture of the beef is definitely what I aimed to achieve.
This recipe uses beef cheek – it a part of the beef that known to be tough and lean. However, with hours of braising in a intensely flavored liquid, this part can be the most tender part of the the beef you ever taste.
Feel free to replace with any other part of the beef like brisket, chuck, ribeye, etc.
Making this dish is very simple. It is basically a prep and throw and ignore kind of dish. I have also include 2 cooking methods in this reicpe – Oven-braised and Pressure Cooker. This recipe can also be use for slow cooker, which I have not tried. Please feel free to experiment on it.
1
Searing the Beef
Sear beef fillets on high heat for 2 minutes per side to form a golden crust. Let it cool before proceeding to keep the beef tender.
2
Mushroom Duxelles
Cook the mushrooms until all moisture evaporates to prevent soggy pastry. Aim for a thick, paste-like consistency.
3
Puff Pastry Handling
Keep the puff pastry cold to avoid softness. Chill if it becomes too soft, and score the top lightly without cutting through.
Notes
1
Braising the Beef (For Pressure Cooker)
Add all the ingredients into the pressure cooker
Ensure the flour is properly dissolved.
Pressure cooked for 1.5 hours according to the pressure cooker instruction for cooking beef stew
Braising the beef (For Oven) - Preheat the oven at 160 degree celsius
Add all the ingredients into a oven-proof casserole/pot/dutch-oven/etc.
Use a pot that is just big enough to hold the ingredients and liquid so that the liquid can cover the beef.
Measure the liquid in a seperate measuring cup and add in the flour.
Mix in the flour into the liquid and pour over the pot of beef
Bring the pot to boil over the stove over medium high heat
When boiled, cover with lid (slightly ajar for the escaping of steam from evaporation) or aluminium foil (poke a hole on the foil cover) and transfer to the preheated oven.
Braised for 3 hours or until the beef become super tender
Checked halfway through cooking to see if you need to add more water; the water should remained at slightly more than half of the original level.
Boiling the Potatoes
Add the peeled potatoes into a pot of salted water
Allow it to boil until soft
Smashing and preparing the Horseradish Cream Smashed Potatoes
Remove and drained the potatoes
Place it on a tray and briefly smashed the potatoes (you want the potatoes to be chunky)
Return the smashed potato into the pot over medium low heat if the potato is too cool to melt the butter.
Add all the seasoning and mix until well combine
Blanching the spinach
Add in the spinach into a pot of boiling water for 10 seconds.
Remove and drained
Assembling the dish
Scooop a generous portion of smashed potato onto the serving plate.
Top with the beef, follow by a serving of blanched spinach
Scoop a generous amount of braising gravy over the dish
Serve hot
Instructions
Quality Fresh 2 beef fillets ( approximately 14 ounces each )
Quality Olive oil
4 cups Chestnut Mushrooms
1 sprig fresh thyme
4 cups puff pastry
8 slices Parma ham
2 egg yolks
beaten with 1 tbsp water and a pinch of salt
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Beef Wellington
2 tbsp olive oil
7 oz beef trimmings
4 large shallots ( peeled and sliced )
12 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
Splash of red wine vinegar
3 cups red wine
3 cups beef stock
Red Wine Sauce
Easiest & Tastiest Beef Cheek Stew
Head Chef
eckitchensg
Servings :
2 pax as a main; 3 to 4 pax as part of a sharing meal
Calories:
813 Calories / Serve
Prep Time
30 min
Cooking Time
90 min
Rest Time
0 min
Total Time
2 hour 0 min
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