Recipe
Beef Cheek, Braised Four Hours, Forked Apart
Cheek is the cut chefs hoard. It's a small, hard-working muscle that carries enough collagen to braise into something close to butter. Lean Piedmontese cheeks reward a low oven and a little patience — the flavor is concentrated and the texture is unbeatable.
Cook time
4 hours
Yields
4 servings
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients
- •4 Spring Lake Cattle beef cheeks (about 2.5 lb total)
- •2 tbsp kosher salt
- •1 tbsp coarse black pepper
- •3 tbsp beef tallow
- •1 yellow onion, diced
- •2 carrots, peeled and diced
- •6 garlic cloves, smashed
- •2 tbsp tomato paste
- •1 cup dry red wine
- •3 cups beef stock (homemade if possible)
- •2 bay leaves, 4 thyme sprigs
About the cut
Beef cheek (cachete) is the masseter muscle — the steer chews with it all day, every day, which means it's full of collagen waiting to melt into your sauce. On a Piedmontese animal the cheek runs leaner than commodity beef, which means cleaner flavor and less surface fat to skim. Read the full cachete cut guide for sourcing notes.
Method
- Trim and dry. Take a paring knife to any silver skin on the cheeks. Pat fully dry. Season heavily with salt and pepper on all sides.
- Hard sear. Heat tallow in a Dutch oven over medium-high. Brown the cheeks 4 minutes per side until deeply colored. Don't crowd — work in two batches if needed.
- Sweat the mirepoix. Pull cheeks. Add onion and carrot to the pot. Cook 6 minutes, stirring, until edges color.
- Bloom the paste. Add garlic and tomato paste. Cook 2 minutes until the paste turns brick-red — this step builds depth.
- Deglaze. Pour in the wine. Scrape every bit of fond from the pot. Reduce by half, about 4 minutes.
- Build and tuck. Return the cheeks. Add stock, bay, and thyme. Liquid should come halfway up the meat.
- Low and slow. Cover and braise at 300°F for 3.5–4 hours. The cheeks are ready when a fork passes through with no resistance.
- Reduce, coat, serve. Lift the cheeks out. If the sauce is thin, simmer uncovered 10 minutes to tighten. Return cheeks to coat. Serve whole over creamy polenta, or shred for tacos and tortas.
Chef's notes
- •Cheeks are nearly impossible to overcook. If your fork doesn't slide in at 4 hours, give it 30 more minutes.
- •Make a day ahead. Refrigerate, lift the fat cap, reheat gently. The flavor doubles.
- •For barbacoa-style, swap the wine for adobo from soaked guajillo and ancho chiles.
- •Save the bones from your soup-bones bag — adding one to the braise builds even more body.
- •Leftover sauce freezes beautifully and reheats into pasta, beans, or eggs.
Reserve cheeks from the next harvest
There are only two cheeks per animal. Get on the list.