Slow-Braised Ox Cheek Bourguignon with Horseradish Pomme Purée

⏱ 260 min · Serves 4

Ox cheek turns meltingly tender in a deep red wine braise with smoky bacon, glazed baby onions and buttery mushrooms. Spooned over a silky horseradish pomme purée, it's the kind of dish that makes a Saturday night feel like a restaurant booking.

Per serving: 1090 kcal · 66.0g protein · 52.0g carbs · 63.0g fat

Ingredients

• 2 ox cheeks (about 1.2kg total), trimmed and halved
• Sea salt and freshly ground black black pepper
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp beef dripping or vegetable oil
• 150g smoked streaky bacon or lardons, cut into strips
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 750ml bottle full-bodied red wine (Burgundy or Syrah)
• 400ml good beef stock
• 2 bay leaves, 3 sprigs thyme, a few parsley stalks, tied
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 200g button chestnut mushrooms, halved
• 200g peeled baby/pearl onions (frozen are fine)
• 25g butter, plus 1 tsp for glazing
• 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley, to finish
• 900g floury potatoes (Maris Piper or Desiree), peeled and cut into even chunks
• 150ml whole milk
• 100ml double cream
• 120g cold unsalted butter, diced
• 2–3 tbsp creamed horseradish (or 1 tbsp finely grated fresh horseradish)
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Method

1. Heat the oven to 150C fan / 170C conventional. Pat the ox cheek pieces very dry, season generously and dust lightly with the flour.
2. Heat the dripping in a large casserole over medium-high heat and brown the cheeks hard on all sides, 8–10 minutes, working in batches so they colour rather than steam. Lift out onto a plate.
3. Add the bacon to the same pan and fry until the fat runs and it turns golden. Scoop out and set aside for later.
4. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook 8 minutes until softened and caramelising at the edges. Stir in the garlic and tomato purée and cook 1 minute more.
5. Pour in the wine, bring to a fast boil and reduce by about a third, scraping up everything stuck to the base. Add the stock, herb bundle and sugar.
6. Return the cheeks and any resting juices. The liquid should just cover them; top up with a splash of water if not. Bring to a bare simmer, lid on, then transfer to the oven for 3–3 1/2 hours, until a spoon slides through the meat with no resistance.
7. Lift the cheeks out carefully onto a warm plate. Strain the sauce through a sieve into a wide pan, pressing the vegetables to extract flavour, then discard them. Simmer the sauce 10–15 minutes until glossy and coating a spoon. Taste and season.
8. Meanwhile, melt 25g butter in a frying pan and fry the mushrooms over high heat until golden. Add the baby onions and 1 tsp butter with a pinch of sugar and a splash of water, and cook until glazed and just tender.
9. Return the cheeks, bacon, mushrooms and onions to the sauce and keep warm over the lowest heat while you make the purée.
10. Boil the potatoes in well-salted water until completely tender, 18–20 minutes. Drain thoroughly and leave to steam-dry 3 minutes, then pass through a ricer or fine sieve back into the dry pan.
11. Warm the milk and cream. Over low heat, beat the cold butter into the potato a few cubes at a time, then beat in the hot milk mixture until glossy and spoonable. Fold through the horseradish, nutmeg and plenty of salt.
12. Spoon a generous swirl of purée into warm shallow bowls, sit the ox cheek on top and spoon over the sauce with the bacon, mushrooms and onions. Scatter with parsley and serve.