Method
Preheat the oven to 140°C/275°F
Season the beef then marinate in the beer for 4 to 6 hrs. Remove from the beer and pat dry.
Add the oil to a large heavy based casserole dish over a moderate to high heat and brown the meat in batches until it has a nice deep caramelisation. Remove the meat from the pan and lower the heat a little, throw in the vegetables, thyme, star anise and bay, cook for 8-10 mins until soft and starting to brown.
Add the beer to the pan to simmer until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the beef back to the pan along with the beef stock and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and add a tight-fitting lid or seal with foil. Put the casserole dish in the oven for 4 hrs until tender and soft you should be able to break the meat with a spoon.
Remove the cheeks from the pan and put to one side. Strain (but keep) the liquid to remove the vegetables, herbs and star anise. Add the liquid back to the pan and reduce a little if needed. Whisk the mustard and a knob of butter into the sauce then add the beef back to the pan.
Serve the beef with creamy mashed potato.
Ingredients
Serves: 4-6
1 kg beef cheeks, trimmed of any fat or sinew
500ml beer
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 carrot, roughly diced
1 stick celery, roughly diced
2 onions, sliced
4 sprigs of thyme
1 star anise
2 bay leaves
1 ltr of beef stock
2 tbsp Robust Wholegrain Mustard
knob of butter
