Ox cheek & Guinness rarebit with Black Bomber
Well, dear reader, this was without a shadow of doubt the tastiest thing we’ve ever cooked. No exaggeration. Pub grub at its most glorious!
It was a real revelation cooking with Swaledale ox cheeks; this cut of meat can sound intimidating and tricky, but in reality it is one of the most hands-off, user-friendly, forgiving cuts of beef you can cook, and both the texture and flavour are second to none.
There are two main parts to this recipe: 1) slow-braising the ox cheeks in Guinness ahead of time, and 2) rustling up the rarebit mix and grilling. We feel it makes good sense to braise a larger batch of ox cheek at once, and freeze the rest for a rainy day, or fold it through a pie mix or ragu. We used a slow cooker for this, but a lidded casserole dish in a low oven would work equally well.
Prep time: 10 minutes to prepare the cheeks for braising; 15-20 minutes to prepare the rarebit
Cooking time: 8-10 hours to slow-cook the cheeks; 20-25 minutes to prepare and grill the rarebit
The recipes serves 4 (with plenty of ox cheek left over for a future recipe)
Recipe for braised ox cheeks:
800 g Swaledale ox cheeks
2-4 tbsp cooking oil
1 can Guinness
1 can water
1 onion, chunky chopped
1 carrot, chunky chopped
1 celery, chunky chopped
4 bay leaves
½ tsp peppercorns
flakey sea salt
Recipe for 4 x rarebit:
25 g butter + small knob for buttering toasts
15 g flour
1 tsp English mustard powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
120 ml guinness
80 ml milk
20 ml Lea & Perrins
200 g Black Bomber, or mature cheddar cheese, grated
1 egg yolk
250 g braised ox cheeks
2 tbsp reduced ox cheek braising liquor
4 large slices thick cut sourdough
Method:
Pat the ox cheeks dry and season lightly with flakey sea salt. Heat a heavy based frying pan on a medium/high heat until smoking hot; add the oil a tablespoon at time and brown the cheeks one by one or in batches; don’t overcrowd the pan. Allow a good level of caramelisation on both sides. Set the browned cheeks to one side, turn off the heat, and deglaze the pan with Guinness.
Place the browned cheeks, Guinness, onion, carrot, celery, bay, peppercorns, and a can of water into the slow cooker and braise gently for 8-10 hours. If cooking in an oven, place in a lidded casserole and cook at 120 for approximately 6-8 hours; check it halfway through and add a splash of water if needs be. The cheeks should collapse when pushed with a wooden spoon.
Once cooked, allow the cheeks to cool in the braising liquor to avoid drying out, then remove the cheeks and strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a medium saucepan. Place on a medium heat and reduce the liquor by two thirds, or until it’s the viscosity of single cream. Allow to cool.
At this point you can freeze the braised cheeks and liquor if you wish.
To make the rarebit, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a gentle heat and add the flour. Stir well to prevent any lumps forming and ‘cook out’ for 1 minute.
Add the English mustard powder and cayenne pepper, followed by the Guinness, Lea & Perrins and milk, a generous splash at a time. Whisk well as you add the liquids and cook out the rarebit sauce for 2 minutes only.
Turn off the heat and stir in the grated cheddar (perhaps transfer to a mixing bowl for ease). Stir well to encourage the cheese to melt and the mix to cool, then stir in the egg yolk. This mix can be made up to 2 days in advance.
When you are ready to eat, lightly toast 4 slices of sourdough and preheat your grill to the highest setting. Lightly butter the toast.
Rehydrate the ox cheeks with two tablespoons of the braising liquor and gently pull apart into bite size pieces. Place the pulled cheeks over the buttered toasts leaving some chunky bits with good height; don’t spread or flatten. Dollop over the rarebit mix, and pop the loaded toasts onto a large baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Have an oven rack near the top, and grill your rarebit for 4-8 checking every couple of minutes. They will brown and blister quickly and some of the cheesy mix will slide off the toast - don’t stress, these thin and crispy cheesy edges are the very best bit!
Once fully gratinated, remove from the oven and serve with a fantastically punchy watercress salad dressed with an apple cider vinaigrette. Sensational!
Thank you again to Swaledale for the opportunity to create some recipes with your exceptional meat; check them out here, or take a peak at our merguez sausage cassoulet made using Swaledale’s award-winning sausages.