Beef Cheeks With Sweet Potato Puree

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• To make the Bouquet Garni, gather herbs in a small square of muslin and tie with kitchen string to secure.
• Heat half of the oil in a large, ovenproof casserole dish over a medium-high heat and cook the beef cheeks in 2 batches for 8 minutes each batch, until browned all over and set aside.
• Heat remaining oil in the dish over a medium heat and add onion, celery, carrot and leek and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened and lightly browned.
• Return beef cheeks to dish with the stock, tomato, wine, lemon zest and bouquet garni and season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.
• Transfer dish to the oven and cook, covered for 2 hours.
• Stir in eschallots and mushrooms and cook, uncovered for a further 40 minutes or until sauce has thickened and beef is very tender.
• Remove from and reserve beef, eschallots and mushrooms; strain the sauce and discard vegetables and then return beef, eschallots and mushrooms to strained sauce.
• Meanwhile cook potato in a large saucepan of boiling water over a medium heat for 15 minutes or until tender, drain and pass through a potato rice and then stir in milk and butter and season with salt and pepper.
• Lightly spray a large frying pan with oil and heat over a medium heat and cook zucchini ribbons for 4 minutes or until just tender and season with salt and pepper.
• TIP 1 - for a shortcut use a pre-prepared bouquet garni made with dry herbs.
• TIP 2 - for a more intensely flavoured mash, try roasting instead of boiling the potatoes before mashing them.
• TIP 3 - if you prefer a chunky sauce, omit straining the sauce, in step 8, so that you retain all the vegetables.