Braised in a beautiful balsamic sauce, these slow-cooked beef cheeks are so meltingly tender you could devour them with a spoon! Eight hours of cooking ensures that the braising liquid turns into a luscious, gravy-like sauce. I encourage you to enjoy it spooned over creamy potato mash or fluffy cooked grains such as quinoa or bulgur wheat.
Ingredients
4 tbsp olive oil
4 beef cheeks (about 1.2kg total)
4 tbsp flour or cornflour
1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
4 carrots, sliced into rounds
2 bay leaves
handful of fresh thyme sprigs,finely chopped
2 cups beef stock
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Method (Serves 6–8)
Heat 2 tablespoons of your olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat. If your slow cooker has a sauté setting, you can use this. Dust the beef cheeks in the flour, then sear on each side for about 2 minutes or until nicely browned. Transfer the meat to your slow cooker.
Heat the remaining olive oil in the frying pan, then add the onion and garlic. Cook, while stirring, for a few minutes until the onion starts to become translucent.
Pile the onion and garlic into the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients, and cook on high for 8 hours.*
You’ll know it’s ready when the meat simply falls apart.
Serve piled on top of vegetable mash or cooked grains.
* You can also cook this in a Dutch oven for 3 hours in an oven preheated to 160°C, or on the stovetop over low heat for 2½ hours.
This sticky date pudding is one of my favourite things to make during the colder months. What makes this dessert really special is the hint of ginger and cardamom in the coconut butterscotch sauce. I bet you can’t wait to grab your spoon and dig in! Just remember to get your dates on to soak a bit beforehand. If you don’t need this to be vegan, you can use regular milk, cream and butter.
We know it can be tricky to find the perfect recipe to make mum for Mother’s Day so we’ve put together this list of fantastic recipe ideas from some of our favourite cookbooks. Whether you’re looking for a cosy soup or a sweet treat, or something in between, we’ve got you covered!
Fast, spicy and delicious, this is the perfect midweek meal to put a smile on your face.
Onigiri is real soul food. It’s perfect for picnics, weekend activities and family car journeys. Use this recipe to make as many onigiri as your heart desires, with filling or without (shio-nigiri).
Hidden in these meatballs from Jamie Oliver are cannellini beans for an added fibre bonus. Using an old friend like meatballs to get some beans into your life is a tasty, nutritious win.
The perfect quick summer meal, this simple pasta dish uses only a few simple ingredients but is packed with bright, herby flavours.
Full of depth and umami flavours, this crispy chicken is paired with a light herb sauce and a punchy garlic sauce to make an unbelievably tasty meal.
This colourful Brazilian recipe from Ixta Belfrage combines juicy prawns with plantain in a rich and deeply flavourful prawn oil. If you're looking for the perfect starter for hosting, look no further.
This one-pot tomato rice dish is topped with crispy bite-sized pieces of sausage, toasted rice and shallots cooked in the rendered sausage fat.
This ice cream is vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free (as long as you use gluten-free miso), so it’s great if you’re catering for people with different dietary requirements.
There’s a love affair to be explored with spice and dairy, and this is the showcase for it!
When I posted my Crispy Smashed Potato Salad recipe in October 2023, it went viral, and everyone and their grandmas started making it.