I read some blogs (for example, the Frugal Cook) and read some recipes and pondered a while.
Then I decided the time had come to use the ox cheeks.
So yesterday morning, early, I chopped them into large chunks, leaving everything on. It's not fatty meat but there are some sinews. I just left them. I put them in the slow cooker with some finely chopped onion, a litre of turkey stock (pnly because turkey stock was what I happened to have to hand), a tin of concentrated tomato puree, a couple of garlic cloves finely chopped, a small piece of ginger, finely grated and a heaped tablespoon of paprika (not smoked). Then I put the slow cooker onto its automatic setting (it heats until it's hot, then goes down to low to keep it just under simmering), and left it there until I got home early in the evening. Then I transferred it into an oven-proof dish (how much better would it be in the pot for the slow cooker was oven-proof?!?!?!?!) and put it into a pre-heated oven at 150d for about 45 minutes, with some dumplings about 20 minutes before serving. We had it with the dumplings, and with cabbage, sprouting broccoli, sprouts and leeks with a cheese topping and boiled potatoes.
It was absolutely delicious. The sauce, which I thickened slightly before putting it in the oven, was wonderful. The meat was meltingly tender. It was all rich and hearty and robust. The sinewy bits had dissolved into the sauce. It was all lovely.
And the left over sauce (there was quite a lot of left over sauce - the left over meat is waiting for a re-visit this evening but there was a LOT of sauce) has made a truly magnificent beef and tomato soup for my lunch today. We'll get three dinner, one lunch and two soup servings from the dish. Sounds fairly frugal to me - though I can't actually cost it because I didn't buy anything especially for it!
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| The dumplings rose beautifully |
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| Goulash, cabbage, sprouts, leeks and sprouting broccoli |
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| I've been busy with the preserving pan lately too :-) |
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