Braised veal cheeks

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Recipe for braised veal cheeks

One of the reasons I love going to a good butcher is that you don’t always get what you initially expected. Basically, I felt like trying something new in terms of making Spaghetti Carbonara.

A friend of mine told me that Italians use guanciale (bacon made from pork cheeks) as the crispy element in their carbonara. Of course, I had to try it! However, since the butcher only had them frozen (and my patience is nearly non-existent :-)), he showed me a pack of veal cheeks, which I immediately jumped at—not to make bacon, but for a good stew instead!

I love the texture and flavor that cheeks generally have. However, my primary experience is with pork cheeks, and I often find it a bit challenging to make a good sauce when I use beer for braising—maybe it’s just me? In any case, I often end up using a combination of both broth and wine—much like when I made these pork cheeks once.

Veal cheeks are large, so you can easily stick to one cheek per person—you might even share one between two people, depending on the amount of side dishes!

Now there were actually three veal cheeks in one pack, so I decided to cook two this time—the last one I’m thinking of preparing sous vide on another occasion, a bit like my glazed pork cheeks sous vide, which, by the way, is one of my favorite dishes!

Braised Veal Cheeks Recipe

Servings: 2 people

Braised veal cheeks

Author: Per Asmussen

Keyword: braising, Dinner, meat, Pig, Pork, Prok Cheeks

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours hours

Metric - US Customary

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Ingredients

• 2 pcs. Veal Cheeks
• Salt and Pepper
• 15 gram Ghee or neutral oil/butter for frying
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 pcs. Onion preferably large
• 300 gram Wine I used both rosé and white wine
• Fresh thyme a few sprigs
• 400 gram Beef Stock optionally use bouillon cube
• 300 gram Water
• 100 gram Cream
• Gravy Thickener I used 2 tbsp. flour and 1.5 dl milk
• Spices Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, ketchup & onion powder

Instructions

• 1. Season the meat with salt and pepper on both sides.
  2. Brown the meat on both sides over high heat in a sauté pan with a lid. I fry in ghee, which ensures me a high frying temperature, but you can also use a mix of oil and butter in a 1:1 ratio.
  3. Then reduce the heat a bit.
  4. Cut the onion and garlic into smaller pieces.
  5. Add them to the pan so they get a slight crust.
  6. Let the alcohol evaporate a bit for a couple of minutes.
  7. Add thyme and then stock and water. You can easily replace the water with more stock or vice versa - if you, for example, use a bouillon cube. It should just cover the meat.
  8. Put the lid on and turn down the heat (I set it to 3 out of 14 on my stove).
  9. Let it sit for two hours, but preferably for longer. It can easily be up to 4 - 5 hours.
  10. Then add the cream.
  11. Make a sauce thickener - I used a mix of milk and flour. Shake it well together and turn up the heat (I set it to 10 out of 14 on my stove).
  12. Add the thickener while stirring until you reach a thickness you like.
  13. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar (or another vinegar), ketchup, and onion powder.
  14. Serve the dish with something crispy, such as fried potatoes or polenta fries.

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