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Braised Ox Cheeks with Parsnip Gratin

The gratin is cooked long and slow, so that it can go into the oven with the ox cheeks.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 195 minutes
Total time: 4 hours

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 tbsp plain flour
1.5kg ox cheeks, trimmed of fat
2½ tbsp olive oil
2 red onions
2 smoked bacon rashers
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
300 ml beef stock
400ml red wine, such as burgundy
500g Chatenay carrots, scrubbed
Gratin
25 g butter
800 g parsnips
2 garlic cloves
400 ml half-fat crème fraîche
100ml light beef or vegetable stock
A pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Method

Preheat the oven to 150C/gas 2. Season the flour, tip it onto a plate and use it to coat the ox cheeks. Heat the oil in a casserole; sear the cheeks for 5 minutes, until golden. Remove to a plate. Cook the onions and bacon in the casserole for 5 minutes, stirring, then add the other ingredients bar one thyme sprig and the carrots and cover.
Meanwhile, use half the butter to grease a gratin dish and spread a third of the parsnips over the base. Mix the garlic, crème fraîche, stock and nutmeg; season and pour some into the dish. Continue layering the parsnips and liquid until all is used up. Dot with the remaining butter, cover with foil and bake in the oven with the ox cheeks. After 21/4 hours, remove the foil and cook for a further 30 minutes. Tip the carrots into the casserole and cook for a further 45 minutes, until the cheeks are truly tender. Garnish the casserole with the remaining thyme and serve with the gratin