I had a go at cooking the ox cheek in my little slow cooker. All the recipes indicate using red wine but that meant opening a bottle which is a bit of a no-no at the moment (guess where the rest would end up - yup, yummy yummy yummy, wine in my tummy) so I googled and ended up using a red wine stock pot, half a beef stock cube and some strong tea.
I picked up the tea hint from Jack Monroe, ages ago, and, weirdly, it works, trust me.
I picked up the tea hint from Jack Monroe, ages ago, and, weirdly, it works, trust me.
This is what I did.
I patted the ox cheek dry, seasoned it with salt and pepper and set it aside.
I chopped half a small onion and a small carrot and fried them in spray oil to soften them a bit,. At the end, I added some garlic granules. That all went in the slow cooker.
Then I sprayed both sides of the ox cheek and seared it in the same pan until all sides were crusty and caramelised. Then it went on the veg in the slow cooker.
Into the same pan I put some strong tea, a red wine stockpot and half a beef stock cube with a bit of extra water. I heated it to simmering and scraped all the crusty bits off the pan (deglazed is the term, isn't it?) before tipping all that into the slow cooker. I popped in some fresh thyme and a couple of little bay leaves from the garden and set it to auto cook for ages and ages, turning the ox cheek over once or twice.
I patted the ox cheek dry, seasoned it with salt and pepper and set it aside.
I chopped half a small onion and a small carrot and fried them in spray oil to soften them a bit,. At the end, I added some garlic granules. That all went in the slow cooker.
Then I sprayed both sides of the ox cheek and seared it in the same pan until all sides were crusty and caramelised. Then it went on the veg in the slow cooker.
Into the same pan I put some strong tea, a red wine stockpot and half a beef stock cube with a bit of extra water. I heated it to simmering and scraped all the crusty bits off the pan (deglazed is the term, isn't it?) before tipping all that into the slow cooker. I popped in some fresh thyme and a couple of little bay leaves from the garden and set it to auto cook for ages and ages, turning the ox cheek over once or twice.
This morning, I removed the ox cheek and used my stick blender in the cooking liquid and veg to make a gravy. It needs no thickening at all.
I have to say, it did smell lovely while it was cooking and it looks very 'meaty'.
I have to say, it did smell lovely while it was cooking and it looks very 'meaty'.
I have some cubed beef in the freezer that really needs using and I think I will do the same thing with it.
Yesterday's meals:
Sadly, the planned dinner never saw the light of day - it morphed into a cheese sandwich instead. Oh, well . . .
Today's plans:
B: fruit and yogurt
SW: half a syn for the yogurt
L: chicken wrapped in bacon, veg; pavlova
I'm eating round at Beth's. The pavlova is the Mothering Sunday thing and I'm certainly not ignoring it.
SW: unknown but, hopefully, not too fat outside syns
SW: unknown but, hopefully, not too fat outside syns
D: slow cooked ox cheek (I will remove any fatty bits), gravy, creamy mash and green veg; yogurt
The meat is already cooked so just needs warming up.
The meat is already cooked so just needs warming up.
SW: one syn for one tbsp crème fraiche, half a syn for the dessert and I think the rest is free. Thank you to Eileen for confirming the ox cheek is counted as a free/protein food on SW - precious little fat has come out of it, if any, so that's all good.
Exercise: some of the exercise clips on the SW site
Summary:
unknown today - I might count calories instead.
From the freezer:
nothing - ooops
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