Braised beef cheeks with pear and bitter chocolate sauce
I know you’re probably thinking, what the hell? It does sound bizarre! But Tim saw Michel Roux Jr. cooking this up on a TV programme the other day and really fancied giving it a go. I’m all for unusual food and trying out new things, so we bought all the ingredients and cooked it over the Easter weekend! Ingredients For the white bean purée 85g/3oz dried white beans 2 bay leaves sprig of rosemary sea salt small knob of butter 200ml/7fl oz double cream, heated to a boil For the beef cheeks 2 pears 2 tbsp lemon juice 2 beef cheeks, trimmed and cut into 4 equal-sized pieces sea salt oil, for frying 1 onion, sliced 1 garlic clove, sliced 125ml/4fl oz port 1 orange, juice and zest 1 litre/2 pints beef stock 1 tbsp cracked black pepper 16 button onions, peeled 50g/1¾oz butter 60g/2¼oz chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, broken into squares Method For the purée, soak the beans in water overnight then drain well. Place the beans in a pan of fresh water and …