Little Food, Big Flavor–Braised Beef Cheek Sliders
These are great for a weeknight meal, or for a crowd. Either way, you will want leftovers, as the tastes and textures only get more intense as the meat continues to soak in all of the fabulous flavors.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. With a paper towel, pat dry the beef cheeks. This will help them sear better and get that delicious brown crust on them.
Salt & pepper the beef cheeks on both sides.
In a large iron pot (I love my Martha Stewart 6 qt. dutch oven), heat the oil over medium high heat. Sear the beef cheeks until well-browned, about 5-7 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside to rest.
In the same pot, saute the celery, onion, carrots and garlic until softened, about 10 minutes. Be sure to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom–there’s flavor in there!
Add the wine to the pot, and bring to a slow boil. Reduce by about half, which should take about 10-15 minutes.
Add the diced tomatoes, with juices. Stir to incorporate.
Add the rested beef cheeks, and braise, covered, in a preheated 325 degree oven for 3 hours.
Toast the slider buns, and serve the braised beef cheeks on them with various toppings.
Recipe Notes
Some notes on this particular dish:
First, I used a dry Chianti for this recipe. You can use another dry red, but the Chianti is so well balanced for this particular dish because it’s not too fruit-bomb heavy like a Zinfandel, and it’s not bone dry like many Cabernet Sauvignons. You can certainly use any dry red you have on hand, but the great thing here is that the other half of the bottle was a perfect accompaniment to the sliders themselves!
Second, I have been looking for a good recipe for tomato jam. Strangely enough, that’s exactly what I got from the tomatoes and other ingredients once the braise was complete. I kept all of the goodies at the bottom of the pot and have used it as a spread on everything from these sliders, to morning toast, to tossed into an omelet. Next time I may just make a big ole batch of the tomato mixture and add some beef broth to give it the richness this batch got from the cheeks. Double score!
Finally, you can use whatever toppings you like for these little sliders. The originals we had on vacation had a chimichurri sauce and roasted bell pepper. However, in this case I went with herbed goat cheese, tomato jam, roasted red bell pepper, and arugula. My husband swapped the pepper and arugula and added a drizzle of bbq sauce. Get creative!