Tongue in cheek

There is nothing wrong with a bit of tough beef, the pieces with the muscles that work hardest. In most instances, more texture in a cut of meat translates to more flavour, as long as some extra thought is put into cooking it. Once you take that first bite, the effort is repaid. I get huge satisfaction from turning a rough cut of beef, such as brisket, chuck, tongue or these beef cheeks, into a succulent, richly flavoured dish.

These lesser cuts of beef are also great value to buy and, when teamed with the incredible winter vegetables available, all bases are covered. Except for the final important decision: which red to open.

This beef cheek dish came about in the early days of MoVida, when we had a braised brisket dish on the menu and I used red wine and port for the sauce. I decided to use Pedro Ximenez sherry instead of port to create a flavour that is more MoVida's style. Then we replaced brisket with beef cheek and it became a MoVida signature dish.

PEDRO XIMENEZ BEEF CHEEK

3kg beef cheeks

100ml olive oil

2 brown onions, chopped

1 whole head of garlic, split

2 carrots, chopped

1/4 bunch thyme

3 fresh bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

1lt Pedro Ximenez sherry

500ml red wine

Heat oven to 200C. Clean sinew from beef cheeks, season with sea salt and place cheeks on a baking tray. Bake in oven for about 10 minutes each side. Remove when well browned.

In a heavy-based pot, heat olive oil and caramelise onion, garlic head and carrots. Add herbs and spices and cook for 3 minutes. Add sherry and wine, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add browned cheeks, top up with 1 litre of water, cover with baking paper and a lid, then simmer for 3 hours or until tender. The cheeks should be tender but firm enough to stay intact. To test this, squeeze the cheek - if it's soft but doesn't fall apart, it's ready.

Remove cheeks from sauce and place in a small baking tray. Reduce sauce by half and pass through a sieve over cheeks.

Serve with cauliflower puree - spoon some puree into the centre of a plate, place a cheek on the edge of the puree, then spoon a small amount of sauce over.

Serves about 8

CAULIFLOWER PUREE

1 medium cauliflower head

50g butter

185ml thickened cream

Chop cauliflower florets off central stalk, discard stalk then slice florets finely. Heat butter and cream in a heavy-based pot, add cauliflower, mix well and cover with a lid. Simmer for about 35 minutes or until soft.

Puree until smooth and check seasoning. Store with baking paper on top to stop a skin forming. You can substitute celeriac or parsnip for cauliflower.

BEEF CHEEK SANDWICH

1 crusty sourdough roll

100g leftover beef cheek

1 tbsp chopped parsley

3 piquillo peppers

Handful rocket leaves

Cut roll in half and toast it. Warm beef cheek, shred with a fork and mix through a small amount of leftover sauce (don't make it too wet).

Mix meat and parsley and season well. Spread beef over the roll, top with peppers, season with salt and pepper, top with rocket and the top of the roll.