Stock your freezer with a few winning dishes and look foward to spending more time with your guests this festive season
recipes BBC GOOD FOOD TEAM photographs HANNAH TAYLOR-EDDINGTON
Ox cheek cottage pie with buttery mash topping
Add depth of flavour and chunky texture to classic cottage pie by using ox cheek – this makes it worthy of a special occasion.
SERVES 4 PREP 30 mins COOK 4 hrs EASY ❄
1 ox cheek, cut into chunks 2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil 2 carrots, roughly chopped 1 onion, finely chopped 2 celery sticks, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely grated 2 tbsp plain flour 1 tbsp tomato purée 125ml red wine 500ml beef stock 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 thyme sprigs 1 bay leaf cooked greens, to serve
For the mash topping
1kg potatoes, chopped 75ml whole milk 50g butter freshly grated nutmeg 150g cheddar, grated
1 Pat the ox cheek dry with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper, then season well. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and brown the ox cheek all over, around 6-8 mins. Remove from the pan, leaving any oil behind.
2 Drizzle the remaining oil into the pan and turn the heat down to medium-low. Tip the carrots, onion and celery into the pan, stir and cook for 10-12 mins until softened but not golden. Stir in the garlic, cook for 1 min, then tip in the flour and tomato purée and cook for 1 min. Pour in the wine, cook for a few minutes to evaporate the alcohol, then add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and bay leaf. Put the ox cheek back into the pan, then cover and simmer for 3 hrs until tender. (You could also transfer everything to a slow cooker at this point and cook for 5 hrs on high or 7 hrs on low.)
3 About 30 mins before the ox cheek has finished cooking, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the potatoes for 15-20 mins until tender. Drain and leave in the colander for around 10 mins to steam-dry a little. If you’re not freezing this dish ahead, heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Mash the potatoes well, or press through a ricer to ensure they are finely mashed. With the mashed potato back in the pan, pour in the milk, add the butter, grate in a little nutmeg and stir until the butter has melted in the residual heat.
4 Shred the ox cheek in its gravy using two forks so that it’s broken down a little – this will help ensure the potato sits evenly on top. Tip the ox cheek mixture into a freezable ovenproof dish, then spoon over the mash. Use a fork to drag ridges through
