Grilled Oyster & Braised Cheek of Hardiesmill Beef, Borlotti Beans and Onions by Derek Johnstone, Head Chef at Borthwick Castle
I’m a huge fan of what Hardiesmill is doing; it’s so inspiring to see a local farm in the Borders taking such great care of their livestock and such pride in their produce. Hardiesmill is a real success story, and a supplier I’ve come to rely on over the past few years – not only in the day-to-day running of the kitchen at Borthwick Castle, but when I recently travelled to Sheffield to compete in the semi-finals of the Craft Guild of Chefs’ National Chef of the Year competition. Challenged to create a main course with two cuts of beef, mine had to be Hardiesmill.
This recipe I’m sharing with you today is a variation of that dish. The oyster is a very small muscle which my butcher, Brian, takes from the very end of the rib eye and at the beginning of the shoulder. This cut has a wonderful flavour and is beautifully tender, having been matured on the bone for 5 weeks. Along with the oyster, I’ve used beef cheek, slowly braised to give a completely different texture to the dish. The Hardiesmill herd are fed on grass all year round, which has a huge effect on the flavour of the meat, too.
This recipe would be perfect for a special dinner over the summer. You could even finish the oyster of beef on the barbecue if you’re feeling adventurous – it adds lots of flavour and plenty of fun!
Ingredients
For the oyster of beef:
220g beef oyster
Sea salt and pepper
Rapeseed oil
½ a clove of garlic, peeled
1 thyme sprig
For the braised beef cheek:
500g beef cheek, trimmed
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 leek, diced and washed
1 celery stick, washed and chopped
500ml Chianti red wine
1 litre of veal stock
500ml brown chicken stock
1 sprig of thyme
Vegetable oil
Sea salt and pepper
For the Borlotti beans:
200g Borlotti Beans, soaked
1 x bouquet garni
500ml brown chicken stock
2g chopped tarragon leaves
20g broad beans
10g unsalted butter
20g smoked pancetta
Salt and pepper, to season
For the roasted banana shallot:
1x banana shallot
1x sprig of thyme
20g butter
Sea salt, to season
For the kibbled onions:
15g kibbled onions (also known as crispy onions, available to buy in your local supermarket)
5g panko breadcrumbs
2g grated horseradish
Method
For the oyster of beef
1. The day before cooking, marinade the meat in the thyme, garlic and rapeseed oil, and leave overnight.
2. The next day, season the meat and pan fry it on a griddle pan for 4-5 minutes on each side.
3. Allow to rest for 2 minutes before carving and plating up.
For the braised beef cheek
1. In a heavy-based pan, heat the oil until hot and add the seasoned beef cheek.
2. Colour until golden brown and caramelised all over, then remove from the pan.
3. Add all the chopped vegetables except the leeks. Allow to caramelise, then add the leeks and cook until soft.
4. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside with the beef shin.
5. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, and cook until the wine has been reduced by two thirds. Add the cheek and vegetables to the deglaze.
6. Cover with veal stock and chicken stock and add the thyme.
7. Cover with a cartouche and cook slowly for 8 hours, or until tender.
8. Once the beef cheek is cooked, allow to cool in the liquid until able to touch. Remove the cheek from the cooking juices and roll tightly in cling film until you get a perfect cylinder. Chill until required.
9. Pass the liquid through a fine sieve and reduce by two thirds, then taste and adjust the seasoning.
For the Borlotti beans
1. Soak the dried beans in water.
2. Bring the chicken stock to the boil and add the beans, pancetta and bouquet garni.
3. Cook for 1 hour until the beans are tender, then remove the bouquet garni, pancetta pieces and reduce the stock.
4. Add the butter to thicken the stock then add the chopped tarragon and broad beans.
5. Warm through, then season and serve.
For the roasted banana shallot
1. Wash the shallot and cut in half vertically.
2. In a hot pan, place the shallots presentation side down.
3. Once a little colour is achieved, add the butter and thyme, and cook the shallot through in the oven until golden and tender.
4. Remove from the oven, remove the skin, and season. Serve hot immediately.
For the kibbled onions
1. Mix the kibbled onions together with the bread crumbs and grated horseradish.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here