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Sunday, August 29, 2010

Sweet Beef Cheek Tacos

:) These were really tasty...

Beef cheek meat is so good if cooked right. It needs to be slow roasted, braised or simmered to break down and become mouth-watering tender..
There is silver skin, etc on the meat that will take forever to remove if you try to separate it before cooking.
It's easier to cook the cheeks first.



I simmered the cheeks with beef bouillon, garlic, onion and kosher salt...




They slow simmered until fall apart tender... (about 7 hours)




I shredded the tender cheek meat....




fired up my fancy cooker, started with onions, garlic and jalapeno peppers in a bit of oil...




added the shredded beef cheek meat and some of the strained broth...





heated tortillas...








this was a plate-less meal, grab a paper towel, a hot tortilla, fill with meat and sprinkle with Hula Girl jalapeno sauce or Cholula chili lime sauce then eat!




They were so tasty.. really went well with an ice cold beer. :)



I have a nice baggie full of tender cheek meat stashed in my freezer now for another quick meal.. I'm one happy girl! :)


I forgot to mention.. if you've not tried beef cheek meat, it reminds me of beef short ribs.. rich and tender.

18 comments:

Chris said...

Pork butts and beef cheeks....what's next? Chicken tush? :)

This actually sounds really good, Jeannie. It looks even better!

Old Smoke said...

Jeanie
I have never had beef cheeks. But they sure look tasty. I love those "hands only" dinners. BTW I went back to "Wiggles" what a cutie. I don't know how I missed that post.

Rick

cowgirl said...

lol Chris...Thanks! :)

cowgirl said...

Rick, Thanks! Hope you try them sometime, they really are tasty when cooked til tender.
Thanks about Wiggles too... she's a lot of fun. :)

Frugal Canadian Hermit said...

That's another new one to me Jeanie. Looks good. I've had cow tongue and beef heart but never beef cheeks.

Bushman said...

It must be a home raised beef thing. I wouldn't know where to look for beef cheeks. We only have the 2 big superstores and I won't mention their names. No local butcher either. I do like the cook and serve option. That makes it fun. To me food is supposed to be fun. Most people I know only eat it because they have to and would live off of boxed dinners. Kudos to you and everyone else here that shares this passion!!

Faith said...

Hi there. I sort of copied your smoker only mine looks like ghetto and yours looks like mansion. I have never had beef cheeks. Probably in head cheese but not as a separate dish. You blog is great. I added it to my blog list www.aknovicegarden.blogspot.com. Thanks.

David P. Offutt - The Gastronomic Gardener said...

Hmm I like the idea of the wok on the speacial cooker - anothe ruse for the turkey fryer stand.

cowgirl said...

Mark, they are tasty.. just tender beef. I've not tried heart but hear that it's good.
Hope all is going well up there.. has cold weather set in yet? :)

Thanks Mark!

cowgirl said...

Thanks Bushman, I agree too... food should be fun! Hope you get the chance to try beef cheeks, I bet you'd like em. :)

Thanks!

cowgirl said...

Hi Faith! Thanks and it's nice to meet you! :)
Head cheese is made from a pigs head. This comes from beef. One method of cooking is to wrap a whole beef head and cook it underground. Then remove the cheek meat and everything else that is edible.
I just go the easy route and use the cheek meat.
Hope you give it a try sometime!
Thanks again...

cowgirl said...

Thanks Dave, it works great! :)

Anonymous said...

The tortillas look great. Gotta do something about your taste in beer, however, I'd go with a homebrew IPA!

cowgirl said...

lol Thank you Anonymous! I'm a light weight when it comes to drinking. Homebrew does sound good though! :)

AB- said...

Very nice Cowgirl! I've got to try this recipe. Have you ever used a pan to smoke them instead of simmering on a flame in the kitchen? How does 250F for the 7 or so hours sound?

cowgirl said...

Thanks AB! I've not tried them smoked but bet they would work. The cheek meat isn't uniform in size so some might smoke faster than other pieces. Good luck if you give it a try, I'd love to hear how it goes.
Thanks! :)

Anonymous said...

Those are definitely some SWEET looking cheeks ya have there Cowchick!! :)

cowgirl said...

Thanks Sap!! They were so tasty. :)