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Grilled Wagyu Beef Cheek With Braised Red Cabbage, Mole Sauce And Pumpkin Dauphines
Wagyu beef cheek:
1 Wagyu cheek
Beef stock to cover
Salt, pepper
Prepare the cheek:
Salt and pepper the meat. Fry meat in a cast iron pot at very high heat until nicely browned on all sides. Pour in hot beef stock and simmer until meat is literally falling apart. It cannot be too soft, as long as it is still barely holding its shape. Allow to cool in stock and place in the chiller overnight. The stock should turn into a natural jelly. Dig the meat out and scrape off as much of the jelly as you can. Slice thickly and keep chilled until needed. The slices will now feel quite hard, but they will soften up again when grilled.
Note: If Wagyu cheek is not available, substitute with any piece of meat that contains a large amount of fat and tendons as the long, slow braising will transform the tendons into a wonderful, luscious jelly.
Mole (Sauce):
1½ tbsp canola oil
½ chopped onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 chopped tomato
2tbsp pumpkin seeds, pounded
1tsp sugar
1tsp dried oregano
½tsp cinnamon powder
2½tsp red wine vinegar
40g dark chocolate
Salt, black pepper
1tsp cumin powder
250ml red wine
500ml strong duck stock
Butter to thicken
Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic. Add pumpkin seeds, oregano and cinnamon and fry for a while. Add sugar, red wine vinegar and reduce to dry. Add the chocolate, pepper, salt and cumin powder and heat through. Then add the wine and stock and simmer until reasonably thick. Finish by adding 2 cubes of butter to each 50ml portion of sauce.
Pumpkin dauphines:
1.2kg pumpkin flesh
1 litre milk
1tbsp salt
250ml water
250g butter
300g flour
8 eggs
Salt, white pepper
Peel and seed the pumpkin. Cut into thick dice. Place in a pot and cover with milk. Add salt and bring to the boil. Simmer until pumpkin is very soft. Drain the milk and mash the pumpkin. Put the water and butter in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the flour in one go and stir to make a ball. Lower the heat and keep stirring to dry the dough for a minute or two. Leave to cool a little and then work in the eggs one by one. Make sure the dough is not too hot, or it will cook the eggs! Now mix the dough with the mashed pumpkin, adjust the seasoning and leave to cool. Chill until needed. This dough will keep very well in the chiller. In fact it will rise better a day or two after it has been made. To finish, spoon small amounts into a deep fryer and fry until puffed up and golden.
To serve:
Warm sauce. Lightly oil a grill or griddle pan. Salt and pepper the meat one more time and grill very sharply, scoring a crisscross pattern on both sides. Fry the dauphines. Drop a trail of mole sauce on each plate, place a small amount of braised cabbage on the sauce, rest the slices of meat against the cabbage and place three pumpkin dauphines in the sauce.
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