Braised Ox Cheek, Horseradish mash potatoes, bone marrow, roasted carrots, and topped with sourdough breadcrumbs

One of Jason Atherton’s signature dishes at his michelin starred Pollen Street Social, this adaption comes from his book ‘Social Supper’ and is great for dinner parties. Not too difficult to make, but taste and look incredible

Braised ox cheek, carrots, bone marrow, sourdough crumbs, horseradish mash

Out of all the famous Chefs here in the UK, Jason Atherton is by far one of my favourite. I have been to many of his restaurants, and collected most of his cook books. One thing I like about his books is that they can be tricky and require certain amount of chef skills, but completely doable at home if you put the patience in it. He has the tendency to add some unusual twists into things that transform the dishes from good to excellent.

I made this as the main course for a dinner I hosted a few weeks back. Usually Ox cheek and bone marrows are things that you only have at restaurants – but actually they can be readily procured at your local Waitrose (hate to admit it but it is kind of true that if you are looking for posh ingredients, Waitrose is likely to have it).

As much as these two ingredients forms the focus of this dish, what make it great really is the sourdough crumbs, braised carrots and horseradish mash potato. The carrots, when glazed properly, looks great and rustic; whereas horseradish really add an unusual twist to the dish that goes really well with the heavy, almost sickly ox cheek and red wine sauce. The breadcrumbs add a crunchy texture to the mix of otherwise soft and heavy ingredients, and plays a crucial role in bringing the whole dish together.

Braised ox cheek ingredients

Put the ox cheek and ingredients in a pot and chill overnight

Simmer ox cheek for 3 hours until tender

Boil carrots in chicken stock and butter; drain and toss in butter until tender and glazed

Finished product

If you have a dinner party next time – try this!

One last note – since this is a pretty heavy dish, I’d suggest getting something light for a dessert (aka not sticky toffee pudding!)

Ingredients: (serves 6)

Ox cheek:
4 ox cheeks
2 onions, 2 celery stalks, 2 carrots
6 cloves of garlic, small handful thyme, 1 tpsp black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves
750ml red wine, 200ml port
pinch of salt

Horseradish mash potato:
150g creamed horseradish sauce (just the cheapest ones work)
1kg potatoes
300ml whole milke
100g unsalted butter

Breadcrumbs:
1/4 loaf sourdough, crusts removed
50g unsalted butter
a teaspoon of thyme leaves

Roasted carrots:
250ml chicken stock
100g unsalted butter
4 small carrots, trimmed by left whole

Bone marrow:
6 x 7-8cm veal bone marrows

Fo the ox cheek: Put the ox cheek in large pot along with remaining ingredients, cover and chill overnight.
The next day, add a pinch of salt and pepper bring the pot to summer. Skim off impurities which rise to the surface. Lower the heat, place a circle of greaseproof paper over the ox cheeks (very important in order to stop it from overflowing), and gently simmer for 3 hours until cheeks are tender. Leave to cool in cooking liquid.
Remove ox cheeks and strain the sauce through a sieve (best to press down on the veg to extract all the juices). Put the sauce into a saucepan and simmer until reduced to a syrupy consistency (around10-15 min). Reheat the ox cheek in the sauce before serving
For the horseradish mash: peel potato and put in large pan of cold salted water. Bring to boil and then turn down to simmer for 20-30 minutes until easy to pierce with sharp knife. Mash the potato with a masher (and push them through a fine sieve to make them really smooth). Heat milk and butter in the saucepan until melted, and then slowly add to the potato, followed by horseradish cream. Add more salt and pepper to season
For the breadcrumbs: blitz the bread to small crumbs in a food processor. Melt butter in a frying pan, add breadcrumb and fry for 5 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Stir through the thyme leaves and leave to cool on a piece of kitchen paper
For the roasted carrots: boil chicken stock with 75g of butter, then add the carrot for 6-8 minutes until begin to soften. Remove carrot until ready to serve. Before serving, toss carrots with the remaining butter for 5-7 minutes until tender and well glazed.
For the bonemarrow (this is an easy one): reheat oven to 180 deg, and then place the bone marrow on a baking tray, seasoned with salt and pepper and bake for 10-15 minutes. It should be wobbly but not melting away, so do keep a close eye on it (otherwise you will end up with a puddle of oil!).
To serve, spoon the mash into a serving bowl / plate; divide the ox cheek and place on top of it. Place the carrots and bone marrow next to them. Drizzle over the remaining sauce and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top