• Pat dry the beef cheeks and season with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan, using 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sear the cheeks until lightly browned on each side.

  After frying off the beef cheeks, put the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, onion, carrot and celery in the frying pan with the crushed garlic and sauté for approximately 5 minutes until the onion is becoming translucent. You don’t eat these pieces, they are in there for flavour so it doesn’t matter if they aren’t pretty.

  Pour the vegetable mixture into the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour the red wine and chicken stock into the frying pan and turn the heat up to high and cook for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pan to get any remaining vegetables and garlic.

  Arrange the beef cheeks on top of the vegetable mix in the slow cooker and cover with the red wine and chicken stock. Toss in the thyme and bay leaves and stir lightly to distribute the herbs, ensuring the beef cheeks remain on top of the vegetables.

  Cook for 8 hours on low. These become so tender they melt in your mouth and very forgiving, so an extra hour here or there doesn’t hurt them. 

Cauliflower Mash

• Cut the cauliflower into small florets and steam. I usually use a microwave safe container with a splash of water, and steam until completely soft and falling apart. In my microwave, this is usually about 4 – 6 minutes.

  Once falling apart, blend the cauliflower with cubed butter, salt and pepper. Depending on the water content of your cauliflower, you can add the cream to help blend it.

  Serve the cheeks over the cauliflower mash, topped with a little bit of the juices from the pan. I give the vegetables to my non-keto boyfriend and he loves them