By Liane Arno
MATT has always wanted to stay in the Yarra Valley Grand Hotel’s Tower Room. The hotel was built in 1888, is two storeys and is typical of its era, being grand and ornate. The twist is that it has a tower on its southern side and it’s there that Matt had his heart set on.
We arrived for a late lunch and before checking in enjoyed their “Winter Warmer” which consisted of beef cheeks on mash accompanied by a glass of Penfold’s St Henri. What a combination! The beef cheeks required no knife – just a fork to pull apart. It also served as a reminder to never drink cheap plonk again!
MATT has always wanted to stay in the Yarra Valley Grand Hotel’s Tower Room. The hotel was built in 1888, is two storeys and is typical of its era, being grand and ornate. The twist is that it has a tower on its southern side and it’s there that Matt had his heart set on.
We arrived for a late lunch and before checking in enjoyed their “Winter Warmer” which consisted of beef cheeks on mash accompanied by a glass of Penfold’s St Henri. What a combination! The beef cheeks required no knife – just a fork to pull apart. It also served as a reminder to never drink cheap plonk again!
Part of the booking was a complimentary bottle of wine which came as we indulged in another purchased bottle. At some time during the meal the manager came over and (I suspect considered the amount of wine already consumed) pronounced he had upgraded us to an apartment on the ground floor as the Tower Room was “stair heavy”. We thanked him for his kindness but told him we were there specifically to stay in the Tower Room and we were up for the challenge of the stairs.
When we finally got to our room we opened the door and Matt was a little disappointed as the room showed little sign of it being the size mentioned when we booked it. But then we realised the floor plan size extended to the next level which was our own personal TV and cocktail lounge, onto the next level which was our own reading room and then onto the roof, which we had all to ourselves, looking out over Yarra Glen. It was magical.
In the morning on the way back home we had to buy some beef cheeks to experiment with. I think we managed it. See what you think.
Sauté in a frying pan:
Reduce the heat in the frypan to medium and add:
Stir in
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes until the liquid is reduced by about a third.
Add to the crockpot which has the beef cheeks along with the bunch of thyme, a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Pour in enough beef stock to cover the meat and vegetables then put on the lid. Leave until you can pull the meat apart with a fork. Before serving, ladle out the liquid and thicken with some cornflour on top of the stove.
Karin gave us a tip to add a block of dark chocolate around half way through the cooking process. We tried with some with 70% cocoa but it was a bit too bitter for our taste so we added some dessert wine to soften it , along with a dob of butter and a couple of tablespoons of tomato puree when we thickened the sauce.
We only needed one beef cheek between us and shared a huge plate with the cheek piled on top of some evil buttery mash and some mushrooms on the side which had been sautéed with sage leaves.
When we finally got to our room we opened the door and Matt was a little disappointed as the room showed little sign of it being the size mentioned when we booked it. But then we realised the floor plan size extended to the next level which was our own personal TV and cocktail lounge, onto the next level which was our own reading room and then onto the roof, which we had all to ourselves, looking out over Yarra Glen. It was magical.
In the morning on the way back home we had to buy some beef cheeks to experiment with. I think we managed it. See what you think.
Sauté in a frying pan:
- 4 seasoned beef cheeks that have had their excess fat, grizzle and sinew removed
Reduce the heat in the frypan to medium and add:
- a good dollop of butter
- 2 chopped onions
- 2 sliced carrots
- 2 sliced sticks of celery
- 1 head of garlic roughly chopped
Stir in
- 2 cups of stout
Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes until the liquid is reduced by about a third.
Add to the crockpot which has the beef cheeks along with the bunch of thyme, a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Pour in enough beef stock to cover the meat and vegetables then put on the lid. Leave until you can pull the meat apart with a fork. Before serving, ladle out the liquid and thicken with some cornflour on top of the stove.
Karin gave us a tip to add a block of dark chocolate around half way through the cooking process. We tried with some with 70% cocoa but it was a bit too bitter for our taste so we added some dessert wine to soften it , along with a dob of butter and a couple of tablespoons of tomato puree when we thickened the sauce.
We only needed one beef cheek between us and shared a huge plate with the cheek piled on top of some evil buttery mash and some mushrooms on the side which had been sautéed with sage leaves.