Brown the meat

1. Bring the beef cheeks to room temperature and cover with 2 tablespoons of the cooking oil. Preheat oven to 150ºC.
2. Heat a skillet or heavy pan over medium to high heat and brown the beef cheek. Leave it for about 3-4 minutes before turning to each side. It will take about 15 minutes to brown properly.
3. Once the beef is fully browned on all sides, remove from it from the pan/skillet and turn off the heat. Deglaze the pan with 125 millilitres of red wine.

Build the aromatics

1. While the meat is browning, in a large dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil over medium heat. Add the carrot, onion and celery to the oil and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften and begin to colour.
2. Add the tomato paste and garlic and cook for a further two minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Layer the herbs on top of the cooked vegetables, then the meat. Add the deglazed pan juices to the pot and the beef stock. You want the liquid to cover half to three quarters of the meat. You may need to add some extra water.

Braising time!

1. Turn the heat up to bring the liquid to the boil then cover the dutch oven with its lid and transfer to the oven for 2.5 hours.
2. The beef cheeks are done when you can pierce with a sharp knife with little resistance. You don’t need to cook it until it falls apart. Remove the meat when it is cooked and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Strain the solids from the cooking liquid and discard them, saving 250 millilitres of the liquid to make the sauce.

To make the sauce

1. To make the sauce, in a saucepan or pan, reduce the rest of the red wine and red wine vinegar until it becomes a syrup consistency.
2. Add 250 millilitres of the cooking liquid to this and reduce until glossy and viscous, coating the back of a spoon. Remove from heat.
3. Season to taste (I rarely need to add salt to this dish) Add the chives to the sauce just before serving.

To serve

1. Slice the beef cheek into 1 centimetre slices and reheat in a hot pan with remaining cooking oil. It should go a little crispy on the edges, but again, you don’t want it to start falling apart.
2. Serve the beef cheeks with the sauce spooned over the top.