These delicious beef cheeks are the first recipe of our camp cooking series. Dwayne and I have hit the road with a camper trailer, travelling from Darwin to Adelaide, camping and cooking on the way.

How did this come about?

As you may know, we have lived on our boat for the last six years. Earlier this year we sailed from Phuket on SY Nomad, a yacht that we agreed to deliver to Sydney for friends of ours.

However, two months later, COVID-19 messed up our plans, and now our current home is a camper trailer until we can get back to our boat SV Thorfinn (after delivering SY Nomad). It is great to be camping again, and we love cooking on the campfire.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting camp cooking recipes including lamb shanks, quiche in the camp oven (dutch oven) and chicken pot pie. I hope you enjoy this series. To see more about the places we visit, have a look at www.trippinturpins.com

• 

• 

• 

Our Camp Kitchen

We cooked these delicious braised beef cheeks in the Florence Falls Camp Ground at Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory.

4 beef cheeks (also ok for 2 cheeks)
1 Tbs flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cracked pepper
2 Tbs canola oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1-2 celery, diced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups red wine
1 cup beef stock
4 bay leaves,
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Method

Mix flour, salt and pepper. Dust the beef cheeks with flour mix. Heat oil and brown the cheeks on both sides.

Remove the cheeks and add, onions, garlic, carrot and celery to the pan. Sauté over medium until onion becomes transparent. Add the two cups wine and cook to reduce wine a little.

Put beef cheeks into the camp oven, add red wine veggie mix, beef stock, bay leaves, thyme.

Cook slowly with the heat at top and bottom of the camp oven for three to four hours. The cheeks are cooked when you stick a pair of tongs into one, and the meat falls apart.

I served my beef cheeks with mashed parsnip and blanched capsicum and beans.

• 

• 

Cooking in a camp oven on an open fire takes a lot of practice. Start off adding a few coals or heat beads beneath your camp oven and twice as much on top. Have a look in 15 minutes to see if it is cooking the way you want it to and add more heat, or remove heat, as needed. With practice, you will soon learn how to control the temperature. Remember that several factors will vary your heat, e.g. ambient air temperature, the type of wood/fuel you are using.

Cooking in your oven – 160C/320F for 3 1/2 – 4 hours .

If you like this recipe please share or pin using the image below, thank you!