Braised beef cheeks with a golden potato crust

Heat an enamel casserole on medium heat and add the vegetable oil. Put the flour on a plate.

Season each beef cheek with salt and pepper on both sides, one at a time, dredge it in the flour and tap off the excess.

Sear the cheeks. Do not crowd the pan and keep the meat to one layer.

Sear about ten minutes on each side, turning once, twenty minutes in all.

Transfer the cheeks to a bowl and discard any excess fat.

Melt a tablespoon of butter in the casserole without burning it.

Add the onions, chopped garlic and carrots, mix well and cook the vegetables about five minutes, stirring from time to time.

Return the cheeks and all their juices to the casserole; the juices are flavour.

Add the wine and the bouquet garni, and season again with salt and pepper.

On high heat bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the heat off.

Braise in a preheated oven at 325F for up to three hours.

Cover the potatoes with cold water, add about a teaspoon of rock salt, bring to a boil and simmer twenty minutes. Keep them undercooked; they will be peeled, sliced and finished over the meat.

Turn the heat off, drain, run cold water over the potatoes and let them cool completely.

At two hours the cheeks are half cooked; turn and flip them.

Return the pot to the oven for another hour, or until the cheeks are very tender. These took three hours twenty minutes in all.

Remove the bouquet garni, let the cheeks drain, and transfer them gently to an oven-proof dish; they break easily. Spoon the sauce over.

Raise the oven to 425F.

Slice the potatoes a little less than a quarter of an inch thick; they are firm because they are undercooked.

Lay the slices over the meat, overlapping like an apple tart, all the way around.

Brush melted butter over every slice, coating each one.

Bake at 425F about twenty minutes to golden the potatoes.

If they have not coloured, finish under the broiler on high until golden brown.