Thrifty brisket: a beautiful slow-braised beefy treat.
So, starting the year as we mean to go on, then, my next recipe is a little belter. Brisket is a firm favourite in our house. I love it because it’s a ‘bung it in and forget about it’ type of recipe, and the brevren and Hubby like the meltingly tender meat and rich sauce. We have it with mashed potato usually (not really your diet option, so substitute with mashed sweet potato or maybe puréed parsnip, if you’re watching the poundage) and it always does at least two meals. Our lovely local butcher does a great brisket joint (I’ve not weighed it, unfortunately – I’ll remember next time) quite reasonably and it does two meals for the four of us easily.
The anatomy lesson
First, then, the cut. Don’t let the look of it put you off: it’s kind of a rolled up bit of meat with a covering of fat. And yes, it’s possibly one of the cheaper cuts, but slow-roasted, well, braised, technically, it’s delicious. If you imagine a cow (come on, join in), imagine where its breast would be, kind of between its front legs, and that’s where the brisket is (thanks as always to Jimmy’s Farm for my rather dodgy butchery knowledge – ‘first, take your cow…’), so it does a bit of work and therefore has its fair share of connective tissue. A long, slow cook is what’s needed here, then, and you’ll be rewarded by a luscious, tender result.
Recipe
It’s a bit of a laugh to even CALL this a recipe, frankly. All you’ll need is onions and stock. If, like me, you occasionally snaffle leftover bits and bobs of soup and gravy and bag them in the freezer, this is the time to get them all out. A little leftover tomato sauce (as I’ve used here) and a little leftover beef gravy will all go towards making this sauce even more delicious. Still, if all you have is a couple of stock cubes that’s fine too.
It’s difficult to give an exact estimate because you’ll need enough liquid to cover the beef and this will depend on the size of your casserole, but you might need a couple of litres, give or take.
You’ll also need a good, sturdy ovenproof casserole with a lid.
Method
Preheat the oven to gas 4/180.
Heat up a tablespoon of oil in your heavy pot and chuck in one or two sliced onions. Heat gently until they’re translucent, then reserve them while you crank up the heat and pop in your brisket. Give it a good browning on all sides (this all adds to the flavour), then add back the onions. Pour in the stock (adding in any leftover bits of sauces or gravies you’ve previously frozen), making sure it’s well covered. Don’t season it at this stage, as stock (and leftover gravy) can be a bit salty, plus you’re going to concentrate it.
Pop on the lid and put it into the oven for a couple of hours. You can just leave it the full four hours, but I like to give it a little twiddle after two:
Carefully lift out the meat onto a board, snip the strings holding the meat in a roll and discard them. This will ‘uncurl’ your brisket and allow you to cut it up into two or three manageable chunks. Once you’ve done this, you can see where the extra fat is and trim it all off (this obviously makes it a lot more healthy too). Pop it back into the stock, topping up if it’s looking a bit low, and sprinkle over a tablespoon of plain flour. This will give the finished sauce a bit of ‘oomph’ – again, not compulsory. Put the lid back on and leave it for another couple of hours.
The finished result will be melty, soft meat and a rich, gorgeous sauce. Taste to check the seasoning, then serve, as above, with mashed sweet potato, or even rice an plenty of veggies.
The leftover meat can be sliced and used in sandwiches or whatever, but I like to take two forks and shred it into the sauce. I either freeze it, or use it the next day, maybe with a little extra squirt of tomato purée, spooned over pasta.
Twiddles
As you know, I love a twiddle, and this is MADE for twiddling. I’ve made a spicy version for friends, with lots of spices added and fried off with the onions at the beginning, and some of the stock replaced with tomato passata, and I’ve also done a vegetable-enhanced one with chopped leek, carrots and potatoes popped in when the meat has about an hour to go. Delicious.
Buying online
The success of this dish will be dictated by the quality of the meat used. If you don’t have a local butcher, or yours isn’t able to supply you with the cut or breed you need, you can order from new online butchers, Farmison.
9 Responses to “Thrifty brisket: a beautiful slow-braised beefy treat.”
Hmmm, I think I have a half a ham sandwich left in the fridge. I’ll just have to go see…
Can I assume it’s okay to cook in a stout/stock mixture? We likes our Beef in Guinness around here.
Mr Eccles got 3 ham hocks for €6 last week and we baked them for 3.5hrs. The meat fell off the bone. As my Mammy would say, there was eating and drinking on them!! We got dinners and lunches out of them. Trifty and delicious