Brisket of beef recipe
This is a relatively simple dish, even though the list of ingredients looks very long! A wonderfully warming dinner party dish or perfect for a cosy Sunday lunch. It uses an inexpensive cut of meat and, through the marinating and slow cooking, transforms it into something luxurious…a good trick!
Ingredients
- 2 kg Brisket of beef, ideally on the bone
- 3 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Ground mustard seed
- 1 tsp Chilli flakes
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 3 tbsp Grated dark chocolate
- 1 tsp Ground black peppercorns
- 1 tsp Ground mace
- 1 tbsp Ground coriander seeds
- 5 Star anise
- 75 g Butter
- 500 ml Red wine
- 400 ml Whisky
- 200 ml Balsamic vinegar
- 3 l Beef stock
- 4 tbsp Dark soy sauce (Kecap Manis if you can find it)
- 3 tbsp Maple syrup
- 1 tbsp Cornflour
- 4 tbsp Brown sugar
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Main
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 30 mins
- Cooking Time: 240 mins
- Serves: 6
Step-by-step
- First of all take all of the dry ingredients except the star anise and the sugar and grind in a pestle and mortar or use a spice grinder.
- Take this mixture and rub it thoroughly into your joint of brisket.
- In a deep bowl big enough to take the joint, pour in three quarters of the wine, a splash or two of the whisky, the soy sauce and the balsamic vinegar. Put the beef in the marinade, cover and leave it for a day in the fridge turning it as regularly as you can. If you do not have as long as a day, don't panic, just leave it for as long as you can - even if it is just for an hour.
- In a large pan, put the meat and the marinade along with the beef stock and bring it to simmering point. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer for around 3 - 3½ hours or until the meat is soft and tender. During this time, make sure the liquid does not get too low and keep topping up with extra water if necessary.
- Pre-heat your oven to 200°C/ gas mark 6.
- In another saucepan, gently heat the whisky with the maple syrup, brown sugar and some of the liquor from the meat. Thicken with a little cornflour to create a glaze.
- Take the beef out of the liquor and put it into an oven proof dish. Pour some of the glaze over the meat and slip it into a very hot oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Use the rest of the glaze, add the last of the wine and the meat liquor and heat till bubbling and reduce down to make a gravy.
- Take the meat out of the oven, let it stand for a few minutes before carving the tender slices onto a platter. Drizzle a little gravy over the beef and put the rest into a jug for people to help themselves.