The Cottage Smallholder

Brisket of beef with root vegetables

As you know Danny haunts the Tesco *CFC when he does the evening post run to Newmarket. He finds spectacular bargains – lots of seafood (responsibly harvested otherwise passed over by his giant paws) and this week a 1 kilo joint of brisket of beef reduced to just £1.50.

I’d not cooked brisket before and discovered that this joint is ideal for the slow cooker/crock pot/low oven of the Aga. I decided to treat it a bit like our pot au feu recipe but add even more vegetables to pad out the meat. My recipe also contains a lot of delicious juice – slurped by both us and the Min Pins with relish. Somehow loads of tasty gravy seems to pad out the dish even more. Perfect for those wanting to eat less meat and more vegetables as the vegetables soak up some of the meaty taste whilst retaining their own particular flavours.

I was thrilled with the way this recipe turned out. Deep flavours of the meat – with a texture to die for – balanced with the sweetness of the root vegetables. In fact we ate this dish for three nights running until it sadly ran out. This would easily feed six greedy people (with seconds) or eight with a starter. So even with brisket of beef at full price this is an economical recipe that tastes divine. It was even better heated up gently on the second night so this recipe would be perfect for cooking in advance.

Delicious brisket of beef recipe – slow cooked with root vegetables

Ingredients:

1 kilo of brisket of beef (whole)
225g of red onions peeled and sliced roughly
350g of carrots – peeled and sliced roughly
300g of celeriac – peeled and sliced roughly
300g of parsnips – peeled and sliced roughly
100g of celery – sliced into chunks
4 medium potatoes – shin on and quartered
1 chunky garlic clove (skinned and chopped fine)
4 heaped tbsp of plain flour
1 bay leaf and twenty sprigs of thyme
Half a tsp of dried savory (herb)
1 tsp of anchovy sauce (or one anchovy)
1 tsp of Lea & Perrins (Worcestershire sauce)
1 tsp of balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp of mushroom ketchup
900 ml of hot beef stock (I used 2 beef stock cubes)

Method:
Prepare all the vegetables and put them in the slow cooker. Add the flour and stir to coat all the vegetables well.
Form a nest with the vegetables and place the beef in the middle. Scatter over the chopped garlic, savory and thyme sprigs.
In a measuring jug mix the anchovy sauce, mushroom ketchup, Lea & Perrins, balsamic vinegar and the hot beef stock. Pour the liquid over the beef and vegetables. Put on the lid and switch to high for an hour. By this time the stock should be bubbling. Turn down to low for a further six hours, check after five hours for tenderness of the beef. Ours took seven hours in total. Finally add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve in warm soup bowls with green beans or peas and hot crusty bread or floury baked potatoes.

*CFC Condemned Food Counter