It’s that time of the year when we are looking for things to have warming in our ovens ready for the family to enjoy for dinner, or for friends if they happen to pop round (subject to Covid rules).
And slow cooking any joint is an absolute joy.
You can just pop it in the oven and forget all about it, but the amazing odours emanating from the kitchen will not let you forget too long and have your taste buds tingling.
This melt-in-the-mouth beef recipe from lovecelery.co.uk will see you cook the joint slowly all afternoon. What could be easier? Here celery, shallots and carrots form the basis of a rich, flavourful gravy.
Ask for the nug end of the brisket, it’s thicker and usually has better marbling so it will be more tender when it is slow cooked.
Slow cooked brisket of beef with beer, celery, shallots and herbs
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 1.5kg beef brisket (flat not rolled)
- 400ml beer, IPA is perfect
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp oil
- 4 sticks of celery, trimmed and cut into 7cm pieces, split lengthways if too thick
- 8 shallots, peeled
- 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- ½ – 1 tsp chilli flakes (to taste)
Method
- Marinade the beef in the beer, bay leaves, thyme and garlic overnight, turning once or twice. The next day remove the beef and reserve the marinade for later.
- Heat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/320F/Gas Mark 4.
- Heat the oil in a large casserole dish and brown the beef well on all sides. Remove the beef and set aside.
- Add the vegetables to the pan. Stir to coat with the beef fat, turn the heat down and cook for 5-8 minutes with the lid on.
- Stir the veg well, then stir in the sugar, Dijon mustard, tomato puree and chilli flakes.
Pour the reserved marinade into the pan, including the garlic and herbs, stir well and season. - Return the beef to the pan, if it’s not completely submerged, baste meat with the liquid and turn it halfway through the cooking.
- Cook in the oven for four hours with the lid on or until tender and the meat pulls apart.
- Once cooked, the meat should be very tender and falling apart. Shred and pull the meat apart and stir into the sauce.
- Serve with root veg mash.