To be completely honest with you, I stumble upon this creation when I was unable to purchase the cut of meat that I wanted!
I’ve never tired to cook with brisket before as it is typically a tough cut of meat with a lot of fatty connective tissue, but I had a lot of time on my hands and was able to put the love and care into it that it deserves. Taking the time to slow cook this cut of meat can counteract the toughness and render down the tissue making so it can literally fall apart as you try to carve it. With that said, I would love to have cooked it for longer and on a slower heat but the result was still amazing and very tasty.
I think part of the success of this dish was down to the herby, peppery crust that I coated the meat on. I used whole pepper corns in this instant and a pestle and mortar to create the crushed effect for the crust but if these aren’t things that are available to you, it can be done with cracked black pepper and mixing the ingredients of the crust in a bowl.
Rosemary and Pepper Crusted Beef Brisket
Serves 4
Ingredients for the Crust (The amount really depends of the size of your cut of meat):
- Oil (I always use olive oil)
- Dried or fresh rosemary
- Whole Black Pepper Corns (or pre-crushed)
- Salt
Ingredients for slow cooking the beef: - 1kg Beef Brisket
- Rich Beef Stock, 400ml
- Red Wine, 100ml (I used Merlot)
- 1 Large Red Onion, peeled and quartered
- 2/3 Large Carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 3 Large Cloves of Garlic, peeled but whole
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 150C for a fan oven. Take the beef out of a chilled fridge and allow for it to reach room temperature before you start cooking.
- While the oven is heating, crush all the ingredients for the crust using a pestle and mortar – or thoroughly mix together in a bowl until the oil incorporates it all into a sticky, chunky paste. Put to the side until needed.
- Using a deep, ovenproof dish place the carrots, onion and garlic into the bottom creating a bed for the crusted brisket to sit on. Once this is done, start patting the crust mixture onto the beef making sure to coat every side of the beef (see the first image above), and place on the bed of veggies.
- Combine the red wine and stock before gently pouring it over the meat ensuring that the veggies and the bottom of the brisket are completely covered, If you have a larger pan or a bigger joint of meat, add more beef stock so the carrots don’t dry out during the cooking process. The place into the centre of the pre-heated oven.
- After half an hour at 150, turn the oven to 120C.
- Cook beef for a further 2 hours, keeping an eye on the stock level to baste, don’t allow it to dry out.
- Rest for 30 minutes before serving. Serve with the carrots and onions, and the thicken stock as a sauce.
The Recipe Webb 