With Thursday marking the start of Great British Beef Week what else could possibly feature on today’s post?! Beef it is.
Maybe I am bias, having spent my childhood summers on our family’s cattle farm in Scotland, but British beef is fantastic! Cows have been kept on our brilliant little island for over 6,000 years, ever since the first farmers settled, and now over 80 breeds graze in our green and pleasant land.
On route back from an Easter spent with my father’s family in North Wales we stopped off at Bodnant Welsh Food (well worth a visit if you are in the area) and bought a good hunk of Welsh Black beef- a great breed and a truly British one.
Sunday’s in my family are rarely spent lazing around the house and so slow roasted meats are a perfect solution for the requisite Sunday roast- popped in the oven in the morning and ready in the evening regardless of how the day has unfolded. Unlikely to be overcooked and providing easy leftovers for when there is less time in the following week (and of course delicious) they are an ideal Sunday supper.
The beef I had bought was a good 2lb chunk of brisket- perfectly suited to the slow cooking treatment. After 6 hours in the oven it fell apart ready to be enrobed in it’s cooking sauce and served with a dollop of soured cream and a mound of creamy mash. (The roast potatoes had a week off!).
The inspiration comes from a BBQ sauce I made for pulled pork buns last summer which had featured on the cover of a BBC good food magazine. The recipe makes a pretty spicy sauce so leave out the extra chilli if you aren’t spice fans, or cool it down with soured cream like we did.
This week is looking pretty busy and so the easy leftovers will be very welcome- either atop baked potatoes or mixed with beans wrapped in tortillas for Welsh enchiladas I think!
Recipe
Adapted from BBC Good Food
Serves 8
2 red onions
2 cloves of garlic
Oil
1.2kg beef brisket (rolled)
100ml cider vinegar
50g dark soft sugar
1.5tsp English mustard powder
1.5tsp smoked paprika
1.5tsp celery salt
2tsp chipotle paste
2tsp chilli powder
1tbsp Wostershire sauce
500g passata
1tbsp treacle
- Preheat the oven to 140°C
- Gently soften the onions and garlic in a pan for 10 or so minutes.
- Remove the onions and garlic from the pan and set aside. Turn the head up, add a little more oil and brown the beef all over until a lovely capable colour.
- Pop the onions and garlic back in with the beef, add the rest of the ingredients to the pan, brush the beef with the treacle and bring to the boil. When it begins to boil put a lid on the pan or seal completely with a few layers of foil (I use both to be certain) and put in the oven. Roast for 6 hours turning the beef every couple (when the smell is too tempting not to have a peak).
- When you are ready to eat pull the meat apart with two forks and mix it into the sauce.
- Serve with a dollop of soured cream on top and mashed potatoes, in burger buns in the summer with some crunchy coleslaw or atop steaming baked potatoes. (Or make extra beef and try all three!)