Well, this was fabulous! It's from a booklet the butcher gave me. The site is
www.tuck-in.com and has lots of really good looking beef and lamb dishes. Hope this cut'n'paste works. I thickened the gravy a very little just with cornflour. I feel it would be sacriledge to use gravy granules (and don't have any anyway)
The cheesy/mustardy croutons were fab and just perfect with the pretty hearty casserole - potatoes might be too much/rice or pasta would be just 'wrong'
Brisket of Beef with Brown Ale
Serves: 4-6
Time to cook: Approximately 2 hours +
optional overnight marinating
Oven temperature:Gas mark 4-5, 180ºC, 350ºF
Take.
Lean beef brisket joint
Brown Ale
Oil
Shallots
Garlic
Bay leaf
Brown sugar
Worcestershire sauce
Tomato purée
Ground black pepper
Small turnips
Carrots
Gravy granules
Make. - Place 1.5kg (3lb) lean beef brisket joint in a large bowl and pour over 450ml (¾pt) Brown Ale, cover and leave for 24 hours or overnight. (If you don’t have time to marinate the joint, just add the ale after the garlic in the paragraph below). Drain joint, reserve ale and pat dry the meat.
- Heat 15ml (1tbsp) oil in a pan and fry the meat to brown all over. Transfer to a large casserole dish. Fry 8-10 shallots, peeled, and 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed. Add the reserved marinated ale and bring to the boil. Add 1 bay leaf, 15ml (1tbsp) brown sugar, 30ml (2tbsp) Worcestershire sauce, 15ml (1tbsp) tomato purée and black pepper. Pour over the brisket. Cover and cook in oven for 45 minutes. Add 4 small turnips, peeled and quartered (left whole if small), and 2 carrots, peeled and quartered, to the casserole, baste the brisket and replace the lid. Return to oven for ¾-1 hour or until meat is tender.
- Remove the brisket and vegetables from the casserole, keep the vegetables warm and transfer the meat to a carving plate, cover lightly in foil and leave to rest. Drain the juices into a saucepan and thicken with gravy granules.
Eat.
Serve with cheesy croutons (thick slices of French stick buttered and spread with wholegrain mustard piled with your favourite regional cheese, grated and placed under the grill until bubbling), gravy and a pile of steaming seasonal vegetables