Simple Slow Cooker Beef Goulash, but with loads of flavour

You know me, I like recipes that are simple.  Not just because they are easy to make (and that's an undeniable truth), but because a few good ingredients, combined with care, seem to make such excellent dishes.

I spotted this Goulash recipe on the goodfoodchannel.co.uk website and was immediately attracted to it because of the shortness of its ingredients list.  Now I know there are those amongst you who will tut and say "it's not authentic!", but the way I see it, Goulash has been made for so many years by so many different ethnicities of people, that it's probably like my favourite Cottage Pie, in that there are many ways of producing what amounts to the same thing.

So let me say from the word go, that with this recipe I wasn't looking to make an "authentic" Eastern European Goulash, but a Goulash-style beef stew that would fill empty corners and warm the cockles of our hearts.  After all, with the snow that's been blowing around our garden, our hearts have needed their cockles warming from time to time!

Now because the recipe uses beef and because of hubby's dislike of even remotely chewy meat, I decided to use the slow cooker.  As a result, the recipe has been somewhat re-written with that in mind, but the ingredients stayed (almost) the same.  The original recipe can be found here if you are interested but don't want to use a slow cooker, otherwise, read on!

Alongside the Goulash, I serve white rice and garden peas - I just added the frozen peas to the rice saucepan with 5 minutes to go.  If you're going to do the same, allow the full five minutes as the ice of the peas reduces the heat of the boiling water and you need time for it to regain a full boil in order to finish cooking both peas and rice.

I also served some roasted carrots, beetroot, radishes and onion.  These had been tossed in sunflower oil and seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground pepper before being added to a moderate oven for 35-45 minutes' roasting.  It was the first time I'd ever roasted fresh beetroot and I was jolly impressed by the flavour, which - perhaps not surprisingly - went very well with the Goulash.  None of us were impressed by the roasted radishes though, as the roasting appeared to concentrate the cabbagey flavour in them, rather than the sweetness or pepperiness.  I don't think we'll be doing roast radishes again, somehow!

Along with the lemon soured cream - which made a pleasant change from plain soured cream and provided a lovely acidity which balanced both the Goulash and the sweetness of the roasted vegetables, the whole combination made a very acceptable Sunday dinner.  I know that I was completely stuffed by the end of it - and didn't start to get peckish again until breakfast time the next morning.  All of which, I consider a real result.

Hubby declared himself rather underwhelmed by the flavours, however I suspect he was anticipating a more pronounced smoked paprika flavour.  Smoked paprika is one of his favourites, yet I'm not so keen on it and had tamed the recipe by the use of 1 teaspoonful of sweet smoked paprika along with 1 teaspoonful of hot smoked paprika.  Although the original recipe doesn't say what type of smoked paprika to use, I know that hubby was expecting more of the hot version - which could account for his being underwhelmed.  He enjoyed the meal - loved the roasted beetroot - and was perfectly satisfied with the Goulash, just expected rather more from it than it delivered.  Son and heir thought the Goulash was "lush" and the lot disappeared - including the roast beetroot, which was a major surprise.

Personally, I really liked the end result of this recipe.  It didn't compromise on flavour and the use of fresh tomatoes instead of tinned tomatoes was a real revelation to me.  I think I'll be swapping those two in future recipes - which will be interesting, no doubt!  The red peppers were definitely there, but didn't overwhelm the flavour profile (for once).  So often, when you use red pepper in a dish, it becomes the predominant flavour.  I think because they were chargrilled peppers from a jar instead of fresh red peppers - and only 50g of them - it made all the difference.

All in all, a great cockle-warmer!

SLOW COOKER BEEF GOULASH    (serves 4)

Ingredients :

750g beef brisket, trimmed of fat and cut into chunks
1 heaped tbsp plain flour
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil - or any combination of the two
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, seeds removed and roughly chopped
50g chargrilled red peppers from a jar, rinsed if in vinegar, sliced into strips
1 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

400ml beef stock (I used Essential Cuisine beef stock)
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
zest of half a lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1-200ml soured cream.

Method :

1.  In the morning of the day you're planning on eating the Goulash, place the flour and seasonings into a large plastic bag, then add the beef cubes.  Seal the bag and give it a good shake to toss the beef in the seasoned flour.

2.  Pour the oil into a large frying pan and place over a moderate heat to bring up to temperature.  Test whether the oil is hot enough, by touching one corner of a piece of beef to the oil.  If it frizzles and fries, the oil is ready.  Add (gently!) the beef to the frying pan and reserve any remaining flour.

3.  Brown the beef to a stage where it is just beginning to caramelise, on at least three sides.  Using a slotted spoon, decant into the slow cooker, leaving any surplus oil behind.  Switch the slow cooker on, using the "low" setting if you're wanting to take all day about cooking the Goulash, or "high" if you've only got 4-5 hours.

4.  Add the onions and fry, stirring frequently, until softened and golden.  Add the garlic and turn the heat down.  Cook for another couple of minutes, taking care not to let the garlic burn.

5.  Add the tomatoes and continue to fry, until the tomato pieces have softened and begun to break up.  Add the paprika and the leftover seasoned flour and stir to combine.  Cook for another minute or so.

6.  Add the beef stock gently, stirring all the time to combine it with the pan's contents easily and not wind up with lumps.

7.  Add the sliced peppers and stir to combine.  Bring back up to a simmer, then decant the lot into the slow cooker and give everything a good stir.

8.   Cook for the requisite time (4-5 hours on high, or 9-10 hours on low).  An hour or so before you are due to serve, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary and if the sauce is rather too thin, cook with the lid half on/half off for an hour, to reduce the liquid.  However, if you're doing this, you need to keep an eye on it!

Serve with the parsley sprinkled over and the lemon soured cream beside.

Printable version

Beef Rendang - the slow cooker version

Beef Rendang, Saag Aloo & white rice : double yum factor!

I'd had this recipe, the original of which was put together by the wonderful Atul Kochhar - and who we have to thank for the inspired spicing of the dish - in my "to do" folder for some weeks.  I'd been waiting for a moment when I felt brave enough to tackle it, you see.

Having done so, I really don't know what I was worried about - as it was the easiest recipe to follow (even with my deviation into cooking with the slow cooker and taking two days over it).  The "two day" thing was purely by accident.  However, I really think that I might do that again with a curry, because they seem so much nicer the day after.  The spices all seem to mellow out beautifully the longer you leave it.

So what were my concerns?  Well, firstly, the recipe demanded fresh lemongrass which (*blush*) I hadn't ever cooked with before.  Add that to the fact that lemongrass isn't my favourite flavour - nor is it hubby's - and you can probably understand that concern.

Secondly, the recipe demanded Kaffir Lime Leaves - another ingredient that would be a first for me.  I was fairly confident that we'd enjoy the inclusion of these, however.

Thirdly, as the recipe was for a Beef Rendang I had the problem of how to cook the beef well enough to ensure that it didn't retain any "bounciness" (hubby hates chewy meat), whilst not racking up the electricity bill by using the cooker for hours on end (which sometimes is unavoidable, but can be offset by the meals around it being easy on the electricity consumption), and working out how to use the slow cooker (the best way to ensure non-bounciness and economy) to advantage, without spoiling the recipe.

Well, I'm very pleased - nay, relieved - to say that I achieved it.  Even with the deviation from the plan which was caused by hubby spotting a Flying V Guitar for sale in the local small ads, (which son & heir would have given his eye teeth for) then ringing up for it and arranging to go and view, which meant we would have to have had dinner half an hour early - which as you know, is impossible when the slow cooker is involved!  

Click to open the picture up - it's worth it!

So we made the executive decision to leave the curry until the following day (but let it do its slow cooker thing, then refrigerate until tomorrow) and have a Tuna Pasta Bake instead.  Of course, as sod's law would dictate, having made that decision we got a phone call from the seller of the guitar, saying "terribly sorry, but someone's bought it already".  *sigh*  C'est la vie.

Hence the two days' preparation.

The following day, while I was cooking the Saag Aloo (see next blog posting!) to accompany the Rendang, I separated the meat from the sauce and reduced the sauce by simmering it until it achieved the desired consistency.  I then added the meat - which served to dilute the sauce a tad as the juices combined - and continued to reduce as the meat warmed through.  I was a bit worried that the meat would begin to fall apart as the sauce reduced, which is why I separated the two to begin with.

That plan of action worked perfectly and we were left with a beautifully soft, mysteriously spiced, deep and rounded curry with wonderful flavours.  The lemongrass just disappeared into the general melange (I suspect that the blitzing it received in preparation of the original paste helped with that) and even the blisteringly hot bird's eye chilli that I used along with a red chilli, was tempered and controlled by the sugar and sweetness of the coconut milk.

The recipe I detail below is the recipe that I prepared - using the slow cooker.  If, however, you don't have one or alternatively don't want to use yours, then the original recipe can be found on the UKTV Food website here.  I also used a piece of galangal (who thinks of these names?) in my version of the recipe, purely because it came with the shallots and lemongrass.  I tasted it beforehand and it seemed to have a similar effect to ginger, so I halved the amount of ginger and included the galangal.  Certainly didn't do the recipe any harm!  If you don't have galangal, just double the amount of ginger you use.

BEEF RENDANG  (feeds 3-4)

Ingredients :

3-4 large finely diced shallots
1 stem of lemongrass, chopped
3 cloves garlic, cut into halves
a thumb-sized piece of Galangal, peeled and chopped roughly (optional)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp red chilli paste - or 2 red chillis, chopped finely (I used a red chilli and a green bird's eye chilli)
1½ tsp muscovado sugar
2 cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely shredded (I used ready-prepared ginger - 1 tsp)
1½ tsp turmeric
800g beef brisket, trimmed of all fat and cubed
3 Kaffir lime leaves
400ml tin of coconut milk.

Method :

1.  Put the shallots, lemongrass, garlic and galangal into a small food processor, add a splash of water and blitz until a paste.

2.  Heat the vegetable oil on a frying pan and fry the shallot mixture for about 5 minutes or until you can catch a fragrant toasted garlic and lemony aroma.

3.  Blitz the chillis in the same way and add them to the pan, along with the sugar.  Continue frying for another 5 minutes or until the mixture darkens and the oil separates from the paste.

4.  Add the beef and cook until lightly browned, taking care not to let the spice mix catch on the bottom of the pan.

5.  Add the ginger, turmeric, lime leaves (crushed lightly) and enough water to half-cover the meat.  Cook, uncovered, until the masala clings to the meat.

6.  Decant into the slow cooker and turn on to High.

7.  Add the coconut milk and stir to combine.  You may need to add a little more water at this stage as the sauce shouldn't be covering the meat, but be very much in evidence.

8.  Leave to cook for a minimum of 3 hours.  If cooking for longer, turn the slow cooker down to medium.

9.  It is at this stage that you can leave the curry until the following day.  Simply refrigerate once it has cooled down.

10. Remove the meat using a slotted spoon and retain.  Decant the sauce into a frying pan and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

11.  Simmer until the sauce has gained the desired consistency - one of thickened double cream.  Return the meat to the sauce and continue to simmer so as to heat the meat through and reduce the sauce back to the desired consistency.

12.  Serve.

.

Back to the Beef Stew - the changing face of Saturday's dinner!

Such a shame those dumplings were so nasty!

You remember how I was intending to make a beef stew with horseradish dumplings on Saturday, but then along came Martin with his intriguing sounding Red Dragon Beef pie?

Well, I'm afraid I had to go back to the beef stew because I couldn't find the Aduki (or Azuki) beans in time to have them soaked, cooked and ready to go.  I did find them, eventually, at Makka's Food Store in Parkstone (don't know why I didn't look there first, to be honest!).  So, I'm all set for this weekend and we'll have another go at it next Saturday.

So, that meant going back to the beef stew and horseradish dumplings.  Which was fine, except I then needed to send faithful Hubby out to fetch a parsnip and a swede.  Thus armed - and with 800g of beef brisket from Spring Fields butchers - I set about making my stew.

I love making stews because they always come out differently, depending on what ingredients you include.  This time, I didn't want to include flour as a thickener.  I thought I'd use red lentils and pearl barley.  The lentils just disappeared, which was lovely as they just added to the thickness and earthiness of the gravy.  The pearl barley just did what pearl barley does and became plump and yummy.  Unfortunately, Hubby isn't so keen on pearl barley and I can really only get away with using it in something like a stew, where it goes down along with everything else and doesn't really get in the way.  The stew came up beautifully thick and with a clarity to the gravy that just doesn't happen when you've used flour.  So I was happy with that.

It looked so good, too!

The beef, as ever, was lovely and wonder of wonders, I didn't over cook the parsnip.  In fact, I do believe some pieces were actually slightly under cooked!

However, I have to take issue with Olive Magazine's rendition of a horseradish dumpling.  The dumplings I made, according to their recipe, were not only a tad wet (which, on its own, would have been forgivable as I don't roll the dumplings but drop them straight into the stew in a kind of free-form pattern) but adopted a really odd kind of sweetness, which I imagine came from the fact that Horseradish Cream was used (as per their recipe).  Put it this way - I won't be attempting horseradish dumplings again, any time soon.  I shall stick to my good old herby dumpling mixture which always works a treat.

As a consequence, I haven't included dumplings in the recipe here.  I don't want to have you thinking that I've tried and tested the recipe and approve of it.

BEEF STEW  (serves 4-5)

Ingredients :

A tbsp of olive oil
800g beef brisket, trimmed of all fat and cut into chunks
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1-2 onions, chopped
1 clove of garlic, grated
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced
half a swede, peeled and diced
a beef oxo cube
water, to cover
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp marmite or bovril
a pinch of dried sage
a glug or two of Worcestershire Sauce
4 tbsp dried red lentils
2 tbsp dried pearl barley
2-3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 160deg C.

2.  Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and, when hot, add half the beef and sear on all sides.  When seared, decant into a deep pan or casserole dish.  Repeat with the remaining beef.


3.  Add the onion to the pan and reduce the heat.  Allow the onion to cook for around 5 minutes or until it is softened and transparent.  In the last few minutes, add the grated garlic.  When cooked, decant into the casserole dish.


4.  Add the carrot and swede to the casserole dish.


5.  To the frying pan, add enough water to approximately cover the contents of the casserole dish and begin heating it as you add the oxo cube (crumbled in), the tomato ketchup, tomato puree, marmite (or Bovril), sage and Worcestershire sauce.  Allow to come to a boil, then decant into the casserole.

6.  Add the lentils and pearl barley and stir to combine.

7.  Cover and place the casserole in the oven and cook for 90 minutes.

8.  Remove from the oven and add the potato and parsnip.  If you are adding dumplings, you may need to add a little water to increase the gravy level.  Check the seasoning and give a good stir to combine, then replace in the oven for another 60 minutes.

9.  Serve!

.

Pepperpot Beef & Orange Stew

We had this for dinner on Sunday last.  As you'll know if you've been reading along for a while, I got bored with doing the same old roasts on a Sunday and went looking for more interesting recipes to try.

However, I think I'm going to have to ban myself from buying Brisket of beef for a while, as that seems to wind up being the meat of choice for a Sunday - and that's getting just as boring as doing the same old roast chicken!  In fact, I found myself hankering for a lovely pot-roast chicken, but that may also have something to do with the fact that my reservoir of chicken stock is running low!

Anyway, the reasons I chose to do this Pepperpot Beef & Orange Stew are as follows.  For starters, it's beef and oranges.  Now you don't often find those two in the same cooking dish.  Secondly, it involved mashed red kidney beans being used as a method of thickening the gravy.  An interesting idea and one which I was keen to try out.  Lastly, it had Caribbean overtones and I'm very interested in Caribbean cooking, as I really like the combination of meat and fruit which they are very good at.

So that all amounted to an interested "I'll give that a try!".

As a first go, it didn't turn out too badly.  I made one or two mistakes which I would remedy the second time around - and which have been incorporated into the recipe below.  For example, I used the aforesaid Brisket of beef rather than the braising steak that was originally suggested.  Do you blame me? There's a whole heap of difference in the price of the two!  However, that meant that the dish would require a minimum of 2 hours cooking and a maximum of 3 hours.  Regrettably, it never occurred to me that in that time the red and yellow peppers would have been cooked away to nothing more than an ingredient in the gravy/sauce, which was a shame.  It would have been nice to have had them more prominently in the dish.  As such, I have suggested adding them a lot later into the cooking process.


I was also a little leery of putting too much chilli in - and as it happened, I would have been absolutely fine to have included the seeds, rather than binning them.  I did test the chilli on my tongue (for heat), but couldn't have paid much attention to the result, as a) I don't remember it and b) if I had have done, I'd have included the seeds!


What you wind up with, is a casserole dish full of lovely tender beef in a thick pinky-brown gravy (that's the red kidney beans) that is multi-faceted in flavour and well worth the effort of making it.


PEPPERPOT BEEF & ORANGE STEW ( serves 3-4)


Ingredients :


700g brisket of beef, trimmed and cut into small cubes
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
25g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 small red chilli, de-seeded (if it's a hot one!) and chopped
400ml beef stock
410g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 small orange, cut into six wedges
1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and chopped
2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves.


Method :


1.  Pre-heat the oven to 180deg C/Gas 4.


2.  Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a non-stick frying pan and add half the meat, browning all over.  Decant into a warmed casserole dish.


3.  Repeat the process with the second batch of meat, but when browned, sprinkle with the flour and add the tomato puree.  Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes without burning.  Decant the lot into the casserole dish.


4.  Give the frying pan a wipe out, then add the remainder of the oil and the onion,  ginger and chilli.  Cook gently until softened and golden brown - around 10 minutes.

5.  Take one half of the red kidney beans and mash them with a potato masher, then add them to the casserole dish, along with the whole beans.

6.  Add the stock and tip into the casserole dish, add the orange and stir to ensure everything is amalgamated.


7.  Cover the casserole dish and place into the oven for 1 hour.


8.  In the meantime, add the peppers to the frying pan and fry them lightly until just beginning to soften.


9.  At the end of the first hour, remove the casserole dish from the oven and give the contents a good stir.  Add the peppers and stir again.  Season, cover and replace into the oven for another hour and a half.


10.  Remove from the oven and test the beef.  If not tender enough, return to the oven for another half an hour.  You may need to add a little water at this stage, if the gravy/sauce has reduced too much.


11.  Once the beef is tender, remove and serve with rice and green peas with a blob of sour cream on the side.


Delicious!

Sunday roast? Naaaah - it's a beef curry for us!

Hubby suggested we have a "proper" beef curry - and I liked that idea.  I liked it a lot more when I saw that the only day I could commit that kind of time in the cooking, was Sunday.  I was looking for an excuse to not do a roast dinner for once!

Much as I love roast dinners, I was ready for a break - and making a curry was the perfect answer.

Having used Brisket of beef in two or three recipes just lately, I knew that Brisket would not only be the perfect cut of beef for the curry, but had the depth of flavour that would be required to stand up against the spice.  There then ensued a lengthy discussion about how much Brisket to buy, to make a princely curry with enough beef in large chunks.  We generally reckon that 400g of something is enough to make a dinner for three of us, however we were after a "princely" curry and 400g just didn't feel like enough.  I was swithering between 500g, 600g and 700g - but hubby beat that by suggesting 800g!  In the end, commonsense won and we opted for 650g - which turned out to be the perfect amount.

As usual, Brisket doesn't need a lot of trimming but I popped the trimmed bits of fat into a small roasting tray and cooked them alongside the curry, so that the fat would render down.  I'm collecting the liquid fat in a container which I keep in the fridge, so that the next time I'm cooking roast potatoes, I'll have some lovely dripping to use.  The dogs love the beefy crunchies that are left, too.

I cooked the Brisket for 2 hours in the oven - after flash frying to brown the meat - and then for another half an hour, once I'd added the baby corn.  The pieces were as tender as could be, without an ounce of fat in evidence.  The long slow cooking definitely agrees with the curry spices, too, allowing them time to amalgamate and the sauce time to thicken beautifully.

I ate the leftovers today, two days later - and I can confirm that the curry definitely improves over time.  So, if you've two days where it can sit in your fridge - it won't do it any harm!

BEEF & BABY CORN CURRY  (Serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

A knob of butter
a tablespoon of olive oil (or vegetable oil, if you prefer)
2 onions, sliced
650g beef Brisket, trimmed of all fat and cut into cubes
sea salt & black pepper
3 cloves garlic, grated
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, grated
a red chilli, chopped fine
2 small potatoes, peeled and diced finely
1 tsp dried Sage
2 tsp Garam Masala
4 tsp Madras curry powder
1 tsp ground Cumin
half a tsp ground Coriander
half a tsp finely ground Black Pepper
2 tomatoes, diced finely
400g tin of cherry tomatoes (or chopped tomatoes, but cherries have a better flavour)
1 beef Oxo cube
water
1 tbsp tomato puree
8 baby sweet corn, broken into thirds
a large bunch of fresh coriander, chopped fine.


Method :


1.  Heat the butter and oil in a deep sided frying pan and cook the onion, on a medium heat, until it is turning golden brown.  It is good if some of the smaller pieces of onion are a darker brown, as this all adds to the flavour.  Remove from the pan and set aside to keep warm.


2.  Turn the heat up high and once the pan is hot, sizzle the meat in order to brown it.  It is good to obtain some caramelisation on some pieces - you definitely don't want it to braise, so brown in two batches rather than overfill the pan.  Season the meat just before it is finished.  Place the meat into the casserole dish and put to keep warm.


3.  Pre-heat your oven, to 160deg C.


4.  Reduce the heat to medium and replace the onions into the pan - it is worth doing it this way around, as the meat takes on some of the onion flavour and the meat juices are amalgamated into the onions - and add the garlic, ginger, chilli, potatoes and sage and allow to cook through.  It is important not to burn the garlic, but to have everything beginning to soften.


5.  Reducing the heat again, add the Garam Masala, curry powder, Cumin, Coriander and Black pepper.  Stir through and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes.


6.  Add the chopped tomatoes, stir through and allow to cook for another 1-2 minutes.  They should be small enough that they are beginning to soften.


7.  Add the tinned tomatoes, crumble over the Oxo cube and add enough water (I used the tomato tin) to achieve a good wet saucy mixture.  Add the tomato puree and give everything a good stir.


8.  Decant the sauce into the casserole dish and stir so that the meat is well covered and everything is combined.


9.  Cover and place into the oven for 2 hours.


10.  When the 2 hours are up, remove from the oven and give a good stir.  Add the baby corn and make sure they are below the sauce level.  If the sauce is looking a little thin, put back into the oven uncovered.  Otherwise, cover and replace in the oven for another 30 minutes.


11.  Just before serving, stir through three quarters of the chopped coriander - and save a quarter for sprinkling over.


Serve with white rice and a good dollop of thick plain yoghurt.


.

A nice bit of Brisket!

Roast beef on a Sunday.

Apart from the rib of beef that I roasted for Christmas dinner, I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a piece of beef on an “ordinary” Sunday.

However, since I discovered my local butcher, beef has appeared on our menu-planning list as a regular event – but until this last weekend, not as a roasting joint.

It all began when I stopped roasting chickens and started pot roasting (or poaching) them instead.  I had such marvellous results that I’ve sworn never to roast a chicken again.

Since then, I’ve also done a pot roast with a gammon joint, again with a great deal of success.

I was reading through some of the food blogs that I follow, when up popped an entry regarding a pot roasted brisket.  Mmmmn, that sounded good.  However, I didn’t take it any further (other than mentally marking it, if ever a piece of brisket came my way) and life continued.  Right up until I saw, in the butcher’s window, a notice saying “Special Offer : 1kg rolled brisket : £3-something”.  Well, it didn’t exactly say “£3-something”, it’s just that I can’t exactly remember how much it was, other than the £3 bit.

Two things struck me about this.  Firstly, that the price was only around 50p more expensive than my usual target for the meat for a Sunday meal.  Secondly, that 1kg of brisket is one heck of a lot of meat, even allowing for shrinkage in the cooking.

It’s amazing how I find that I can remember a recipe, but I can’t remember the name of my next door neighbour (who shall be forever known as “Flossy next door”).  Immediately, I remembered the pot roasted brisket recipe, which sounded not only a great way to cook the beef, but about the only way of ensuring as little shrinkage as possible.

When Sunday dawned, I will admit to being a little bit nervous about cooking this gorgeous great hunk of beef, as it was just too good to ruin.

I started off by searing the outside of the beef on all sides – quite apart from the gorgeous smell it gives off, I do think that it adds flavour and colour which just pot roasting (which is little more than poaching) would provide alone.

Then, I added water and a stock cube and the following : two carrots, an onion and two sticks of celery – all quartered.  Plus two cloves of garlic, a big handful of fresh parsley and a bay leaf.

I then brought the liquid up to the boil, and put the whole lot in the oven for 2 hours, after which I turned the beef and put it back in the oven for another hour.

Not only was the beef the kind of texture that you could cut with a spoon, but also it tasted utterly divine.  I served it with roasted potatoes, parsnips and cauliflower with green beans – but the unexpected advantage is the stock.  If you try this recipe out, please please make your gravy from the stock.  You’ll probably never have had gravy like it before.  I’ve two pots of it in the freezer, just waiting for the next piece of brisket.

.