Make Me this Weekend

BEHOLD THE BRISKET

But, not quite yet. I couldn't start with a photo of all that meatyness - whilst it tastes mighty delicious, it doesn't look quite as beautiful. This is a photo of the rose I call Rosiebella - planted for our beautiful dog Rosie some years ago. It is in fact Souvenir de la Malmaison - a vigorous climber and a prolific flowerer. The crystal bowl is also quite special and a new addition to my home - bequeathed from my aunt to my sister - sadly both have passed on. My sisters house was sold recently and the girls as they were packing thought I would love this. I love it a lot.

But to the brisket - I promised you the recipe that Jean and the girls put together for the student group dinner recently (you can see the photos of the dinner on facebook). Brisket is a hugely underrated cut - incredibly cheap only requiring a little bit of your attention and a lot of time in the oven. I used Warren and Lori Pensinis Blackwood Valley Beef - when we were visiting the farm, Warren was saying that they are unable to sell many of the lesser cuts - people only want the prime cuts such as roast and steak, perhaps a bit of chuck here and there. But, a cow has many other parts to it and we need to use all of them. This is a superb cut for a hungry family (read growing boys) and will provide an enormous amount of meat to use when cooked, and for the week.






Once rubbed with the spices, it needs to cook over a long period of time at a low temperature - we cooked it 100c in a fan forced oven for 13 - 15 hours, but you can do a little higher (approx 120c) for 8 hours.  Before you flip out at that, consider that you could put this on at about 7pm on a Friday or Saturday night, and have it ready for lunch the next day (with leftovers). It takes about 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to shred at the end. That's it. And it's cheap. You can see from the picture that this is a big piece of meat - 2 - 3kg whole (as a slab) with the fat still on - this is how you want it.

Having shredded the meat once cooked, Jillian is separating the meat from the juices, to reduce the juices down into a thick sauce.

This would be delicious served with roast vegetables, salad and superb stuffed into a burger - it would be especially delicious with a cultured beetroot pickle. 

So, having spent the last week unpacking the commercial kitchen into my home and having a mini collapse of exhaustion, I also made a wedding cake for a small wedding - I thought you'd like to have a peek. It's an heirloom carrot cake (freshly pulled from my garden) thick with beautiful nuts, shredded coconut and very little sugar (rapadura). I used the recipe from Wholefood, heal, nourish, delight - reducing the sugar and using rapadura. The clients wanted very little sugar - the trick was in the icing, as they also wanted a lovely creamy, fully iced cake. We settled on the Better Buttercream, as it enables one to use a semi refined golden icing sugar in small amounts - as you whip the butter it lightens the colour of the icing so it is not as brown - I also replaced the lime with lemon. You can find that recipe in Coming Home to Eat (Wholefood for the Family) and Wholefood for Children - Nourishing Young Children with Whole and Organic Foods. It's not hard at all, I promise and a beautiful way to celebrate spring.

Margo and Bills wedding cake with season blossom - I especially love the rocket blossom around the base

 I hope you enjoy them both .... x Jude

BRISKET

Make sure you ask for brisket as a slab on the bone and ensure it is covered well. If you are cooking it in a baking tray and need to cover with paper and foil, be very careful that is won't fly apart in the movement generated by a fan in the oven. This will dry the meat out over a long cooking period. Cover that baby well !!

2.5 - 3kg brisket

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

1 tablespoon sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cinnamon (ours was very strong, so you may need more)

1 tablespoon juniper berries

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

125 ml vino cotto

700 gm crushed tomatoes

3 garlic cloves - crushed

2 generous sprigs fresh rosemary

Pre heat oven to 120c (fan forced, increase the temperature for a conventional oven).

Place the brisket in a heavy duty roasting pan with a snug fit. 

In a small bowl combine the dry spices with the mustard. Rub the mixture on the brisket. Pour the crushed tomatoes and vino cotto into the bottom of the pan with rosemary sprigs.

Cover with parchment paper and aluminium foil (or a lid if you have one rather than the foil - if using a lid, still cover the meat with parchment). If using foil, take care to ensure it is well sealed and there are not air holes. 

Place in the oven and cook until the meat is literally falling off the bone - at least 8 hours. You should be able to pull the bones out by hand and the meat should come apart with gentle persuasion from a table fork. Remove from the oven and allow the meat to cool a little in the juices. You may need to skim some of the rendered fat from the surface of the juices (you can keep this for cooking!).

Shred the meat, discarding any of the fatty pieces and return it back to the pan juices for serving.