I’m inordinately fond of pot-roasting meat, particularly when it is a slightly less than tender cut, like brisket.
When you open the pot towards the end of the cooking time, the aroma of onions, celery, carrots and beer is as comforting as the smell of smoke from a wood fire in an open hearth.
SERVES: 6
INGREDIENTS
- 4 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
- 1.3kg boned and rolled beef brisket joint
- 20g butter
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 celery sticks, sliced
- 4 carrots, each cut into 3 pieces
- 200ml beer
- 500ml rich beef stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 tsp sugar
- Chopped parsley
- Salt and black pepper
Dumplings:
- 150g self-raising flour
- 75g suet
- Small handful of parsley, chopped
To serve:
- Colcannon (see p.262)
- Horseradish & apple sauce
METHOD
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Preheat the oven to 160°C/Fan 140°C.
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Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish and brown the brisket on all sides, then remove it and set aside. Add the butter to the pan, reduce the heat and cook the onions, celery and carrots for 5–6 minutes until golden.
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Add the beer, beef stock, bay leaf, thyme and sugar, then season well with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then immediately turn the heat down to a simmer and put the beef back in the pan. Cover with a lid, transfer to the preheated oven and cook for 2½–3 hours, turning the beef after the first hour.
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Remove the beef from the pan, transfer it to a plate and cover with foil to keep it warm.
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Mix the dumpling ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add enough water (about 100ml) to make a soft dough, then with floured hands, shape the dough into 6 balls. Bring the juices in the pan back to the boil, adding a little more stock or water if the pan looks dry. Add the dumplings, cover with the lid and return to the oven for 20 minutes until the dumplings are risen and fluffy.
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Carve the beef into thick slices. Taste the juices and add more seasoning if needed. Serve the beef with the dumplings, vegetables and meat juices and sprinkle with a little parsley. Colcannon and some horseradish and apple sauce are good accompaniments.
My reason for including this recipe in the book is that apart from the fact that it’s the first dish I ever ate at a Chinese restaurant – in Peterborough, in 1964 as it happens – it’s also a world classic but is so often ruined by tasteless crab and gloopy cornflour.
I wrote this recipe for a Greek-style filo pie after going to Mary Quicke’s farm and dairy near Exeter.
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There is, I have to confess, no need to put the vodka in the blackberry compote that accompanies these, but it does add to the sense of occasion.
What appeals to me about this salad is the combination of lightly poached chicken, bean sprouts, spring onions and herbs with roasted chopped nuts and sesame seeds, and the slightly gloopy fish sauce, lime juice and chilli dressing.
Rick Stein's French fig and frangipane tarts feature a buttery shortcrust pastry case filled with sweet almond and verdant fig.
A crisp, toasted sourdough sandwich put together quickly with a little béchamel.
A case of shortcrust pastry with plenty of leeks sweated down in butter then bound with an egg and cream mixture and baked. Delicious.
These lovely aubergine rolls are from Rick Stein's The Road to Mexico.
