Slow Roasted Beef with Mustard

Achingly slow to cook, but amazingly good to eat... this slow roasted beef is a great celebratory dish. By the time the brisket joint has had four or five hours in the oven, the meat is literally falling apart and tastes melt in the mouth delicious. Serve pulled, and spooned into white rolls that are crusty on the outside and soft on the inside - or maybe with some crispy mini roasted potatoes. Depending on whether you want more of a BBQ or traditional Sunday lunch angle, coleslaws or steamed cabbage are also great sides for this succulent slow roast beef. (Oh, and don't be put off by the picture... whole bits of brisket are, apparently, a bit tricky to photograph.)

Ingredients

  • Beef Brisket Joint
  • 2 or 3 tbsp Wholegrain Mustard
  • 2 tsp English Mustard Powder
  • 1 bottle Beer (Peroni, San Miguel?!)
  • 150ml White Wine Vinegar
  • 12 Cloves Garlic
  • 2 Large Onions
  • 1 tbsp Pickled Squash
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Fresh Thyme, Marjoram, Oregano
  • Lots of foil & baking paper

[NB The knack to keeping this Beef Brisket with Mustard recipe really healthy is making sure your joint is as lean as possible to start with - and then making sure that you spoon all the fat off each time you check the joint during cooking time.  Our brilliant village butcher trims the fat off and then rolls the joint before tying it up with string.]

Pre-heat the oven to 175˚c

Slice 2 Onions and spread them over the base of a roasting dish big enough for the Beef

Add all the whole cloves of Garlic to the dish too; also some Pickled Squash (if you happen to have some?!!); and some fresh Herbs (Oregano, Thyme, Marjoram, Bay all work) and season everything with Salt & Pepper

Put the Beef Brisket on top of the Onions and smear 2 or 3 tbsp of Wholegrain or Dijon Mustard and a couple of teaspoons of Colman’s Mustard all over it

Now pour the bottle of Beer over the joint together with 150ml White Wine Vinegar

Cover the Beef with greaseproof paper and then seal the roasting dish up by covering tightly with foil

Put in the oven at 150 – 175˚c for 4 or 5 hours, removing the foil and paper for the last 45 minutes to an hour… Check the joint every hour or so – you’re after something really succulent, where the meat is literally falling apart

Take the meat out to rest for half an hour before serving, and cook the gravy a little more to thicken it (you can do this in a frying pan on the hob or in the roasting dish in the oven)

‘Pull’ the meat apart to serve – and eat it with roasted potatoes and some crunchy greens…

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