MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH BRISKET WITH TOMATO SAUCE,Slow-Cooker, Make-ahead

Beef so tender it can be cut with a spoon - a treat that won't break the bank

Beef Brisket with Tomato & Vegetable Sauce
'The beef was wonderful; it melts in the mouth!'  Taster 

This 67 recipe for a delicious less expensive beef joint is easy-peasy and healthy.  

Beef brisket is cut from just below the shoulder; it's muscular and firm and needs long slow cooking.  

Corned beef is pre-brined brisket but 67 wanted plenty of flavour without added salt.  The recipe was developed for a slow cooker and it produced beef so tender it could be cut with a spoon.  Unlike many cooked briskets, the meat can be sliced and doesn't fall apart.  It is so flavourful, expect requests for second helpings.   

The simple, delicious sauce is packed with vegetables, adding ultra-healthy vitamins and minerals.  

Cook the brisket in a slow cooker for 7-8 hours overnight (when electricity is cheapest) then refrigerate it so that any fat can solidify and be lifted or scraped off.  Reheat before serving. 

Cost: £6-8 per kilo plus £1.50 for other ingredients 
Feeds: 4 generously

Ingred:
    1 kilo slab of plain/un-brined brisket, trimmed of fat & gristle (it may come trussed up like a roast; remove the string and unroll it)
    1-2 leeks, coarsely chopped and thoroughly rinsed
    1 onion, coarsely chopped
    2 large sticks celery, in 2 inch/ 4cm chunks
    2 med carrots, in 2 inch/4 cm chunks
    1 tin chopped tomatoes 
    8 oz/ 225 ml tomato juice
    2 tbsp tomato puree
    3-4 tbsp brandy or red wine/grape juice
    1 tsp thyme
    1 tsp oregano
    pepper & salt
    stock or water

Method:

1. Generously salt and pepper both sides of brisket.
2. If you have the time and energy, brown on both sides.
3. Scatter leeks, onion, celery & carrots in bottom of slow cooker
4. Place brisket on top
5. Pour tomatoes, tomato juice, brandy/wine & tomato puree over the meat.  Scatter with herbs
6. Pour in an inch of water 
7. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or until meat is tender but still sliceable; remove meat, cool & refrigerate overnight
8. Allow the veg & juices to cool;  refrigerate overnight or until the fat solidifies and can be lifted off
9. When ready to serve, blitz the veg & juices to a thick sauce; taste for pepper & salt; add more tomato juice if needed
10. Return meat to sauce and warm through
11. Serve with mashed sweet potato and a melange of lightly boiled vegetables - broccoli, mange tout & carrots

Comments:
'The most tender piece of beef I have eaten in a long time.'  40+ political agent 
'I loved it; it was so tender.  And the sauce was wonderful.     20+ fund-raiser

Tips: 

• to oven roast, prepare as for the slow cooker, perhaps adding a bit more liquid, cover and bake at 325/f160c for between 2-3 hours.
• add vertically halved washed but unpeeled sweet potato 2 hours before end of cooking; scoop out the soft flesh before serving. add butter, a little salt and plenty of pepper
• cook densest vegetables longest in boiling water: carrots 5 mins, then add broccoli and mange tout for 2 mins

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This recipe was developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.