Chef's Corner

Pot-Roasting Beef
Using either Brisket or Silverside
This is a wonderful way of letting the cooker do all the work for you, as these are cuts that benefit from long, slow cooking. Essentially it is a question of putting everything in a pot and placing it in the oven for approximately 3 hours while you get out into the garden and do all those things you have been meaning to do all winter. When you come back in you just need to lift out the meat and vegetables so you can thicken the rich sauce. Some crusty baked potatoes, along with steamed spring cabbage tossed in butter and caraway seeds, is an easy way of completing the picture. But you can dress it up and serve it with a creamy melting potato gratin and more exotic fresh vegetables if you prefer.

Ingredients (for 8 people)
  • 1.8 kg piece of boned and rolled brisket or silverside
  • 2 large onions – chopped
  • 4 large carrots, peeled and chopped into 1cm pieces
  • 8 baby turnips peeled - left whole if not too big, or just cut in half
  • 2 large cloves of garlic peeled and roughly chopped
  • 300ml stock made with vegetable bouillon
  • 300ml red wine
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 4 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • olive or sunflower oil
To Cook
Take a cast iron, enamelled casserole large enough to take your piece of meat comfortably. Put it on a medium heat with a tablespoon of butter, place into it the onion and sauté until the onion softens and starts to brown. In the meantime place a heavy frying pan, in which is a tablespoonful or either olive or sunflower oil, on a high heat and seal the meat on all sides. Place the meat on top of the now translucent onions and add the peeled vegetables and herbs. Add enough wine and stock to come half way up the joint - it does depend on the size of your casserole. Bring to the boil, put the lid on, and place in the cool oven of an Aga. Yes, I am sorry - this is really designed for the Aga type of cooker, but it will be just as good in a conventional gas or electric oven at gas mark 2 or 150C. Leave to cook gently for 3 hours, give or take a little. This is not as precise as roasting, when it becomes a major drama if the precious beef is left in the oven too long. This is forgiving technique and will cope with being removed from the oven and being left to stand, and then gently reheated if the job you wanted to get done in the garden took that little bit longer than anticipated.

When you are ready, lift the meat and vegetables out of the pot and keep warm. Remove the twiggy bits of herbs from the stock and then thicken it, either with a beurre manié - made by mixing a tablespoon of flour with a heaped tablespoon of softened butter - and then adding to the boiling liquid bit by bit, stirring until the mixture thickens. Alternatively, mix 1 tablespoon of cornflour with enough water or wine to slacken the mixture, and pour in a steady stream on the boiling liquid, stirring as you do. Put the meat and vegetables back into the sauce and allow them to reheat. Carve the meat, removing the string as you go, and serve on warm plates with the vegetables of your choice.

© Emma Elkerton 2002