Pot Roast Brisket with Root Vegetables

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy cast-iron casserole with a tight-fitting lid
• •Wooden spoon
• •Sharp carving knife or two forks

Instructions

1. 1

   Season and brown the brisket

   Take the brisket out of the fridge a good hour before you start. Cold meat in a hot pan won't brown properly. Set the oven to 150C/130C fan. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper, all over, more than you think. Heat the dripping or oil in a heavy casserole pot, the kind with a lid, over a high heat. When it shimmers and just starts to smoke, lay the brisket in and leave it alone. Don't move it. Let it sit for three or four minutes until the underside has gone a deep, dark brown. Turn and repeat on each side. You're building flavour here, and colour is flavour. Lift the meat out onto a plate.

   Dry the surface of the brisket with kitchen paper before it goes into the pan. Moisture is the enemy of a good sear. A dry surface browns. A wet surface steams.
2. 2

   Soften the onions

   Turn the heat down to medium. Add the quartered onions to the same pot, cut side down, and let them colour in the beef fat for a few minutes. They should pick up the sticky, dark residue from the bottom of the pan. That's where the flavour lives. When the onions have taken on some colour, stir in the flour and the tomato purée and cook for a minute, stirring it through. It will smell toasty and savoury.

3. 3

   Build the braising liquid

   Pour in the wine or ale. It will hiss and bubble. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to lift all the dark, caramelised bits. Let it reduce by about half, two minutes or so, until it smells rich and less sharp. Add the stock, the bay leaves, the thyme, and the garlic cloves. Bring it to a gentle simmer. The liquid should come about a third of the way up the meat, not cover it. This is a braise, not a stew. The top of the brisket will cook in the trapped heat and steam.

   If you don't have wine or ale, skip it. Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce to the stock instead. The dish will still be good. Meet the ingredients where they are.
4. 4

   Begin the braise

   Nestle the brisket back into the pot. Put the lid on, pressing it down firmly, and slide the pot into the oven. Leave it for two hours. Don't open the lid. Don't check on it. Trust the process. A low oven and a heavy lid do the work for you. After two hours, the kitchen will smell like the kind of evening you want to stay in for.

5. 5

   Add the root vegetables

   Lift the lid. The meat will have tightened and the liquid will be dark and glossy. Tuck the carrots, parsnips, and turnip around and underneath the brisket, pushing them down into the braising liquid. Put the lid back on and return to the oven for another hour to hour and a half. The vegetables are done when a knife slides through them without resistance. The meat is done when it yields to a fork with barely any pressure, pulling apart in soft, ragged shreds.

6. 6

   Rest and serve

   Lift the brisket out onto a warm board and let it rest for ten minutes. Fish out the bay leaves and thyme stalks. Taste the braising liquid. Season it. If it's thin, set the pot on the hob over a medium heat and let it reduce for a few minutes until it coats the back of a spoon. Slice the brisket thickly, or pull it apart with two forks if it's past the point of slicing. Arrange it on a warm plate with the vegetables around it and spoon the braising liquid over everything. Serve with mashed potatoes or good bread to soak up the juices. Nothing else is needed.

Chef Tips

• •Ask your butcher for rolled brisket, tied with string. It holds its shape better in the pot and slices more evenly. A good butcher will know what you're after if you say it's for a pot roast. If they don't, find a better butcher.
• •The pot matters. A heavy, cast-iron casserole with a tight-fitting lid is what you want. The weight of the lid traps the steam and keeps the braise gentle and even. A thin pot with a loose lid will lose moisture and the meat will dry out before it has a chance to soften.
• •Don't cut the vegetables too small. They're in the oven for over an hour and they need enough substance to hold their shape. Large chunks, roughly the size of a wine cork, are about right. They'll shrink as they cook and soak up the braising liquid.
• •This is better the next day. If you can make it ahead, do. Cool the whole pot, refrigerate it overnight, and reheat gently the following evening. The fat will solidify on top and you can lift it off. The flavours will have deepened into something richer and more settled. I wrote it down once: second day, better.

Advance Preparation

• •The whole dish can be made a day ahead and refrigerated in the pot. Reheat gently in a low oven (150C) for thirty to forty minutes, or until warmed through. The flavour improves overnight.
• •The braising liquid, strained, makes an excellent base for gravy or soup. It keeps in the fridge for three days or freezes well for up to three months.
• •Leftover brisket, shredded, is quietly brilliant in a sandwich the next day with mustard and pickled red cabbage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 450g)