Slow Cooked Brisket of Beef

I use my slow cooker a lot in the winter, its an easy way to have a scrummy no messing evening meal waiting for you when you come home from work. They take a little getting used to, but once you have learned that you need to hold back on the liquid compared with oven cooking they are easy to use. A favourite recipe in our household is brisket of beef, tender melting well flavoured meat that can be used to create some delicious meals. I get my brisket from Spout House Farm which is near me, but any good butcher should have this for you and in a size of piece suitable for your family.

Its easy to ring the changes with this recipe and use whatever you have to hand, the main rules being the quality of the brisket and the quality of the stock.

Ingredients

• Beef brisket - rolled
• Flour - seasoned
• Onions - chopped
• carrots
• bay leaves
• mixed herbs
• Beef stock / Beer / red wine
• salt and pepper
• Balsamic vinegar or fruit vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Oil

Method 

Firstly make your seasoned flour, roughly 1 tablespoon of flour on a plate and add salt, freshly ground pepper and some mixed dried herbs. Roll your brisket in this mixture until well coated and don't forget the ends. Fry off your brisket to seal it in a little oil and to give a nice golden crust. Now place in your slow cooker ( if you don't have one then you can use a casserole dish and the oven instead but its a bit more hassle), next fry your onions and carrots in the same pan, scraping up any brown bits from the meat as this is were the flavour is, until the onions are slighty softened. Next add to the pan the stock / wine/ beer, balsamic, mustard and bay leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring ever so often to again loosen any sticky bits on the pan. Then pour this over your brisket in your slow cooker or casserole dish, put on the lid and if using a slow cooker cook for at least 4 hours on high, but I just leave it all day and it always turns out fine, if using an oven cook on 150c for at least 4  hours, but check every hour or so to see if needs more stock or water as it can dry out. Your brisket is ready when it falls a part when gently crushed with a fork, your gravy  will be well flavoured, thicken if necessary with slaked cornflour and serve with your favourite vegetables. Enjoy !