Main course
Slow cooked brisket in BBQ sauce
Meltingly tender beef brisket, slow-cooked in a rich, smoky BBQ sauce with bourbon, dark brown sugar and warming spices. The beef is generously seasoned and seared to develop a deep, caramelised crust before being cooked low and slow with onions, garlic and a deliciously tangy, sweet and savoury sauce. The cooking juices are then reduced to create an intensely flavoured, glossy glaze that's perfect spooned over thick slices of succulent brisket. A comforting, flavour-packed dish that's even better served with buttery mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
- 1.5 to 2kg rolled or flat beef brisket
- 2 onions, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic
- 200ml beef stock
- 150ml bourbon, or use extra stock
- 3 tbsp tomato purée
- 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp cayenne
- Salt and lots of black pepper
Method
- Season the brisket generously.
- Sear it aggressively in a hot pan until you've got a really dark crust all over, then put it into the slow cooker on top of the onions.
- Fry the garlic and tomato purée in the same pan, then add the bourbon. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes, scraping up everything stuck to the pan.
- Add the stock and remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer.
- Pour that around the brisket.
- Cook LOW for around 8 to 9 hours. I'd start checking at 7½ hours. A knife should slide into the thickest part with virtually no resistance, but you ideally want to catch it before it completely disintegrates.
- Carefully lift the brisket onto a roasting tray and loosely cover it.
- Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan, skim excess fat and reduce it hard. You might have 700ml or more initially. Take it right down until you've got perhaps 250 to 300ml of intensely flavoured, glossy sauce.
- Thickly slice the brisket and serve with the onions and sauce
Good to know
Practical notes
This goes perfectly with buttery mash
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Season the brisket generously.
Sear it aggressively in a hot pan until you've got a really dark crust all over, then put it into the slow cooker on top of the onions.
Fry the garlic and tomato purée in the same pan, then add the bourbon. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes, scraping up everything stuck to the pan.
Add the stock and remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Pour that around the brisket.
Cook LOW for around 8 to 9 hours. I'd start checking at 7½ hours. A knife should slide into the thickest part with virtually no resistance, but you ideally want to catch it before it completely disintegrates.
Carefully lift the brisket onto a roasting tray and loosely cover it.
Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan, skim excess fat and reduce it hard. You might have 700ml or more initially. Take it right down until you've got perhaps 250 to 300ml of intensely flavoured, glossy sauce.
Thickly slice the brisket and serve with the onions and sauce