Ingredients
Ingredients
about a 5kg/ 11 lb piece of beef brisket
500 ml/ 18 fl oz beef stock
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
500 ml/ 18 fl oz tomato ketchup
100 ml/ 3½ fl oz Worcestershire sauce
75 ml/ 2½ fl oz lemon juice
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp malt vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp crushed chilli flakes
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp each chilli powder and mustard powder
1 tbsp each paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder, ground black pepper, caster sugar
1 bay leaf, crushed
Tip
Buying your brisket
When you order the brisket from your butcher, ask for a neat-shaped whole piece, trimmed of any excess fat on the side. The more uniform your piece of beef, the easier it will be to handle.
Direction
To make the barbecue sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan, then cook onion and garlic for a few mins until soft. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the pan with a good pinch of salt and simmer for 20 mins. Use a hand blender or food processor to whizz to a smooth purée. Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Make the rub by mixing all the ingredients together with a pinch of salt. Rub the mix all over the beef and set aside. In a large roasting tin, mix the beef stock and ½ the barbecue sauce. Add the brisket to the tin, cover tightly with foil, then cook for 4-5 hrs until the meat is really tender when you push a fork into it. The beef can be prepared the night before – just leave it to cool in the tin covered with foil, but don’t refrigerate. To finish the beef, get a barbecue fired up and wait until the coals are completely ashen – you want a low, not fierce, heat. Lift the beef out of the roasting tin and place on the barbecue to char. If your barbecue has a lid, close it now. Cook for about 20 mins, turning it carefully with tongs, until lightly charred all over and heated through. Lift onto a board and serve sliced with the remaining barbecue sauce on the side.
