Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I took some time off posting (though not cooking) for the Christmas and Hogmanay so, apologies for the absence. Now, I have never really been a fan of poultry. Chicken, duck or goose …for some reason they just don’t appeal. It may have been years of terribly turkeys at Christmas or that pink (a skilled vet could have brought it back to life) chicken at a conference a few years back…but, whatever the cause I was determined to do something different at Christmas this year.
I had intended on doing a Wellington because as every contestant and viewer of this seasons Great British Bake Off knows…Making a Wellingtons is easy! What can go wrong?
However rare beef is off the menu for a while and I refuse to eat a good (read: costly) bit of meat anything less than medium rare. Waste of money really, I would have been as well buying the cheapest cut out since it’s going to taste like Chaplin’s shoe anyway.
So, I did in fact buy the cheapest cut of meat I could find (beef brisket) and taking my leaf from the aforementioned movie The Gold Rush…I decided to look for braising recipes (or ‘pot roast’). I personally have never heard this term except in US TV and cinema…is it just an Americanism?
I discovered just such a recipe in my copy of Mrs Beeton for a ‘braised beef a la flamande’ and was quite chuffed I could have a frugal (all Scots are cheap, right?) and historical Christmas. I am not sure anyone else was as excited about this prospect as I was.
The ‘a la flamande’ section of the recipe name, as far as I can tell, refers to the tradition in Belgium for stewing beef in beer. Since this recipe calls for no beer I don’t know in what sense it is ‘a la flamande’. Still, here is the recipe as you will find it in your copy of Mrs Beeton.
The Recipe
BRISKET OF BEEF, a la Flamande.
649. INGREDIENTS.—About 6 or 8 lbs. of the brisket of beef, 4 or 5 slices of bacon, 2 carrots, 1 onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, salt and pepper to taste, 4 cloves, 4 whole allspice, 2 blades of mace. Mode.—Choose that portion of the brisket which contains the gristle, trim it, and put it into a stewpan with the slices of bacon, which should be put under and over the meat. Add the vegetables, herbs, spices, and seasoning, and cover with a little weak stock or water; close the stewpan as hermetically as possible, and simmer very gently for 4 hours. Strain the liquor, reserve a portion of it for sauce, and the remainder boil quickly over a sharp fire until reduced to a glaze, with which glaze the meat. Garnish the dish with scooped carrots and turnips, and when liked, a little cabbage; all of which must be cooked separately. Thicken and flavour the liquor that was saved for sauce, pour it round the meat, and serve. The beef may also be garnished with glazed onions, artichoke-bottoms, &c. Time.—4 hours. Average cost, 7d. per lb.
Result
Well, tasty. No surprises there. I am a huge fan of slow cooking…so much so I got a tagine for Christmas. 🙂 The end result was meat which just fell apart. I needed a spoon to eat it! The stock made for a great gravy, especially since I deviated from Mrs Beeton’s recipe slightly by browning the meat first. And nothing beats a home made gravy.
In keeping with Christmas tradition I made a curry from the leftovers. It was meant to be a soup actually but the little beef strands actually broke my blender… tangling up and sticking the blades. I was not amused. Perhaps the meat was a little TOO tender.
Going to try it again but with the beer this time instead of stock…but after January …because I am taking part in Cancer Research UK’s Dryathalon (sponsor me here!)
