This was published 7 years ago
Three Blue Ducks recipes: Coffee-rubbed slow-cooked brisket with charred herb salsa
By Darren Robertson and Mark LeBrooy
We love cooking a nice piece of brisket on a chilly night, and our favourite is Tasmanian grass-fed beef from Cape Grim. The meat has an amazing body of flavour, great fat content and marbling.
We gently rub brisket with ground coffee and smoky paprika, then cook it slowly overnight. This simple treatment transforms what is often considered a secondary cut of beef into a real showstopper. For a cow, brisket is the equivalent of our pecs – these muscles are used a lot, hence the long cooking time needed to get a super-tender result.
Coffee-rubbed brisket with charred herb salsa.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Charring the herbs adds a lovely smoky element, but don't worry if you don't have a barbecue, you can get a similar result from a really hot skillet or frying pan. Serve the brisket with coleslaw and soft sweet buns or pickles and potatoes.
Coffee-rubbed slow-cooked brisket
100g ground coffee
50g smoked paprika
150g brown sugar
75ml brown vinegar
1 bulb garlic, cloves peeled and crushed
50g ginger, finely grated
50g chilli flakes
20g ground cumin
20g ground coriander
30g salt
10g ground pepper
1kg beef brisket
1 litre beef stock
The day before serving the brisket, preheat oven to 180C. Mix all the ingredients except the brisket and beef stock in a bowl to make a lovely dark paste. Smear it generously all over the brisket, using all the spice mix. Put the brisket in a high-sided baking tray and add the beef stock – pour it around the meat not over the top, or the rub will wash away. Cover the meat with baking paper then aluminium foil, which will stop the foil sticking to the meat during cooking. Cook in the oven for 25 minutes at 180C then turn down to 95C and cook for 12 hours. Remove the brisket and carve it into thick slices. Serve with a healthy spoonful of charred herb salsa on top.
Serves four
Charred herb salsa
1 bunch coriander
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
½ bunch shallots
2 lemons, zest and juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
200ml extra virgin olive oil
½ red onion, finely diced
salt and pepper
Heat a barbecue grill to high and throw on the herbs and shallots. Char them until you start to see some burnt tips and black bits, then turn over and char on the other side. Set aside to cool down then chop finely. Put them in a medium-sized bowl with the remaining ingredients, mix and set aside. The salsa may taste a bit acidic at first but leave it for about 20 minutes for the flavours to develop. Add a touch more salt if you need to or a pinch of brown sugar to tone it down.
TIP
After cooking the brisket, reduce the cooking liquid to a sauce. Strain it first, then add a glass of your favourite red before cooking it down.