Coffee and chilli brisket
Cardamom works well with coffee and the other spices here: they’re first used as a marinade and then become a rich sauce to serve with the tender beef brisket.
Ingredients
For the rub
- 3 tbsp ground coffee
- 1½ tbsp cardamom pods, seeds only
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp light soft brown sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
For the beef
- 750g/1lb 10oz rolled beef brisket, fat removed
- 2 onions, cut into wedges
- 1 bulb garlic, broken into cloves, unpeeled
- 300ml/½ pint beef stock or water
- boiled rice and steamed greens, to serve
Method
To make the rub, put the coffee, cardamom seeds, cumin seeds and peppercorns into a spice grinder and blitz to a powder. Mix with the remaining spices, the sugar and salt, then stir in the red wine vinegar and olive oil. Rub this all over the brisket. Leave in the fridge to marinate for several hours, or overnight.
An hour before you want to start cooking, remove the beef from the fridge so it can come up to room temperature.
To make the beef, preheat the oven to 160C/150C Fan/Gas 3.
Put the onions in a roasting tin or casserole. Sprinkle over the garlic cloves and put the beef on top. Pour the stock or water around the beef. If using a roasting tin, cover tightly with kitchen foil. If using a casserole, put the lid on.
Cook for about 1½ hours. Remove from the oven and turn the beef over, then cover and cook for another 1½ hours. At this point the beef should be done to a slightly firm, sliceable consistency. If you want it soft enough to pull apart, you may need to cook it for another hour.
When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove the foil or lid and cook uncovered for a further 20 minutes.
Remove the beef from the roasting tin, cover with foil and leave to rest.
Pass the cooking liquid and onions through a sieve, into a saucepan (reserve the onions to serve or discard). Squeeze the flesh out of the garlic cloves and add to the pan. Simmer until the liquid has reduced to a syrupy gravy and serve with the beef.
Recipe Tips
If the brisket is in a long piece, you may need to cut it in half to fit into your casserole.
You can use a chilli paste in place of the chilli powder.
This can also be cooked on the hob, simmered slowly over a very low heat.
The beef is lovely served in rolls topped with the caramelised onions in gravy.
