Cubist Brisket

By: Sarah Khanna

Ingredients:

1 kg of beef, cubed. [You could go ahead with a not so fancy kind. It won't make that much of a difference to have a good cut over a tougher cut.]

2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

2 onions, finely minced

1 cup of hot water + 1/2 cup just in case

1 tablespoon of sugar

1.5 teaspoons of salt (Use less if you want. Or a lot more like me. Ha!)

1.5 teaspoons of garlic powder + 1 pinch
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1/2 teaspoon of white pepper

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

2.5 heaped tablespoons of tomato paste, dissolved in 1 cup of hot water

1 cube of beef bouillon, dissolved in 1 cup of hot water

200 grams of white button mushrooms

3 medium sized carrots, roughly diced

Directions:

Start by combining all your spices in a small bowl to create a seasoning mix. Begin searing your meat. Wait until the pan really, really, really hot then add your tablespoon of olive oil and sear the meat on all sides until nice and brown. Don't be lazy with the searing, it really adds to the color of your sauce as well. Remove from the heat and get a stock pot or dutch oven ready. Place the meat in the stock pot along with the flour. On low heat, toss the beef cubes in the flour for a minute. Add the carrots and minced onions and toss for another two-three minutes until it basically starts to look a little unpleasant. Haha. Add your total 3 cups of water including the bouillon and tomato paste. Add all your spices. Begin preheating your oven to 180 degrees Celsius after 20 minutes. Stir for a few seconds until it's all mixed together. Leave on high heat until the broth boils then turn down your heat to the lowest possible and leave to simmer gently for 40 minutes.

While it simmers, quarter your mushrooms and sautee them in a pan with a drop of oil and a pinch of garlic powder. Here's a photo of the mushrooms in black and white to prettify the photo because prettifying is fun. 

Take your dutch oven and place it in the oven or transfer the contents from your stock pot to an ovenproof casserole dish with a lid. If you want a thinner sauce, add the extra half cup of water. 

Leave to simmer in your covered dish for half an hour then add the mushrooms and leave to simmer again for another hour. Serve with something that sops up the sauce. Our pick was mashed potatoes and Lord of the Rings. This is a really good dish to make a day early. It heats really well in the oven and it only makes the sauce richer. Until next time, ole!