Pot roast brisket with dumplings, colcannon and horseradish sauce
How’s this for Sunday lunch? Rick Stein’s slow-cooked pot-roast brisket comes topped with fluffy dumplings, with fiery horseradish sauce and Irish mash on the side.
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1 Bramley apple, peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp creamed horseradish
For the pot-roast
- 1.3kg/3lb boned and rolled beef brisket joint
- 4 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
- 20²µ/¾´Ç³ú butter
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 celery sticks, sliced
- 4 carrots, peeled and each cut into three pieces
- 200ml/â…“ pint beer
- 500ml/18fl oz rich beef stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 tsp sugar
- chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dumplings
- 150²µ/5½´Ç³ú self-raising flour
- 75²µ/2½´Ç³ú suet
- small handful fresh flatleaf parsley, chopped
For the colcannon
- 1kg/2lb 4oz floury potatoes, such as King Edwards or Maris Pipers, peeled and cut into chunks
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú butter, softened
- 200g/7oz Savoy cabbage or curly kale, finely shredded
- 100ml/3½fl oz full-fat milk
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
For the sauce, cook the apple with a splash of water in a small saucepan for about 10 minutes, or until pulpy and broken down. Stir in the horseradish and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5.
Pat the beef brisket dry with kitchen paper. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole and brown the brisket on all sides, then remove and set aside. Add the butter to the pan, reduce the heat and fry the onion, celery and carrots for 5–6 minutes until golden.
Add the beer, beef stock, bay leaf, thyme and sugar. Season well with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then immediately turn the heat down to a simmer and return the beef to the pan. Cover with a lid and transfer to the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3 and cook for 2½ hours, turning the beef after the first hour.
After 2½ hours the beef should be tender. Remove the beef from the pan, transfer it to a plate and cover with a double layer of kitchen foil to keep it warm. Put a skewer into the centre of the meat and check the juices are clear with no traces of pink.
Mix the dumpling ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add enough water (about 100ml/3½fl oz) to make a soft dough, then with floured hands shape the dough into six balls. Bring the juices in the pan back to the boil, adding a little more stock or water if the pan looks dry. Add the dumplings, cover with the lid and return to the oven for 20 minutes until the dumplings are risen and fluffy.
Meanwhile, make the colcannon. Boil the potatoes for about 15–20 minutes until tender, then drain well. In a separate saucepan, melt about a third of the butter over a medium heat and add the shredded cabbage. Cook for about 5 minutes until wilted.
Add the remaining butter and milk to the potatoes and mash until smooth (or use a ricer and add to the butter and milk). Stir in the cabbage and season with salt and pepper.
Carve the beef into six thick slices. Taste the juices and add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve the beef with the dumplings, vegetables and the meat juices spooned over. Sprinkle with a little parsley and serve the colcannon and horseradish and apple sauce alongside.
