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Spicy BBQ Beef

I was looking for something simple but that packed a punch for a Mexican themed party and came up this.

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It's got bags of flavour and although it does take a long time to cook it's mostly a bit of prep then chuck it in the oven for 5-6 hours and get on with something else. Goes great as a filling for tortillas or my personal favourite thrown over a plate of nachos with grated cheese, sliced jalepenos and guacamole

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The recipe will serve 6 with accompaniments but freezes well. If you portion it right you can get 3 meals out of it

Ingredients

​Serves 6

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  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil

  • 2 kg beef brisket

  • 2 red onions, chopped

  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika

  • 1 tbsp English mustard

  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon

  • 1 tsp ground chilli

  • 1 tsp garlic granules

  • 2 tbsp Molasses

  • 2 tbsp runny Honey

  • 80ml cider vinegar

  • 90g soft light brown sugar

  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed

  • 4 bay leaves

  • 2 dried red chillies (chipotle if you can get them)

  • 1 tin Plum Tomatoes

  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

  • 2 tsp dried oregano

Spicy BBQ Beef.jpg

Method

The very first thing to do is to soak the chillies. Place them in a bowl or jug of boiling water for about 20 mins until they soften. Keep the water as that will be used later.

 

In a large flameproof casserole dish or big enough oven proof saucepan heat 2 tbsp oil. Season the beef with salt and pepper then sear in the dish until browned. Lift out the meat and put it on a plate for the moment.

 

Add another 1 tbsp oil and the onions to the dish and sweat down for 8-10 mins until soft. While this is happening we can make the marinade paste. Mix the paprika, mustard, cinnamon, garlic granules, ground chilli, molasses, honey, 2 tbsp of the vinegar and 2 tbsp of the sugar in a bowl. Brush this all over the meat, reserving about 1/4 to use later on.

 

Heat the oven to 160C

 

Make small cuts in the softened chillies then add them with the bay leaves and garlic to the onions and stir around the pan for a few minutes to soften the garlic slightly. Then pour in the tomatoes and 100ml of the reserved chilli water (or plain water if using fresh chillies), Worcestershire sauce, remaining vinegar and sugar and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and stir it all together. Now put the brisket on top, cover and bake for 5 hrs, turning once or twice whilst it's cooking.

 

Uncover the dish, give the sauce around the meat a little stir and brush the rest of the paste over the meat. At this point you could stop, cool it down and keep it in the fridge overnight if you need.

 

Increase the oven temperature to 200C return it to the oven and cook for 20 mins with the lid off to crisp up the outside a bit more. Now just remove it from the oven, cover and leave to rest for 15 mins.

 

Then just shred and serve with tortillas, nachos or whatever takes your fancy

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