Pulled Beef

Wotchers!

Back when I started this blog, one of the first posts I made was for Pulled Pork. Not saying I’m a trendsetter, but it would seem that the rest of the UK has now caught up and Pulled Pork is everywhere: in sandwiches, on burgers, in supermarket ready meals… This last would no doubt have the American devotees of barbecue staggering around clutching their chests at the heresy and I’m not really going to improve things by this post, because once again, I’m employing a slow-cooker rather than the traditional aromatically wood-fired barbecue.

I hadn’t actually planned this as a post at all, but in the true spirit of That’ll Do Cookery™ what I ended up throwing together was so simple and so delicious, I thought you might all enjoy. I recently bagged a couple of beef brisket joints at a bargain price, not remembering that the freezer was full, so when I got home, I had to do something with them immediately, and this is the result.

There’s a little bit of work once the  meat is cooked if, like me, you prefer your pulled beef very lean, but it is so fall-apart tender, this is merely the work of moments. The 8 hour cooking time makes this a delicious meal to come home to, if you switch it on in the morning. Alternatively, cook it overnight and shred the meat in the morning, and portion it into freezer bags for fast meal solutions at short notice.

Serve with Noodles and Rice and either regular Coleslaw or (my current favourite) Apple and Fennel Coleslaw. It also makes a deliciously messy Manwich if served in a large bun.

Barbecue Pulled Beef

Beef Brisket that will fit in your slow cooker – I used 2 x 1.5kg joints
300ml Barbecue Sauce
1 beef stock cube – I like the jelly-style ones
500ml tomato passata or chopped tomatoes, pureed
water

• Using a pastry brush, generously ‘paint’ your brisket all over with the barbecue sauce. Put the meat into the slow cooker.
• Add any remaining barbecue sauce, the stock cube and the pureed tomatoes.
• Add sufficient water to just cover the meat.
• Cook on ‘Low’ for 8 hours.
• Lift the joint(s) from the sauce and allow to cool a little. Shred the meat, either by hand or with two forks, removing all fat and connective tissue.
• [Optional] Chill the sauce and skim off the solidified fat.
• When ready to serve, warm the sauce and taste. Adjust the flavour to your own personal taste, if necessary, with pepper, salt, more barbecue sauce, Worcester sauce, hot sauce, etc.
• Return the meat to the sauce and heat thoroughly before serving.