Mulled Wine Beef Brisket with Pickled Turnips
BY NICK MACMAHON | 13 JANUARY 2020
This is an adapted red wine braised beef recipe, plus a few aromatics and spices borrowed from traditional mulled wine recipes. Utilising ingredients like ginger, mace, cardamom, cinnamon. These were commonly used in Victoria-era cooking, often with meat dishes, so this idea isn’t so farfetched.
Without the mass of sugar usually added when making mulled wine, these ingredients make for a very earthy and spice-heavy flavour. An ideal pairing with slow-cooked beef.
To balance out the rich flavours of beef brisket; beetroot-tinted, Middle Eastern style pickled turnips provide a sharp, vinegary kick. Served alongside a bowl of roasted Brussel sprouts and a cabbage salad, make this a hearty, seasonal produce-driven meal.
Ingredients
Beef
1kg beef brisket
1 cup red wine
35g piece of ginger, cut in half
2 carrots, quartered
1 onion, quartered
1 orange, halved
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 stick of cinnamon
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Pickled Turnips
1 small beetroot
500g turnips, peeled and cut into batons
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
Pickling Liquid
100g white wine vinegar
50g water
10g sugar
1g salt
Method
Pickled Turnips
For the pickling liquid; add the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and bay leaf to a pot and bring to a simmer. Stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Add turnips, beetroot and garlic to a glass jar. Pour over pickling liquid. Let sit for a few days to mellow. They will then need to be refrigerated and will last in the fridge for a couple of months.
If you don’t have days to wait, very thinly slice the turnips and beetroot and mix with the pickling liquid. Let rest for at least an hour before serving.
Beef
Generously coat brisket with salt, pepper, mace and cardamom. Place in a roasting tray. Add ginger, carrots, onion, orange and bay leaves to the tray, surrounding the beef. Add in the cup of red wine and then cover the tray with foil, crimping the foil to the sides of the tray.
Set oven to 140c and cook covered for 4 hours. Remove from tray, slice and serve.