Pony’s barbecued beef brisket

Brisket is a cut with lots and lots of flavour, and the long slow cooking makes this very tender. And it's flavour city in the barbecue sauce!

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  12 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 5 kg piece beef brisket (see Note)
• deep-fried Brussel sprouts and grated fresh horseradish, to serve

Spice rub

• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp black pepper

Barbecue sauce

• 250 ml (1 cup) red wine
• 250 ml (1 cup) tomato ketchup
• 250 ml (1 cup) barbecue sauce
• 125 ml (½ cup) malt vinegar
• 2 star anise
• splash of Tabasco sauce 

Marinating time: overnight

Standing time: 20 minutes

Instructions

To make the spice rub, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Rub all over the brisket, then place in a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat a fan-forced oven to 95˚C. Heat a char-grill to medium- high. Season the brisket with salt and cook the brisket for 5-6 minutes or until browned on all sides. Pour a little water into a baking tray, then place a rack on top of the tray and place the brisket on top of the rack. Cover tightly with foil, then bake for about 12 hours or until very tender. Remove from the oven and rest for 20 minutes before carving, reserving all the juices in the pan.  

To make the barbecue sauce, pour all the reserve juices into a small saucepan. Add all the remaining ingredients and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes or until reduced and thickened.

Serve with crispy fried Brussells sprouts and grated fresh horseradish.

Note

• Ask your butcher for the pointy end; it runs up towards the front of the animal and is generally larger and leaner than the navel end.

Neil Nolan is Group head chef at Pony Dining in The Rocks, Sydney. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.