Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: Slow-cooked buffalo brisket with barbecue sauce

Our daughter stopped eating meat a few years ago, for environmental and ethical reasons. It is a decision I of course support, even if it means that family meals are a little more complicated to manage on occasion. 

I also love vegetarian food, provided they are wholefoods and not overly processed ‘meat alternatives’, and I love seafood. Her decision did prompt me to reflect a lot more on the sustainability of our household diet, and while I am not ready to give up meat, I have made some changes to what we buy and eat as a result. We eat more fish for example, and I have become even more conscious of where my food comes from than previously. I still eat meat regularly, but I try and ensure that it is locally produced. Reducing food miles, the distance that food is transported to get to the consumer, is an important part of the mix in efforts to improve the sustainability of our diets and lifestyles.

I love good quality, locally produced food. These days it is also becoming easier to find. Most supermarkets are placing an increasing emphasis on locally produced foods, and of course there are local farmers markets and more and more small and artisan producers who sell direct to the public. Increasingly new initiatives such as Neighbour Food Markets, an online platform connecting consumers with local food producers, are making it even easier. There are now close to fifty of these local food communities around the country. 

I got the core ingredient for this week’s recipe from our local Neighbour Food market here in Wexford, locally produced buffalo brisket. Buffalo meat is a great alternative to beef. It has a healthier nutritional profile as it is leaner and lower in saturated fats. Water buffalo is farmed in a few locations across Ireland now, and the meat is becoming more readily available. If you cannot get hold of any and want to make this dish, you can use beef brisket instead. Just make sure it is locally produced.

Brisket is a lovely, if somewhat underused, cut of meat. It is a quite tough cut, so it should be cooked low and slow. Cooked properly though it gives bags of flavour. My Slow Cooked Buffalo Brisket with Barbecue Sauce recipe is perfect for this. This makes a wonderful meal served with freshly made cornbread. There is a recipe for that on my Instagram page if you fancy it, and I do highly recommend it. I also serve it with horseradish coleslaw, smoked mashed potatoes and creamed corn. It would be great too with roast potatoes, buttery corn on the cob and maybe a big fresh green salad.

This dish is slow-roasted in the oven, but you could finish it off on a barbecue to crisp it up. I usually do this under a hot grill myself. It is a relatively simple dish, and though it takes a while to cook, it needs very little attention. The key to getting a good smoky flavour is to use a really good smoked paprika. I get mine from Frank Hederman in Little Island in Cork. It is phenomenal. It has a real kick to it, but a wonderful deep smoky flavour that really comes through in the final dish.

 

Ingredients

• 1.5kg buffalo or beef brisket

Spice rub:

• 1 tbsp muscovado sugar
• 1tsp onion salt
• 1tsp garlic powder
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 1tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
• Fresh ground black pepper

Barbecue sauce:

• 125ml apple cider vinegar
• 175ml tomato ketchup
• 2tbsp tomato purée
• 75g muscovado sugar
• 2tsp smoked paprika
• 1tsp ground black pepper
• 1tsp flaky sea salt
• 1tsp onion salt
• 1tsp mustard powder
• 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• 250ml water

Method

Warm your oven to 160 Celsius. Thoroughly combine all the ingredients for the spice rub in a bowl. Rub the mix all over your brisket and let it sit for at least thirty minutes. Mix all the ingredients for the barbecue sauce in a casserole dish or a roasting dish with a lid. Put the meat into the dish with the sauce, cover, and roast for four hours, basting the meat with the sauce every hour. Your sauce should not reduce too much during that time, but if it is losing too much liquid, just add a little water.

After four hours, remove the meat and pour the sauce into a small pan. Simmer it over medium to low heat until it had reduced to the right consistency; you want a nice sticky, smooth, glossy barbecue sauce. Pop the brisket under a hot grill, or flash it on a hot barbecue to caramelise the top. That will only take a few minutes, do not overdo it or you will burn the sugar in the spice rub and the sauce. Carve the meat into slices and serve with your beautiful sticky barbecue sauce and favourite sides. This keeps well and if you have any leftovers, they can be reheated and used for a quick lunch. Try it on some toasted sourdough topped with the barbecue sauce and some melted cheddar cheese with coleslaw or salad on the side. Heaven.