Smoky Brisket with Mexican Sweetcorn Salsa

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 3hrs 40 mins

Organic beef brisket cooked slow and low till meltingly soft, then finished on the barbecue for a smoky edge (hands up if the charred bits are your favourite). It’s delicious served with a Mexican-inspired spicy sweetcorn salsa.

This recipe is a:

See this week's box.

504 kcal
(per portion)

Ingredients you'll need

1½kg av. flat brisket
3 corn on the cob
1½ tomato
1½ cayenne chilli
1½ red onion
A handful of coriander
1½ lime

From your kitchen

2 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

Step by step this way

1.
Get started: Heat your oven to 160°C/Fan 140°C/Gas 3. Unwrap the beef brisket and pat it dry. Leave it to come to room temperature (about 30 mins).
2.
Place a heavy-based casserole dish or large, ovenproof pan on a medium heat for a few mins. When smoking hot, add 1 tbsp oil and the brisket. Sear for 3-4 mins on each side, turning often, till well browned. Take the pan off the heat. From this point, follow either cooking option below.
3.
Cooking indoors: Pop a lid on the dish or cover with foil. Slide into the oven. Roast for 3½ hrs, turning a couple of times, basting the brisket with juices from the tin.
4.
Remove the brisket from the oven and set aside to rest in its juices for 30 mins.
5.
Pull the silks off the corn cobs. Slice a sliver off the bases so they sit upright. Run a knife down them to slice off the kernels and slide into a bowl. Dice the tomato. Peel the onion and finely chop it. Halve the chilli, flicking out the seeds and pith, and finely chop it. Finely chop the coriander. Stir everything into the sweetcorn. Zest in the lime and squeeze in the juice. Finish with a pinch of salt and pepper and 1 tbsp olive oil.
6.
Slice the brisket (it’ll start to fall apart into strands) and arrange on a platter. Spoon over the juices and serve with the sweetcorn salsa.
7.
Cooking outdoors: Pop a lid on the dish or cover with foil. Slide the brisket into the oven. Roast for 3 hrs, turning a couple of times and basting throughout.
8.
With around 1 hr of cooking time left, bring your barbecue to a medium-low heat. After 3 hrs, remove the lid and pop the pan onto the coolest part of the grill. Cover and cook for 20-30 mins, basting occasionally.
9.
Remove the brisket from the barbecue and set aside to rest in its juices for 30 mins.
10.
While the meat rests, shuck the corn as in step 3 from the previous page. Dice the tomato. Peel and finely chop the onion. Halve the chilli, removing seeds for less heat, and finely chop it. Chop the coriander. Stir everything into the corn. Zest the lime and squeeze in the juice. Finish with a pinch of salt, pepper and 1 tbsp olive oil.
11.
Serve on a platter with spoonfuls of juice and sweetcorn salsa.

Tip
Know your barbecue
When lighting your grill, lay the bulk of the coal to one side, gently sloping to the other. This helps regulate cooking; giving you fierce ‘direct’ heat to brown meat over, and gentle ‘indirect’ heat to finish it off.
Tip
A bit about brisket
Taken from the front of the animal, brisket is a hard working joint that requires a little love to transform it into greatness. Slow cook it and you will be rewarded with rich, beefy strands that can be pulled apart with a spoon. Especially good piled into buns with crunchy colelsaw and lettuce leaves.

This recipe is from

See this week's box