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Simple salt beef

Simple salt beef in a sandwich

Simple salt beef

Name: Simple salt beef
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h 20 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Jewish
Ingredients: 1.6kg flat piece of pickled beef brisket; 2 bay leaves; 4 large carrots peeled but left whole; 1 tsp black peppercorns; 4 juniper berries; 1-2 tsp sugar (optional)

Victoria Prever

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Serves 6

Easy

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 4 hrs

plus resting

A star rating of 3 out of 5.6 ratingsRate

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Making juicy, tender salt beef is easier than you think. Serve in a sandwich with New York-style rye bread, pickled cucumbers, mustard and sauerkraut

Freezable

Gluten-free

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

1.6kg flat piece of pickled beef brisket
2 bay leaves
4 large carrots

peeled but left whole
1 tsp black peppercorns
4 juniper berries
1-2 tsp sugar

(optional)

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Nutrition: Per serving

kcal419
fat32g
saturates11g
carbs1g
sugars0g
fibre0.1g
protein31g
salt4.2g

Method

step 1

If you can, allow the pickled beef to come up to room temperature before you start by leaving it on the kitchen counter for an hour. It will speed up the cooking time. Put the beef in a large pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, skimming away any foamy scum that rises to the surface. Once the foam has been mostly removed, add all the other ingredients. Adding them now means they don’t get in the way of the skimming.
step 2

Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for 2 hrs 30 mins-3 hrs 30 mins or until a fork pushed into the meat slides in easily – it should be really soft. Start checking after 2 hours – there should be no resistance when you pull the fork out of the meat. You could also use a skewer to do the testing – make sure to push it into the thickest part of the meat.
step 3

Once the beef is tender, turn off the heat. Either leave it sitting in the cooking liquor if you're not ready to eat (it can sit like this for up to an hour), or use two forks to lift the meat out, allow the water to drain off, then put it on a board. Keep the liquor if you plan to reheat or freeze the salt beef. Cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 10-15 mins. To serve, slice thickly against the grain of the meat or it will crumble. Serve hot or cold.

Leftovers will keep in the fridge for three days and in the freezer for up to six weeks. Before freezing, it’s best to slice it and wrap first in baking parchment, then foil. Make sure you also freeze the pot of cooking liquor. When you want to eat it, defrost and then put it (with slices arranged back into a whole brisket shape) in an ovenproof dish with the thawed liquor. Cover with foil and reheat at 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for 20 mins.

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A star rating of 3 out of 5.6 ratings

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