Salt beef sando
It might take a good week to cure and five hours to cook, but this homemade salt beef recipe is well worth the wait. Falling apart and full of flavour, it makes use of the natural saltpetre found in celery rather than using processed salts. Load it up in sandwiches, or serve it hot with potatoes – whatever takes your fancy!
Ingredients
Salt beef
- 1/2 beef brisket , ideally from the fatty end
- 1 handful of black peppercorns , small
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 2l water
- 250g of rock salt
- 175g of dark brown sugar
- 1 bunch of parsley stalks
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 1 head of celery , blitzed into a puree
- 1 onion , roughly chopped
- 2 carrots , roughly chopped
- 1 garlic bulb , halved
To serve
- 1 loaf of rye bread, sliced
- pickles, sliced
- mustard
- Swiss cheese
Method
1
Toast the peppercorns, fennel seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, coriander seeds and cinnamon stick in a large, hot saucepan for 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the water, salt, sugar, parsley stalks, paprika, rosemary and thyme, then bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then place in the fridge to chill completely
- 1 handful of black peppercorns , small
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 2l water
- 250g of rock salt
- 175g of dark brown sugar
- 1 bunch of parsley stalks
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 5 sprigs of thyme
2
Once chilled, stir in the pureed celery – this contains saltpetre, which will keep the beef pink once it’s cooked. Add the brisket, ensuring it is completely submerged in the liquid, then cover and store in the fridge for 7 days, turning the meat every 2 days
- 1 head of celery , blitzed into a puree
- 1/2 beef brisket , ideally from the fatty end
3
After 7 days of curing, preheat an oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Lift the beef out of the brine and place in a deep roasting tray or a clean casserole dish – you want it to be deeper than the height of the beef. Pour in fresh water until the meat is fully submerged, then throw in the carrot, onion and garlic. Tightly cover the dish with foil, then cook in the oven for 4-5 hours, or until the beef is meltingly tender
- 1 onion , roughly chopped
- 2 carrots , roughly chopped
- 1 garlic bulb , halved
4
The salt beef is now ready to be used in a variety of dishes, but to make it into the sandwiches pictured, slice it and layer it up with mustard, cheese and pickled on rye bread
- 1 loaf of rye bread, sliced
- pickles, sliced
- mustard
- Swiss cheese
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Salt beef sando
