The Aussie Butcher

Directions

Pour liquid smoke over brisket. Rub with onion salt and garlic salt. Roll brisket in foil and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Place brisket in a large roasting pan. Cover and bake for 5 to 6 hours. Remove from oven, cool, and then slice. Put slices back into pan.

In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, ketchup, butter, water, celery salt, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir, and cook until boiling.

Pour sauce over meat slices in pan. Cover and bake for 1 more hour.

Ingredients

• 750g piece beef Scotch fillet
• 2 tsp horseradish cream
• 2 tsp prepared mustard
• 2 tsp brown sugar

Mushroom Sauce

• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tsp minced fresh garlic
• ½ cup port or medium-sweet sherry
• 1 cup beef stock
• 4 portobello mushrooms, chopped
• 220g can Wattie’s Mushrooms in Butter Sauce

Roast Potatoes

• 6 small to medium starchy (roasting) potatoes
• 2-4 tablespoons oil

Method

Brown the Scotch fillet on all sides in a dash of oil in a hot frying pan. Transfer to a chopping board.

Mix together the horseradish cream, mustard and brown sugar and spread this mixture on the top and sides of the meat. Place on a foil-lined baking tray.

Place in 220°C oven and then turn down immediately to 200°C and roast for 40 minutes.

Set aside to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving with Mushroom sauce, Roast Potatoes and freshly steamed vegetables.

Mushroom Sauce

Cook the onion in a dash of oil in a saucepan over a moderate heat for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Stir in the port or sherry and simmer until reduced by half. Add the beef stock, chopped mushrooms and mushroom sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Roast Potatoes

Peel the potatoes and place in boiling salted water. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and return to the saucepan. Shake the potatoes over the heat to rough up the outside edges. Alternatively, use a fork to score the outside of the potatoes, so that the edges are rough.

Roll the potatoes in the oil so that they are evenly coated and place on a baking tray.

Cook at 200°C for 15-20 minutes until golden.

This roast fillet of beef takes less than half an hour to cook, with the sauce easily made while the meat is resting. Follow the simple steps below to prepare and tie the fillet – this can be done well in advance and then kept refrigerated until about an hour before cooking, when you should bring the meat to room temperature before placing in the oven. Serve with your favourite roast vegetables or a pan of creamy scalloped potatoes.

Ingredients

• 1 whole Quality Mark beef fillet trussed (see below) – approx.1.2 kg for 6 serves, 1.7 kg for 8 serves
• Olive oil for marinating and cooking
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ Tbsp each rosemary & thyme sprigs
• Several good grinds of black pepper
• ½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 10 shallots peeled
• 350g mushrooms cut into quarters
• 2/3 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock

Method

For the marinade, crush or pound 1 Tbsp olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, pepper and balsamic vinegar to form a paste. Pat the meat dry with paper towels and rub the marinade thoroughly over.

Cover and marinate at least half an hour. If marinating in the fridge, remove the meat from the fridge at least an hour before cooking. When ready to cook, remove the meat from the marinade and pat dry. Preheat oven to 230°C.
Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a heavy-based frying pan and when very hot sear the fillet 1-2 minutes each side (not the ends) until browned all over.

Transfer the meat to a shallow roasting pan, add remaining oil and toss the shallots around the meat, coating lightly in the oil.

Roast 20 minutes for rare, or 25 for medium rare. Ten minutes into cooking, add the mushrooms to the roasting pan.
Remove the meat, cover and keep warm for 15 minutes before carving.

While the meat is resting, place the roasting pan with the shallots and mushrooms on the stove, heat and add the wine, stirring any bits off the bottom.

Simmer until reduced by half then add the beef stock and simmer again until reduced by half. Add any meat juices to the sauce and serve the beef in thick slices with the warmed sauce.

Preparing the beef

Eye fillet has a thin membrane called silverskin which needsto be removed if your butcher has not already done so. Use a sharp knife to carefully remove all the membrane. If left on, it will shrink during cooking causing the fillet to curl up.

For even cooking and attractive presentation, the meat should be as uniform as possible and tying the joint, called ‘trussing’, is the key. Using individual pieces of kitchen twine, tie the joint firmly at 4-5 cm intervals, spaced evenly between each truss. Tuck the thinner tail of the fillet underneath and tie in place.