Name: Slow cooked beef ‘barbacoa’
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 320 min
Total time: 340 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 3kg buffalo brisket (or beef brisket); Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season; 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 Tbsp smoked paprika; 2 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp ground fennel seeds; Finely grated zest of 4 lemons; 4 sprigs rosemary; 18 medium potatoes, washed; 12 medium carrots, peeled; 12 small red onions; 6 sticks celery, sliced; 4 brown onions sliced; 2 heads fennel, trimmed, chopped; 2 heads garlic, halved; 6 bay leaves; 2 tsp black peppercorns; 21⁄2 Tbsp cornflour; Damper, to serve; Hot sauce, to serve (optional)

Sure it takes half a day, but slow-cooking buffalo brisket and vegies in a pit of hot coals makes it utterly tender and juicy. But you can make it in the oven too.

Ingredients

3kg buffalo brisket (or beef brisket)

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp smoked paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground fennel seeds

Finely grated zest of 4 lemons

4 sprigs rosemary

18 medium potatoes, washed

12 medium carrots, peeled

12 small red onions

6 sticks celery, sliced

4 brown onions sliced

2 heads fennel, trimmed, chopped

2 heads garlic, halved

6 bay leaves

2 tsp black peppercorns

21⁄2 Tbsp cornflour

Damper, to serve

Hot sauce, to serve (optional)

Method

Dig a hole in dirt 1m deep x 80cm square, then line with house bricks. Stack bricks against walls to a height of 45cm. Make a hardwood fire at bottom of pit and burn for 1 hour or until 20cm of coals are formed. (For oven cooking, see Cook’s tip, below right.)

Season brisket, then rub with oil. Put paprika, cumin, fennel seeds and lemon zest in a small bowl, mixing to combine. Rub onto meat and arrange rosemary on top. Wrap in paperbark (you can harvest your own) or baking paper then foil and secure with kitchen string. Wrap potatoes, carrots and red onions individually in foil.

Scrape coals to sides of pit and put a 4L camp oven in centre. Half-fill with water then add celery, brown onions, fennel, garlic heads, bay leaves and peppercorns. Rest a grill on top of bricks lining sides of pit, then put wrapped meat and vegies on top. Line edges of pit with banana leaves or damp hessian, then put a piece of galvanised corrugated iron on top. Shovel dirt around edges and on top of iron to cover and seal in heat.

Cook for 5 hours, then dig up. Strain cooking juices into a bowl then measure out 1L in a roasting pan. Dissolve cornflour in
1⁄4 cup water, whisking well, then add to pan and return to heat. Simmer until thickened to a thin gravy. Serve barbacoa with gravy, damper and hot sauce (if using)

You may also like

Slow-cooked beef ribs

Slow-cooked curried chicken drumsticks

Better Homes and Gardens

Better Homes and Gardens promotes inspired living for home loving Australians. With a total audience reach of over six million, Better Homes and Gardens is the country’s original and most successful multi-platform brand, combining a TV show, power-house print magazine and thriving digital and social platforms.

Instagram Facebook

Ingredients

Method

Related stories