Dear Reader,
Well, here we are. It’s the middle of January. The days are warm, and the lovely La Niña has kept me moist. Oh, La Niña, how I wish you’d stay forever. That said, I’m sure those experiencing destructive floods do not find La Niña attractive.
Last week I bought myself a couple of large lumps of beef, and I’ve been enjoying leftovers each day. I still have a good-sized chunk of brisket, and I wondered how to finish it off.
I haven’t been out most of today because of work, so I thought I’d put together some random things for dinner. I had store-bought puff pastry in the freezer, so I thought I’d wrap the brisket in the buttery goodness.
I massaged the brisket with mustard and coated it with pepper for extra flavour. I lined the pastry with some chopped onion and parsley.
Ingredients
- Leftover beef brisket which has been cooked in a pressure cooker
- Parsley
- Onion
- Mustard
- Black pepper
- Puff pastry
- Kent pumpkin
- Rice bran oil
- Marmalade
- Rocket
- Walnuts
- Feta
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Instant gravy
Instructions
- Get all the refrigerated items out.
- Cut the pumpkin into chunks and massage with oil and marmalade.
- Put the pumpkin onto a baking sheet and put it into a moderate oven.
- Remove the pumpkin when a sharp probe can penetrate it easily and slide in and out of the flesh.
- Allow the pumpkin to cool.
- Rub the brisket with some mustard. It doesn’t really matter what type of mustard you use. The mustard is being used to bind the pepper to the meat. Mmm…mustard makes me want a pickled gherkin in my mouth.
- Grind some black peppercorns and spread them on a plate.
- Gently roll the meat in peppercorns and coat all the sides and the ends.
- Chop some parsley and onion together.
- Prepare the pastry as per the instructions for use.
- When the puff pastry is ready, line the surface with the parsley and onion and then wrap the pastry around the meat.
- Seal any gaps and brush the surface with melted butter and sprinkle some coarse salt over the buttered surface.
- Put the brisket into the oven and cook until the pastry is golden brown.
- Pull the meat out and let it rest.
- While the beef is unlikely to be moist like a slow-cooked piece of brisket, it will be tender given it’s already been cooked in a pressure cooker.
- Add the pumpkin, crushed walnuts, feta, and rocket to a bowl. Douse with a little EVOO and season with some salt.
- Slice a nice thick slice of meat, add it to a plate, and pour gravy over it. Add the salad on the side.
- Give thanks to the Lord and inhale the meal.
Thoughts
The supermarket shelves are still a bit random. The last time I looked, there was no chicken, minced meat, and a scarcity of snags. Like last week, there were many good-sized pieces of beef and lamb ready for roasting or slow-cooking.
Leaving the current wave of COVID-19 caused by SARS-COV-2 Omicron Variant aside, life has been good. Work is busier than ever, and non-work life is going very well.
It’s good to be happy and being hopeful.
This meal was pretty good. The meat cut easily and on the tooth, it was tender yet firm enough to keep its body. The marmalade was fantastic on the pumpkin.
Final thoughts
- How’s life for you?
- Do you prefer your meat to be soft and moist or a bit firmer, chunkier, and better feeling between your teeth?
- What’s the coming week hold for you?
Puff pastry Pressure cooker Beef brisket 
Pastry covered pressure cooker beef brisket and roast pumpkin salad 
Pastry covered pressure cooker beef brisket and roast pumpkin salad
I recently read a story that mentioned a suet pastry. Wrapping meat in dough is so very good (hard on carb control, but so delicious!) and putting a precooked meat in a puff is practically perfect! Practically because for me, I’d most likely make a mess of it!! I often make little Wellingtons with burger and refrigerator crescent rolls, they are worth the work. (others find it easy peasy…) I also found a recipe this last week for rubbing rabbit pieces with mustard before baking. Mustard as a type of a marinade seems new and incredibly tasty. Will let you know how the bunny ends up.
The bunny sounds great. I look forward to hearing how it goes, Kris.
Yum! Looks delicious!
Thank you very much 😊
Okay Gary, this is poetic, ” a scarcity of snags”, but what’s a snag? And does it always come in multiples?
Oh sorry, Jadi. Snag is Australian slang for sausage 😊
Yes always in multiples 😊
Beef Wellington is a great idea for the beef Gary! 😀 It’s so curious that chicken has been the one to fly off the shelves this time.
Hi Lorraine, I think chicken and minced meats represent easy things to cook or at least familiar to cook. I’ve met people who get anxious about buying and cooking a joint a meat. I’m happy because it means more of the great tasting meat cuts for me 😊
Oh that makes sense Gary!
This is a brilliant meal!! I love anything wrapped in dough/pastry–it keeps the ingredients inside so tender, and the flaky crust is fun to munch on. Still no chicken in the grocery store here, but there are other options for meat–though pickings are slim. Never sure what the week will hold, but I’m always excited to see what will happen next. Stay safe and well. Cheers!
Pastry crusted meat is so good 😊
Stay safe this week
This is just lovely pressure cooked beef is always delightful and wrapped in pastry with pumpkin and nuts is divine. Which reminds me.thst I loved your pressure cooked nut crispy skinned duck on a previous post. The next two weeks will be tough as our part time lady has a very sick mother and sadly resigned to be with her mum, so I’m interviewing next week for a replacement. On the plus side it’s summer and the days are long and the vegetable garden is flourishing. May we all have a happy and healthy 2022.
Looks good, Gaz! All is well here. The Djokovic palaver has been interesting to observe, especially as we in the UK are also in a ‘one rule for them’ type scenario with all the party shenanigans that have been going on over here… Anyway, I like meat tender-ish and next week, I’m looking forward to finishing off some personal projects (hopefully!)
All the best with the personal projects. I hope they work out and you complete them with time to spare.