Words by Lucy Studley
(Treway Farm, Delea Fermented Foods,Goonown Growers)
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS:
2kg Treway brisket (point end)
Beef rub of your choice - this can be bought or made at home
1kg Goonown potatoes
1 jar Delea Fermented Foods Sauerkraut
Bag of apple wood chips
For the rainbow relish:
Goonown red and white onions
Gherkins
Cherry tomatoes
Parsley Capers
100ml Secret Orchard Cider Vinegar
50g sugar
1 tsp turmeric
Smoked Cornish Sea Salt
Cornish Rapeseed Oil
For the aioli:
20g parmesan, fine grated
Black truffle purée (truffle oil would also work)
100g aioli (roughly, homemade would be better)
Method
Trim and, if using, apply your chosen rub to the brisket, allowing it to come up to room temperature as you do. Light a BBQ and when ready, add the apple wood chips. Offset smoke your brisket for 2 hours. Use a heat probe if you have one to ensure a consistent temperature of 120°C. After 2 hours or when a good colour (dark red/brown) wrap your brisket in greaseproof paper and foil, then return to the BBQ or place in the oven (150°C) for another 2/3 hours or until desired tenderness is achieved, then rest for an hour.
When you’re ready to cook the potatoes, pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Wash potatoes and slice in half long ways. Place a thin wooden spoon on a chopping board and line up each potato next to it. Make lots of cuts in the top of your potatoes keeping the spaces between each cut very thin, and using the spoon stop you cutting through. Drizzle with oil and bake in the oven for 40 mins or until nice and crisp.
For the relish, put the vinegar and sugar in a pan and heat to dissolve the sugar. Meanwhile, thinly slice one red onion and one white onion, keeping them in separate bowls. Add the turmeric to the white onion, and when the vinegar mix is hot and the sugar dissolved, split between the two bowls and set aside for 5/10 mins or until strong pink and yellow colours are achieved. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and place skin side up in a tray and blister under a hot grill. Slice the gherkins very thinly using a mandolin or sharp knife, then place in a bowl with chopped capers, the blistered tomatoes, some Smoked Cornish Sea Salt to taste and enough rapeseed oil to bind. When the onions have gained a good strong colour fold them through and check the seasoning. To make the aioli use a hand blender to mix all ingredients together, seasoning to taste.
To serve, arrange on a dinner plate. Thin slices of the brisket alongside a good spoonful of sauerkraut, the Hasselback potatoes drizzled with aioli, and dressed with a generous helping of the rainbow relish.
Tips
There are several ways to make this dish a real Christmas centre-piece. One is to brine the meat before smoking, the other is to use a rub of your choice before cooking.