Credit crunch recipes - a new series

The credit crunch (or maybe we need to call it a recession now) means that everyone has to cut back on their spending a bit. We think it's really sad that for most people this seems to mean starting to shop at Lidl, Aldi & the other cheaper supermarkets rather than having a closer look at their shopping, cooking & eating habits. Quite apart from some of these shops' worrying employment practices (Lidl, for example, does not recognise Unions), we would prefer to support local producers, especially in these tough times. So over the winter we'll be experimenting with lots of new recipes that use cheaper cuts of meat, delicious winter veg & lots of filling grains & pulses. We're going to share the best on here.

Beef Pot Roast - Brisket
Since I stopped being vegetarian a few years back I have really enjoyed learning how to cook meat. We very very rarely eat expensive cuts of meat here - we just can't justify that amount of expenditure on one meal, especially as we insist on the best quality meat we can get hold of. We usually buy 1 large cut of meat (maybe a free range chicken or a piece of brisket) a week as well as some proper butcher's sausages for another meal.

The large cut has to earn its keep - I expect it to form the main or substantial part of at least 3 meals. The brisket we had this week fed 6 of us on Sunday, did red flannel hash (we use Hugh F-W's recipe from his Meat book) for us the next night & the gravy and left over veg will form the basis of some soup for our lunch today. I don't think that's to bad for an initial outlay of £12.

This is my recipe for a pot roast using rolled brisket. The fantastic thing about this method of cooking a roast is that you do just a little bit of prep then you can put it in the oven and forget about it for 3 hours. Also, the veg is cooked along with the joint so when it comes to eating all you need to do is serve it up with whatever extras you fancy - a few greens maybe, mustard or a Yorkshire pudding anyone?

Pot Roast

• 1.25-1.5kg piece of rolled brisket
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 2 large onions, peeled & cut into quarters or 6 small onions peeled & left whole
  
• 500g of a mix of carrot, swede & turnip peeled & cut into 2-3cm chunks
  
• 100g field/chestnut mushrooms (cut up any larger mushrooms into large pieces)
  
• 4 sticks of celery chopped into 4 (or a couple of sprigs of lovage roughly chopped works well as an alternative)
  
• 1/2 pint of hot stock or hot water at a pinch
  
• dash of Worcestershire sauce
  
• large sprig thyme
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• 1 tbsp plain flour
  
• 25g butter
  
• salt & pepper
  

You will need a large, thick ovenproof dish (with lid) that will fit the joint comfortably with room for the veg around it & a large frying pan for the initial preparation of the meat & veg.

Preheat your oven to gas 1/140C.

Heat up the olive oil in a large frying pan & when hot, put in the brisket (still rolled!) & brown it on all sides. It's important that you brown it thoroughly because this is one of the things that will give the roast & gravy a lovely flavour.

Transfer the meat to your chosen ovenproof dish.

Now put all the veg in the frying pan & brown them too. When they have slightly caramelised edges switch off the heat & arrange the veg around the meat.

Pour over the hot stock, add the Worcester Sauce, herbs & a little salt & pepper. Bring the whole lot to the boil on top on your hob then put on the lid & put it in the oven for about 3 hours.

Just before you are ready to serve cream together the flour & butter to make a paste.

Take the dish out of the oven & remove the meat & veg to keep warm elsewhere. Discard the bay leaf & sprig of thyme.

Whisk the flour and butter paste bit by bit into the stock & stir until the gravy thickens.

Serve & enjoy!