Equipment
* optional
Ingredients
Beef Brisket
- 1500 g beef brisket, whole piece, trimmed of excess fat
- 10 g salt
- 5 g black pepper, freshly ground
- 30 ml neutral oil, vegetable or grapeseed
Stout Gravy Base
- 2 onion, roughly chopped
- 2 carrot, cut into chunks
- 2 celery stalk, chopped
- 4 garlic clove, smashed
- 30 g tomato paste
- 440 ml stout beer
- 250 ml beef stock, low sodium
- 15 g brown sugar
- 4 fresh thyme, sprigs
- 2 bay leaf
- 15 g cornstarch
Cannellini Mash
- 800 g cannellini beans, canned, drained and rinsed
- 45 g unsalted butter
- 60 ml heavy cream
- 2 garlic clove, minced
- 1 fresh rosemary, sprig
- 5 ml lemon juice
Nutrition (per serving)
Method
Pat the brisket completely dry with paper towels and season generously on all sides with salt and black pepper.
Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Sear the brisket until deeply browned on all sides, about 4-5 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to the slow cooker bowl.
In the same pan, reduce heat to medium and add onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté for 5 minutes until softening. Add smashed garlic and tomato paste, cooking for another minute until fragrant.
Deglaze the pan with the stout, scraping up any browned bits (fond) from the bottom. Stir in the beef stock and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer.
Pour the vegetable and liquid mixture over the brisket in the slow cooker. Add thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4-5 hours) until the meat is fork-tender.
About 20 minutes before serving, prepare the mash. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and the rosemary sprig, cooking gently for 1-2 minutes without browning the garlic.
Add the drained cannellini beans and heavy cream to the saucepan. Simmer gently for 5 minutes to warm through and infuse flavors. Remove the rosemary sprig.
Puree the bean mixture using an immersion blender (or mash by hand) until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm.
Remove brisket from the slow cooker and rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes. Skim excess fat from the sauce. If a thicker gravy is desired, whisk in the cornstarch slurry and cook on high for 5-10 minutes until thickened. Slice meat against the grain.
Chef's Notes
- Searing the meat aggressively is crucial—it builds the foundation of the sauce's flavor through the Maillard reaction.
- If your stout is very bitter, balance it with a little extra brown sugar or a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end.
- Slice brisket against the grain (perpendicular to the muscle fibers) to ensure the bite is tender, not stringy.
- The acid (lemon juice) in the bean mash is essential to cut through the richness of the beef and gravy.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Store meat in the gravy to keep it moist.
Freezer: 3 months — Mash freezes okay but may separate; brisket freezes beautifully.
Reheating: Reheat brisket gently in sauce on stovetop. Reheat mash with a splash of water or milk to loosen.
