Pulling your leg

Those who know me know that I'm a dyed-in-the-wool supporter of the local Super Rugby team, The Brumbies (or ACT Brumbies as us old-hands remember them). Years ago, the team chef would email out recipes to the club's members, and one that I loved at first sight was a recipe for BBQ Pulled Pork. While I love pork, my wife unfortunately breaks out in eczema if she has too much of it, meaning I usually have to substitute it with lamb or beef. I made it a few years ago using lamb and loved the results, and with winter around the corner I was keen to have another crack at it. While I could remember the key points of the recipe, I couldn't find the original and so set out for a bit of internet research as a starting point to modify. What I got was this. It's based off a recipe from heathersdish.com so a fair portion of the credit is due there. It takes a long time, but it's so worth it in the end.

BBQ Pulled Beef Brisket

Serves 14 @ 150g/serve

Ingredients

2 kg beef brisket (or other stewing steak), visible fat removed (a good butcher can do this for you)
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup tomato sauce (ketchup)
I had some homemade chipotle sauce that I substituted for ketchup. Recipe link at the bottom
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbs dijon mustard
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
6 onions, quartered
3 bulbs garlic, halved

2-3 cups good BBQ sauce (I'm a fan of Sweet Baby Ray's)

Method

1. Put all the ingredients except the beef, onions, and garlic in a slow cooker and whisk to combine. 
2. Add 4 of the onions and 2 bulbs of garlic to the sauce. Roll up and secure the beef then place in the slow cooker and top with the remaining onions and garlic. Prior to rolling the beef, I smeared it with extra chipotle sauce to add extra flavour.
3. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for at least 12 hours. 
4. Remove the beef and shred with a couple of forks. Reserve about a cup of the liquid from the slow cooker and discard the remaining liquid, onions and garlic.
5. Return the shredded beef to the slow cooker, add reserved liquid and the good BBQ sauce. Cook on low for another 6 hours and enjoy! 

Serve it up on a bread roll with some gherkin relish, melted cheese and coleslaw, alongside some mash potatoes and greens, or as a pizza topping, or hell, just eat it straight out of the container! It's that good!

Side note: Last summer I worked on smoking my own chipotle chillies. From the resulting harvest I made myself some homemade chipotle BBQ sauce, but hadn't really made use of it due in part to it's mild heat, and in part to the flavour which was closer to a pasta sauce than a BBQ sauce (possibly due to using tomato paste concentrate instead of a passata or similar). This added flavour in the beef was sensational. If you want to make your own, the recipe is here: Chipotle Barbecue Sauce