Beef & Mushroom Pot Roast

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg beef brisket or chuck roast
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• salt and black pepper
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 300 ml beef stock
• 400 g chestnut mushrooms, halved
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 200 ml red wine
• 2 bay leaves
• mashed potatoes or crusty bread, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan. Pat the brisket dry with kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no browning — then season generously with salt and black pepper on all sides.
2. Heat the oil in a large, lidded casserole over high heat until it shimmers. Lower the beef in carefully and sear for 4–5 minutes per side until deeply mahogany-crusted all over. If your brisket is a tight fit, halve it and sear in two batches — crowd the pot and the meat steams in its own juices instead of building that fond. Lift out and set aside on a plate.
3. Drop the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring, until softened and translucent. Stir in the garlic and tomato purée and cook for just 60–90 seconds until fragrant and the purée darkens to brick red — watch the garlic, don't let it go past pale gold or the whole braise turns bitter.
4. Pour in the red wine and let it bubble hard for 2 minutes, scraping up every browned bit stuck to the base with a wooden spoon — that fond is the backbone of the sauce. Add the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer.
5. Return the beef and any resting juices to the pot. Tuck the carrots, mushrooms, bay leaves and thyme sprigs around the meat — the liquid should come about halfway up the brisket, no higher. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and slide into the oven.
6. Braise for 2.5–3 hours, until the beef yields to a fork with no resistance and pulls apart in glossy strands. Fish out the bay leaves and thyme stalks.
7. Taste the braising liquid now, while you can still fix it — season with salt and pepper, taste again, adjust. The wine and stock have reduced and concentrated, so a final pinch of salt usually ties it together. Shred the beef directly in the pot, or slice it thickly and return it to the sauce.
8. Spoon the shredded beef into shallow bowls over mashed potatoes or alongside crusty bread, ladle over the mushrooms, carrots and dark, glossy braising liquid, and finish with a generous scatter of chopped parsley.