Beef Bummer

We had good friends over for dinner last night and I planned to do something which I usually don't. That is to cook a dish I haven't cooked before. Usually I regard trying out new recipes on guests as a big mistake - mostly because things can go wrong and you end up with a dinner party composed of carbon or raw stuff. It's a good idea to try things out in the privacy of your own family and send out for a take-away when it goes wrong.

BUT... the recipe I was using was supposed to be bomb-proof and I was confident in my ability to deliver...

It was pot-roast beef. The gravy was fantastic, the vegetables cooked in same were lovely but the beef itself was as tough as an old boot. It was brisket as called for by the recipe and cooked long and slow but it just would not tenderise. IN the end I sliced it as thin as possible and although it tasted ok - and beef is not the tastiest of meats, it's all in the texture, the texture was indeed tough.

Lesson - cook this dish the day before and then leave it to tenderise in its juices ready for the following evening if you have time or use a more expensive but tender cut of meat. Here endeth the lesson.