Pickled Beef

You may never have considered making your own pickled beef, so this delicious recipe may be an eye-opener. The commercial product tends to be full of salt and saltpeter, which is not desirable. Recipe serves 8.

Ingredients:

2 pound (1 kg) piece of beef topside
12 whole cloves
1 cup wine vinegar (red or white)
1 cup red wine
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1 medium onion, chopped

Method:

1. Trim any fat from meat.
2. Stick cloves into meat, evenly distributed.
3. Place meat in a bowl large enough to hold it snugly.
4. Combine vinegar, wine, sugar, mustard, mustard seeds, garlic, peppercorns and onions and pour over meat.
5. Cover tightly and refrigerate for three days, turning once or twice each day.
6. Remove meat from bowl and place in a large saucepan.
7. Strain marinating liquid through a sieve into smaller saucepan. Bring to the boil and strain over meat.
8. Cover, bring to boil, immediately lower the heat and simmer gently until meat is cooked through (about 1 hour).
9. Serve hot with boiled or mashed potatoes and cooked red cabbage or cold with bread or with a salad.