Do you love flavour and fed up of the same old brisket recipe and what to try something new? Try this! We haven’t used a dry rub as a sealant on a brisket before, we usually seal the meat first in a pan before pot roasting so this was new for us. I also haven’t ever used coffee as a savoury note either. The result was so yummy if I had to describe it, it is like an up market spicy Bovril flavour, it has lots of complex layers to the sauce. The meat takes on all the flavours in the rub and just melts in your mouth as you would expect from it cooking in the slow cooker for 5 hours. We also have some leftovers so we can have a pulled brisket wraps or salad for lunch one day!

Ingredients

For the Mocha Rub (can half if you don’t want extra rub to use again)

• 2 tbsp finely ground coffee
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp sea salt

For the Slow Cooker

• 1kg beef brisket
• 200ml brewed coffee
• 400ml beef stock
• 200ml red wine
• 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 6 shallots, peeled and halved
• 12 pitted dates
• 2 bell peppers chopped

To finish off

• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour

Method

• Prepare the mocha rub by mixing together the finely ground coffee, smoked paprika, black pepper, cocoa powder, sweet paprika, chili powder, ground ginger and salt in a small bowl.
• Pat the beef brisket dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mocha rub mixture over the top of the brisket and rub it in well with your hands. (store the rest in an airtight container to use again on other meats)
• Combine the brewed coffee, beef stock, red wine and balsamic vinegar in a jug and mix to combine.
• Pour the liquid into the slow cooker and place the brisket gently on top.
• Tuck in around the meat the shallots, dates and bell peppers.
• Cook for 3 hours on high and 1 1/2 hours on low (if you have time 7 hours on low would be fine)
• Remove the meat and wrap in foil to keep warm, skim off any fat/oil floating on cooking liquid and discard. Drain the remaining cooking liquid into a pan keeping the shallots, peppers and dates for serving.
• Reduce Sauce on medium- high heat until it has halved, add the soya sauce and cornflour to season and thicken.
• Serve with your chosen sides (potato, rice, tortillas etc)