Swedish bread and brisket - adventures in cooking

On my last trip to that magical blue and yellow flat pack kingdom, I had a feeling of panic and dread as we approached the checkout and realised my trolley was empty, well almost. Even a scrounge in discount corner (can't resist) didn't give me the fix I was looking for. So after the checkout I hit the food store, with a new zeal for Swedish food, having eaten my way around Stockholm a few times now.
Then the trolley was overflowing, with Glogg Wine, Dryck Julmust (strange dark cola Xmas soft drink) Kanelbullar (cinnamon scrolls), Elderflower cordial and marmalade, Pepparkarkor biscuits (too delicious!), various crisp breads and Flerkorn Bread-mix.

Christmas came and went, as did all the food and drink, except for the two bread-mixes which I found at the back of the cupboard this week. So I gave one a whirl today, the instructions couldn't be easier, grease your loaf tin, add 600ml of warm water to the tetrapak, shake and pour into the tin. Rest 45mins, bake for an hour. I didn't trust the 'shake in the container' part, having cleaned up too many pancake and cake batters before (and a very vivid memory of my brother shaking a chocolate milkshake that ended up drenching Mums' net curtains), so I emptied the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl first.

After resting I had expected some sign of rising, and didn't have much hope after seeing it hadn't risen at all. An hour in the oven, continually having to remind myself and my stomach, that although it smelt like delicious chocolate cake in the oven, it was bread. I took it out spot on the hour, and it looked pretty good, and after cooling a slice revealed a nice even bake (I've been paying attention to Mary Berry). Delicious with Vegemite, but oh what I'd give for some cream cheese or Kraft peanut butter right now!

Next experiment for the day is underway, I'm cooking brisket! Years of Seinfeld and Big Bang Theory have convinced me this should be a delicious thing. I bought a premixed bag of pot roast spice and herbs from the German Christmas markets, which unfortunately has no clues of quantities, and no amount of googling supplied an answer. I did however come across lots of pot roast recipes and although not following one specifically, I think I've got the gist. Buying brisket is an economical way of getting good quality, outdoor reared, organic beef here in the UK, plus its so nice to do a slow cook meal on a cold winters day.

After browning the meat, deglazing the pan with red wine, adding the spice mix (random guess of 4 heaped tablespoons), onion and celery I transferred it to a cast iron casserole and topped up halfway with boiling water.

Looks good, so far. Now just have to slow cook it in the oven for 3.5hrs to find out!

Verdict - it was delicious, but oy vey the amount of fat that comes off the brisket is a little scary. I separated the meat from the liquid for the leftovers, and cooled in the fridge overnight. The next day I took a decent crust of lard off the top! At least the leftovers will have less calories then when revived from the freezer.

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