The sweet ingredient that lifts this brisket to another level

I love to slow-cook this on a Sunday, ready for the week ahead.

This is an edited extract from Sour Cherries and Sunflowers by Anastasia Zolotarev (Quadrille, $45). Photo: Anastasia Zolotarev

Whenever I eat a sour cherry, if I close my eyes, I’m back at my babushka’s dacha (summer house) in Belarus, where sour cherry trees flourished in the back yard. Equally, when I see, smell or taste sunflower oil, I am transported to Ukraine – my dad’s home – where we lived for five years with his parents before we emigrated to Australia. At the time, these ingredients were not available in Australia, so whenever I returned to Eastern Europe I would search for them. In summer, buckets of sour cherries are sold by locals on the roadside and bottles of golden, unrefined sunflower oil are often for sale outside someone’s house. Happily, I can now source both in Sydney; perhaps there’s not the exact taste or feeling, but it’s close enough.

Try too my chicken, potato and dill stew.

Slow cook this beef to get your week’s cooking off to a head start.

Sour Cherries and Sunflowers celebrates the often maligned cuisine of Eastern Europe.

Beef brisket with prunes

I love to slow-cook this on a Sunday, ready for the week ahead. My babushka Liana often pairs meat with prunes, a common combination influenced by the Yiddish community that lived in Ukraine. Use any sort of stock, or just water; you could also use sweet paprika instead of mustard. Serve with potatoes – boiled, baked, mashed, however you wish.

Ingredients

• 50g butter or oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 large carrot, thinly sliced into half-moons or quarters
• 1kg brisket, diced into 2cm chunks
• 400g passata
• 500ml beef or bone stock
• 150g pitted prunes
• 1 tablespoon smooth or grainy mustard
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper
• Boiled, baked or mashed potatoes, to serve

Method

1. Melt 30g of the butter in a large casserole dish over a medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and carrot, then cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until slightly golden and aromatic. Take care not to burn the garlic – adjust the heat as needed. Remove the mixture from the dish.
2. Add the remaining butter to the dish and the diced brisket. Cook the meat on all sides over a medium-high heat for 10 minutes, then return the vegetable mixture.
3. Stir in the passata, stock, prunes, mustard, bay leaf and 750ml of water. Cover with a lid and gently simmer for 2½-3 hours over a low-medium heat. Check regularly, and if the liquid is evaporating too much, add another 250ml of water.
4. After about 3 hours, remove from the heat, taste and season with salt and pepper. You can keep the meat chunky or use a fork to break it up. Serve with potatoes.

Serves 6-8