Brisket

Made brisket this weekend, ha, bet you all thought it was chicken again! Brisket is our other go to dish and I usually make Kay Hartman's Aunt Irene's brisket from an old show, Calling All Cooks, on the Food Network. but this time I made Grandma Selma's brisket from Food and Wine Online. Who are these people? They are definitely not my relatives, I have no clue, but we love their briskets! I adapt most brisket recipes to braising at 300 degrees F for about 4 hours, it's the only way I manage to get a tender brisket, a hotter oven and I end up with a really tough piece of meat. Go with whatever works for you, for some reason, I don't do well with long, involved recipes!

I may have put a little too much cinnamon in, maybe cocoa, it definitely tasted really good, the cayenne gave it a really good kick, but the smell of the cinnamon with the brisket kind of threw me off a little. At least the other day while it was cooking. Brisket always taste better the second day, so we waited for tonight to have it. Would definitely, most definitely make this recipe again, we really liked it. It was a thick, deep, rich sauce, the meat came out really tender with a lot of great flavor but it wouldn't replace Aunt Irene's brisket. That one is tops! If you want my honest opinion. Selma's comes in a very close second! you know, a brisket recipe brings up almost as many opinions and recipes as chicken soup and matzoh balls!

Grandma Selma's Brisket
Source: original recipe from Food and Wine, recipe by Russ Pillar

I adapted the braising part to fit my lazy style of cooking!
Printable Recipe

1/3 cup light brown sugar (I used a little less!)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
One 5-pound beef brisket, trimmed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 large onions, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 pounds carrots, cut diagonally 1/8 inch thick
2 cups Coca-Cola
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup ketchup

Preheat the oven to 300°.

Put the brisket, fat side down, in a large, heavy baking casserole. Add the onions and carrots.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients. Then pour the sauce over the vegetables and brisket, cover tightly with foil and braise for about 3 hours.

Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, slice the meat across the grain 1/4 inch thick, return to the casserole and spoon the sauce over the meat and cook uncovered for 1 hour, or until the meat is fork-tender. Transfer the meat to a platter, spoon the onions, carrots and sauce over and serve.

Tweet