I used to believe I didn’t like beef brisket. Any I’d ever eaten in the past was chewy and kind of dry — more like beef jerky than a tasty roast.
We recently purchased a new freezer. The old one, a chest model, was nearly 40 years in age so it was time. Part of the reason we put it off so long was that neither my husband nor I wanted the job of unloading the contents of the old freezer into the new freezer.
We finally made the decision, ordered the upright freezer and spent a couple hours on a Saturday morning transferring frozen foods from one freezer to the other. The new freezer is wonderful. It makes organization so much easier. Items stay together and now I know what I have inside.
Back to my story. While cleaning the freezer I found a beef brisket. I believe it was left from a half of a beef cow we purchased over a year ago. The rest of the cuts of meat were long gone and this flat cut, wrapped in white paper was laying on the bottom of the chest freezer.
I didn’t hold out a lot of hope for it but I decided I would see what I could do. I found a recipe at the website Once Upon a Chef. It was simple enough to prepare and used ingredients I keep on hand plus a few more things I added into the mix.
After about four hours of cooking, which I know is a long time but it was a rainy, chilly Sunday, the perfect circumstances for preparing a cut of meat that takes that length of time to turn it into something meltingly delicious.
I thought about using my pressure cooker but since I believed it wasn’t going to turn out anyway, I didn’t go to the trouble of getting it down off the shelf.
This recipe seems like it calls for a lot of vegetables but other than the carrots, they mostly dissolve because the brisket cooks for such a long time. I mashed the few remaining chunks of vegetables into the liquid before I thickened it. The gravy was very yummy spooned over servings of mashed potatoes.
You will need a Dutch oven or some type of heavy baking dish that either has a tightly fitting lid or a double thickness of aluminum foil to cover the top of the pan. You also need to check the brisket periodically during the cooking time to see if more cooking liquid is needed.
If you don’t think you like brisket, give this recipe a try. It is a perfect choice for a chilly day meal.
Vegetable Braised Beef Brisket
1 4-6-pound flat cut beef brisket, trimmed so a thin layer of fat remains in some spots on the top side
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 large onions, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch thick rings
1 stalk of celery, diced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pepper, your choice, sliced (Editor’s note: I used a large jalapeno that I took the ribs out of and seeded because that’s what I had in the crisper drawer. You could easily substitute a bell pepper, a poblano or any variety you like.)
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
6 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 cup of water, beef broth or red wine. I used the water.
A handful of parsley, chopped, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Season the brisket on both sides with salt and pepper. Lightly dust both sides with flour. Heat the oil, over medium-high heat. Add the brisket to the pan and sear on both sides until the surface is crusty brown, approximately 5-7 minutes per side. Transfer the brisket to a plate and add the onions, celery, pepper and garlic to the pan. Cook until the vegetables are softened but not cooked the whole way through, approximately 10 minutes. Turn off the stove and nestle the brisket, fat side up, into the vegetables. Spread the tomato paste evenly over the brisket. Add the cup of liquid. Cover the pot tightly. Place in the oven and cook for two hours, checking periodically to ensure there is some liquid in the bottom of the pan. After three hours, pull the pan out of the oven and arrange the carrots around the meat, check the liquid, adding some additional if there isn’t a layer of liquid on the bottom of the pan and return the brisket to the oven. Cook one hour.
After the brisket is cooked to the desire doneness, place it on a cutting board and slice. Remove the carrots and mash any chunks of vegetables, if desired. Thicken the juices, using a tablespoon of flour shaken with a small amount of water or broth. Stir into the juices. If desired you can make the recipe up to the gravy point, cool the meat, vegetables and broth and refrigerate so that you can skim off any congealed fat off the broth before you reheat all and make the gravy.
March 30, 2021 at 01:40AM
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Cooking with Dianne: Make delicious beef brisket by braising it long and slow - Clearfield Progress
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