Slow Braised Brisket and Onions by Jamie Geller
by Jamie Geller
There is nothing more comforting and familiar than the knowledge that a brisket is quietly simmering away. Brisket has some of the tastiest and richest meat and fat of any cut of beef. I do not recommend a first cut brisket. It is just too lean, and cooking anything that lean for a long time yields a dry and flavorless dish.
A second cut, or even better yet, a whole brisket will feed an army with tender, melt-in-your-mouth meat. The fat encapsulates the meat and protects it from drying out while the long slow cooking session gently unwinds the tight muscle fibers, yielding a gelatinized, luxurious roast.
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook time: 240 minutes
Serves: 10+
Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 large Spanish onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (7 pound) whole brisket
- 3 whole heads of garlic, cut in half to expose the cloves
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1 cup dry red wine
- Bouquet Garni: several thyme sprigs, parsley stems, and bay leaves tied to celery rib
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 300°F or preheat slow cooker to low.
- Heat a large sauté pan or Dutch oven, lightly coated with olive oil, over medium-high heat. Brown onions until dark and very soft. Stir tomato paste in and continue cooking for a few minutes to sear tomato paste. Transfer onions to slow cooker, or if using a Dutch oven, push onions to the side.
- Season brisket with salt and pepper and brown on both sides in the same pan. You may need to cut brisket in half to fit into a slow cooker.
- Nestle brisket into pan with onions. Add garlic, broth, wine, and bouquet garni.
- Cover and braise for 3½ to 4 hours in a 300°F oven or 8 hours on slow cooker, or until a fork inserted comes out with no resistance.
- Cool brisket before refrigerating for up to 2 days.
- Scrape off fat, slice brisket. Squeeze garlic out of heads and add to pan juices. Serve with pan juices and onions.
- Slice brisket if serving another day and store with pan juices in refrigerator. Reheat in a 300°F oven, covered, for 1 hour.
BeTeavon and ENJOY!
Jamie Geller is the only best-selling cookbook author who wants to get you out of the kitchen – not because she doesn’t love food – but because she has tons to do. As “The Bride Who Knew Nothing” Jamie found her niche specializing in fast, fresh, family recipes. Now the "Queen of Kosher" (CBS) and the "Jewish Rachael Ray" (New York Times), she's the creative force behind JOYofKOSHER.com and JOY of KOSHER with Jamie Geller magazine. Jamie and her hubby live in Israel with their six super kids who give her plenty of reasons to get out of the kitchen - quickly.
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