Holiday (or anytime) Brisket
Overview
The Jewish Holidays are coming up fast this year.
And the holiday certainly looks a little bit different, pandemic and all, but the food doesn’t have to be.
I am all for traditional food; I love stuff that our parents bubbies and nana’s would have made. Kreplach, chicken soup, chopped liver, tzimmes, rugelach, and of course, brisket.
This brisket recipe requires limited ingredients, a few steps to deepen the flavor profile, and just some oven roasting time. I’ll walk you through how to do it.
Serves 8-12
Hi, I’m Jackie, Founder of Jackie Cooks and Drinks, and a BIG believer that cooking, creating and entertaining should be FUN.
Shopping List
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1, 5-lb brisket (first cut)
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kosher salt + pepper
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all purpose flour (sub matza meal during passover), about 1/2 cup
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neutral flavored oil like canola or grapeseed, or chicken fat, about 4-6 tbsp
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wine or broth for deglazing the pan
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6 yellow onions, sliced
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4 large carrots, peeled and chopped in half + 2 more carrots peeled and roughly chopped
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3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into quarters
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4 cloves of garlic
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2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
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3 tbsp of water
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1, 6 ounce can of tomato paste
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Water, as needed
Method
Grab a roasting pan big enough for the brisket, potatoes, and 4 carrots, and that can also be used on the stovetop.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Warm about 4 tbsp of oil in the roasting pan over medium low heat on the stove top.
Season the brisket liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour on one side, and repeat on the other side. You can omit this, but it does help get a crust on the brisket as well as thicken the gravy as it cooks.
Place the brisket fat side down on the now hot roasting pan. Allow to cook for 5 minutes and then flip and allow the other side to cook for 5 minutes. Also, this step and be tricky because the brisket is HUGE….soooo, one thing that helps me is take two giant (like the grill ones) spatulas and place one on each side and use one to flip and the other to hold it steady.
Once browned on each side, remove from the pan.
Deglaze the pan with wine or broth. Add another tbsp or two of oil. Add the sliced onions. All of them.
Allow these guys to caramelize. This process will go low and slow. They will need about 20-25 minutes to get golden and soft. Move them around a little bit now and then. This is flavor town. Trust.
While the onions caramelize, grab a food processor. Place the 2 additional carrots, the celery, and garlic cloves, a heavy pinch of salt, some cracked pepper, the tomato paste, and 3 tbsp of water in the food processor. Blend until a thick paste is made. Set aside.
Once the onions are cooked down, add the brisket back into the roasting pan (fat side up).
Brush the tomato-veggie paste on top of the brisket.
Add about 1/2 cup of water to the roasting pan.
Cover the pan tightly with foil.
Place in the oven for an hour and 45 minutes.
Reduce heat to 325 degrees. Allow to cook for another 2- 2.5 hours.
Remove from heat, and slice against the grain. There are plenty of directions online on how to do this. Like this one.
Now, this part is important.
This is best the second day. It’s good the first, don’t get me wrong but the second and third day, man oh man….it’s BOMB.
When you reheat it, reheat it low and slow. 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
And that’s it. Are there some steps involved? Yes, are the steps worth it? You bet.
Holiday (or anytime) Brisket
Ingredients
- 1 5-6 lb first cut brisket
- kosher salt + pepper
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour (sub matza meal during passover)
- 1/2 cup neutral flavored oil like canola or grapeseed, or chicken fat
- 4-6 tbsp red wine or broth for deglazing the pan
- 6 yellow onions, sliced
- 6 4 large carrots, peeled + chopped in half; 2 additional peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 potatoes, medium sized, scrubbed and chopped into quarters
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp water
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1/2-2 cups water, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grab a roasting pan big enough for the brisket, potatoes, and 4 carrots, and that can also be used on the stovetop.
- Warm about 4 tbsp of oil in the roasting pan over medium low heat on the stove top.
- Season the brisket liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour on one side, and repeat on the other side. You can omit this, but it does help get a crust on the brisket as well as thicken the gravy as it cooks.
- Place the brisket fat side down on the now hot roasting pan. Allow to cook for 5 minutes and then flip and allow the other side to cook for 5 minutes. Also, this step and be tricky because the brisket is HUGE….soooo, one thing that helps me is take two giant (like the grill ones) spatulas and place one on each side and use one to flip and the other to hold it steady.
- Once browned on each side, remove from the pan.
- Deglaze the pan with wine or broth. Add another tbsp or two of oil. Add the sliced onions. All of them.
- Allow these guys to caramelize. This process will go low and slow. They will need about 20-25 minutes to get golden and soft. Move them around a little bit now and then. This is flavor town. Trust.
- While the onions caramelize, grab a food processor. Place the 2 additional carrots, the celery, and garlic cloves, a heavy pinch of salt, some cracked pepper, the tomato paste, and 3 tbsp of water in the food processor. Blend until a thick paste is made. Set aside.
- Once the onions are cooked down, add the brisket back into the roasting pan (fat side up).
- Brush the tomato-veggie paste on top of the brisket.
- Add about 1/2 cup of water to the roasting pan.
- Cover the pan tightly with foil.
- Place in the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 325 degrees. Allow to cook for another 2- 2.5 hours.
- Remove from heat, and slice against the grain.
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