From Biscuit to Brisket

I was totally channeling Paula Deen and her fellow Southern cooks this weekend. In addition to the fantastic sweet potato biscuits I blogged about yesterday, I also braised a brisket and made caramel-banana custard (I'll get to that later this week!).

Now my original intention was to barbecue that brisket, which would have been even more Southern. But I got a bit of a late start and was afraid three to four hours wouldn't be enough smoking time on the grill. Based on past experience, I knew that would be just the right amount of time for braising (you typically need about an hour per pound), so into the oven it went.

The last time I braised a brisket, it was with a recipe from Cooking Light. This one was also inspired by Cooking Light, but modified quite a bit from the original recipe to reduce the number of steps involved! Now you know I'm normally not apt to simplify a recipe, but I just didn't have the energy for the straining, re-boiling, de-fatting, and thickening this recipe called for. And so I decided to forgo the fancy sauce and simply spoon some of the cooking liquid over the meat instead. The verdict? It was still one of the most flavorful, super tender, delicious briskets I've ever had. And it was even better on a sandwich the next day!

The shredded bits are a-maz-ing!

Braised Beef Brisket
Ingredients:
1 (3-4 lb.) beef brisket, fat trimmed but not completely removed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups beef broth
1/2 cup red wine, such as merlot
1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut shallow slits in top of brisket.

In a small bowl, combine garlic and thyme. Stuff garlic mixture into slits in meat. Season with salt and pepper. Rub meat with olive oil.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear meat on all sides, beginning with oiled side. Remove meat to plate and set aside. Add broth, wine, and vinegar to Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Place meat back in pot and place pot in oven.

Cook 3 to 3 1/2 hours, turning twice. Remove from oven, allow to rest 10 minutes, slice and serve.

If you want to go to fuss with the fancy sauce ...
After 2 hours of cooking (and 1 turn), strain the cooking liquid from the pot through a fine mesh strainer into a 2-cup measuring cup. Pour liquid into large, zip-top bag. Snip a hole in one corner of the bag and squeeze liquid into small saucepan, stopping before reaching the fat layer. Bring to a simmer, return to Dutch oven, add meat, and cook an additional hour.

Oven Onion-Smothered

So it's about 900 degrees outside today ... OK, so it's closer to 90, but regardless, it's not the kind of day when you want to turn on the oven. But I had already planned on making a brisket today ... I didn't realize I should have checked the forecast first!

Originally, I had pulled out a recipe for a cranberry and onion brisket, but deciding that was too Christmas-y, I went in search of another. My Best of Cooking Light cookbook saved the day, even if it did heat up the house!

Onion-Smothered Brisket
Ingredients:
1 (approx. 2 lb.) beef brisket
Salt and pepper
1 large onion, sliced into rings
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup beer (I used Guinness)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
6 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
6 red potatoes, halved
6 cloves garlic

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Trim fat from brisket. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Place the brisket fat-side down in a Dutch oven. Pile the onions on top of the meat.

In a medium bowl, combine ketchup, beer, brown sugar, and Worcestershire. Pour mixture over brisket. Cover Dutch oven and cook 1 1/2 hours.

Flip meat. Arrange carrots, potatoes, and garlic around meat and spoon cooking liquid over them. Cook another 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Remove brisket from oven and allow to rest for a few minutes. Slice meat against the grain and serve with carrots, potatoes, onions, and sauce spooned over.


The brisket was super tender and flavorful, the veggies were perfectly cooked, and the sauce was way bold (but not too bold!). I think the Guinness (which just happened to be the only beer in the fridge) was an awesome choice. It gave the right, deep background for the sauce ... and my only complaint is that I didn't use enough of it! The sauce ended up cooking down quite a bit, and I wish I had made more to make my brisket super smothered!