French Onion Braised Beef Brisket Recipes

FRENCH ONION BRAISED BEEF BRISKET

Steps:

• Begin by caramelizing the onions. Add the butter to a saute pan along with the onions and garlic over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper.
• Slowly cook the onions until they are softened and begin to slowly caramelize and turn brown. Do not do this too quickly or they will develop a bitter flavor. Slow cooking the onions will bring out their natural sweetness. Don't rush this, it will take 15 o 20 minutes or so.
• In a cast iron pan over medium high heat, add a little canola oil. Season the brisket with salt and pepper and brown the brisket on all sides before adding it to a covered roasting pan.
• To the roasting pan, add all of the other ingredients, including the caramelized onions. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.
• Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil as tightly as possible before adding the lid. Place in a 325 degree oven for 4 hours or until the brisket is fall apart tender.
• Skim the excess fat from the pan drippings and serve as a jus with the brisket or use it to make a gravy, whichever you prefer.

CLASSIC BRAISED BRISKET

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Pat the brisket dry and sprinkle liberally on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a roasting pan over 2 burners on medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat until hot. Sear the meat, fat-side down, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Carefully flip and sear on the second side until golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the brisket to a platter or baking sheet. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan.
• Add the sweet onions to the pan and cook, scraping the bottom, until just starting to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by about a third, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth, garlic cloves and thyme. Return the brisket and any juices to the pan, cover tightly with foil, transfer to the oven and cook for 3 hours.
• After 3 hours, check to make sure there is still liquid in the pan. If not, add another cup of chicken broth. Re-cover tightly with the foil and cook for another 1 1/2 hours.
• Arrange the pearl onions and leeks around the meat, re-cover with the foil and cook until the meat is very tender, 1 to 1 1/2 more hours. Carefully remove the meat to a platter.
• Stir the honey into the roasting pan, place the pan over 2 burners on medium heat and reduce the liquid by about a third, 6 to 10 minutes. Discard the thyme sprigs. Spoon off any oil from the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. At this point you can serve the brisket or refrigerate overnight (see below).
• Toss the parsley, mint, scallions and shallots with the vinegar in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• Spoon some of the sauce with the sweet onions, leeks and pearl onions onto a large platter. Cut the brisket across the grain into thin slices and lay them on top of the sauce. Spoon over more of the sauce and mixed onions and top with the parsley mixture. Serve the remaining sauce and onions on the side
• Make Ahead: You can refrigerating the brisket overnight before serving. Remove the sweet onions, pearl onions and leeks from the sauce and refrigerate separately. The fat will harden as the brisket and sauce chill, making it easy to spoon out. To serve, remove the brisket to a cutting board while cold. Thinly slice and return to the sauce along with the mixed onions. Cover and reheat in a 325 degree F-oven for about 45 minutes.

THE ULTIMATE BRAISED BRISKET

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Drizzle brisket liberally with olive oil then season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper.
• Place a large Dutch oven or heavy-based pot over medium-high heat and add a 3-count of olive oil. Place the brisket in the pot and sear on both sides to form a nice brown crust. Remove from pot and set aside before adding carrots, onion and celery. Brown vegetables, then add the garlic, tomatoes, red wine, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and parsley. Add the brisket back to the pot, cover and roast in the oven for 3 hours until the brisket is fork tender.
• Remove the brisket to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes. Strain out the vegetables and pour off some of the excess fat, then pour over the brisket.
• Slice brisket across the grain and serve over parsnip puree with roasted red onions and garnish with parsley.

CLASSIC BEEF BRISKET WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. Season brisket generously on all sides with salt mixture. (Use about 2 tablespoons and reserve remaining mixture.) If possible, wrap and refrigerate several hours or overnight, then bring to room temperature.
• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Place brisket in a shallow roasting pan or earthenware baking dish. Pour wine and 2 cups water over the brisket, then add cloves, garlic, bay leaves and allspice berries.
• Scatter about 1/3 of the sliced onions over brisket. Cover with foil or a tight-fitting lid. Place in oven and bake for about 3 hours or until meat is quite tender when probed with a fork. (Be careful not to overcook; you want slices, not shreds.)
• Meanwhile, place a large skillet over high heat and add olive oil. Add remaining onions and season with remaining salt mixture. As onions begin to brown, reduce heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, turning onion slices with a spatula every few minutes until caramelized and fork-tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water to onions and simmer a few minutes more. (For more flavor, use broth from the brisket pan instead.) Onions may be prepared in advance and reheated.
• To serve, transfer brisket to a cutting board. Trim extraneous fat from meat. With a large knife, cut meat across the grain into 1/4-inch slices. Strain braising liquid into a saucepan (discard solids left in strainer) and skim any rising fat from surface.
• Arrange sliced meat on a platter. Cover with caramelized onions and ladle some hot braising liquid over. Garnish with parsley sprigs and sprinkle with scallions, if using. Serve remaining juices separately.

BRAISED BRISKET WITH ONIONS & GARLIC

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place beef brisket, fat side up, in large roasting pan.
• Sprinkle brisket evenly with salt, pepper and garlic; top with onions.
• Roast in oven 1 hour or until onions are lightly browned.
• Add 1 cup hot water.
• Carefully cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.
• Reduce oven to 325F and continue cooking 2 hours or until brisket is tender.
• To make gravy, skim fat from pan juices.
• Add cornstarch mixture to pan juices.
• Cook over medium heat until gravy boils and thickens, stirring constantly.
• Carve brisket across the grain into thin slices; serve with onions and gravy.
• Makes 6 to 8 servings.

BRAISED BEEF AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Pat meat dry. Stir together allspice, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl and rub all over meat.
• Spread half of onions and half of garlic in a 13- by 9-inch roasting pan and arrange meat on top. Spread remaining onions and garlic over meat. Tightly cover pan with foil and roast, turning meat over after 1 hour, until meat is very tender, about 2 1/2 hours total.
• Skim fat from pan juices. Slice meat across the grain and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with onions and pan juices.

POT-ROAST BEEF WITH FRENCH ONION GRAVY

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Rub the meat with 1 tsp of the oil and plenty of seasoning. Heat a large flameproof casserole dish and brown the meat all over for about 10 mins. Meanwhile, add 2 tsp oil to a frying pan and fry the carrots and celery for 10 mins until turning golden.
• Lift the beef onto a plate, splash the wine into the hot casserole and boil for 2 mins. Pour in the stock, return the beef, then tuck in the carrots, celery and bay leaves, trying not to submerge the carrots too much. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hrs. (I like to turn the beef halfway through cooking.)
• Meanwhile, thinly slice the onions. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and stir in the onions, thyme and some seasoning. Cover and cook gently for 20 mins until the onions are softened but not coloured. Remove the lid, turn up the heat, add the butter and sugar, then let the onions caramelise to a dark golden brown, stirring often. Remove the thyme sprigs, then set aside.
• When the beef is ready, it will be tender and easy to pull apart at the edges. Remove it from the casserole and snip off the strings. Reheat the onion pan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 min. Whisk the floury onions into the beefy juices in the casserole, to make a thick onion gravy. Taste for seasoning. Add the beef and carrots back to the casserole, or slice the beef and bring to the table on a platter, with the carrots to the side and the gravy spooned over.

ONION-BRAISED OVERNIGHT BRISKET

Steps:

• Season the fatty side of the brisket with 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Flip the brisket over.
• On a cutting board, chop the garlic. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt while continuing to chop, stopping occasionally to mash the garlic to a paste by holding your knife almost flat against the board with the dull side facing you and sliding it across the garlic to crush it. Rub the garlic paste into the non-fatty side of the brisket and season it with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Starting with the thin side, roll the brisket up tight, jelly-roll style, with the fat on the outside, and tie it firmly with kitchen twine.
• Heat a Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Brown the brisket evenly on all sides, about 20 minutes, and then transfer it to a platter.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 225°F.
• Discard any remaining oil in the pot, wipe it out with a paper towel, and return the pot to the stove over medium-low heat. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, the onions, the sugar, and the remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Cook, stirring often, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are completely soft and caramelized.
• Remove the pot from the heat and add 1 cup water. Return the brisket to the pot, and use a slotted spoon to spread some of the onions on top to keep it moist. Tent it with a piece of parchment or aluminum foil by placing it on top and then crimping it snugly around the roast so that the edges nearly meet the liquid, and then cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. Put the pot in the oven and braise for 7 hours, until the brisket is tender.
• Transfer the brisket to a warm place and use a food mill to puree the onions. Return the onion puree to the pot and heat gently, adding a little water if necessary to make a thick but pourable gravy. Slice the brisket and serve with the onion gravy.

ONION-BRAISED BEEF BRISKET(ATK)

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 300 degrees. Line 13 by 9-inch baking dish with two 24-inch-long sheets of 18-inch-wide heavy-duty foil, positioning sheets perpendicular to each other and allowing excess foil to extend beyond edges of pan. Pat brisket dry with paper towels. Place brisket fat side up on cutting board; using dinner fork, poke holes in meat through fat layer about 1 inch apart. Season both sides of brisket liberally with salt and pepper.
• Heat 1 teaspoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until oil just begins to smoke. Place brisket fat side up in skillet (brisket may climb up sides of skillet); weight brisket with heavy Dutch oven or cast-iron skillet and cook until well browned, about 7 minutes. Remove Dutch oven; using tongs, flip brisket and cook on second side without weight until well browned, about 7 minutes longer. Transfer brisket to platter.
• Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pan (or, if brisket was lean, add enough oil to fat in skillet to equal 1 tablespoon); stir in onions, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened and golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute; add tomato paste and cook, stirring to combine, until paste darkens, about 2 minutes. Add paprika and cayenne and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle flour over onions and cook, stirring constantly, until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add broth, wine, bay, and thyme, stirring to scrape up browned bits from pan; bring to simmer and simmer about 5 minutes to fully thicken.
• Pour sauce and onions into foil-lined baking dish. Nestle brisket, fat side up, in sauce and onions. Fold foil extensions over and seal (do not tightly crimp foil because foil must later be opened to test for doneness) Place in oven and cook until fork can be inserted into and removed from center of brisket with no resistance, 3 1/2 to 4 hours (when testing for doneness, open foil with caution as contents will be steaming). Carefully open foil and let brisket cool at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Transfer brisket to large bowl; set mesh strainer over bowl and strain sauce over brisket. Discard bay and thyme from onions and transfer onions to small bowl. Cover both bowls with plastic wrap, cut vents in plastic with paring knife, and refrigerate overnight.
• About 45 minutes before serving, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. While oven heats, transfer cold brisket to cutting board. Scrape off and discard any congealed fat from sauce, then transfer sauce to medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until warm, skimming any fat on surface with wide shallow spoon (you should have about 2 cups sauce without onions; if necessary, simmer sauce over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 cups). While sauce heats, use chef's or carving knife to slice brisket against grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices, trimming and discarding any excess fat, if desired; place slices in 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Stir reserved onions and vinegar into warmed sauce and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over brisket slices, cover baking dish with foil, and bake until heated through, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
• To Make and Serve the Brisket on the Same Day: If you would like to make and serve the brisket on the same day, after removing the brisket from the oven in step 4, reseal the foil and let the brisket stand at room temperature for an hour. Then transfer the brisket to a cutting board and continue with the recipe to strain, defat, and reheat the sauce and slice the meat; because the brisket will still be hot, there will be no need to put it back into the oven once the reheated sauce is poured over it.