The Ultimate Braised Brisket Recipes

BRAISED BRISKET

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Mix the fennel seeds, sage, cayenne, 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the brisket, pressing it into the meat to make sure it sticks well.
• Mix the beef stock or broth, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and garlic in a large liquid measuring cup and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the brisket fat-side up and cook until golden brown and no longer sticking to the bottom of the pot, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until it is golden brown and some of the fat has rendered, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the brisket to a plate and lower the heat to medium.
• Add the onions, carrots and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot, until the onions are softened and starting to caramelize, 7 to 8 minutes.
• Add the balsamic mixture and tomatoes to the pot and bring to a boil. Return the brisket to the pan and nestle it into the sauce and vegetables fat-side up. Cover the pot, transfer to the oven and braise until the brisket is tender but not shredding or falling apart, about 3 hours 30 minutes. A fork should easily pierce through the meat.
• Remove from the oven, uncover and let the brisket rest in the pan for 30 minutes. Remove the brisket to a cutting board. Bring the vegetables and sauce to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until slightly thickened, 12 to 15 minutes. Thinly slice the brisket across the grain and place on a platter. Spoon the vegetables and sauce over the top and serve.

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 GOURMET BEEF BRISKET

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250°F.
• Rub beef with Montreal steak spice.
• Use spoon or spatula to cover beef with a thin layer of Demi-glace.
• Place brisket FAT side UP and cover with slices of Truffle.
• Rap entire brisket in foil, two or even three times NO HOLES!
• Place brisket into a roasting pan of decent enough height to contain juices.
• Be sure the fat and Truffles are facing up in the pan.
• Cook in roasting pan in 250F oven for 10 hours. Lots of time to prep the BBQ for Hickory smoke.
• After 10 hours open the foil on the top (end to end) and tilt the brisket to get most of the juices out of the foil and into the roasting pan.RESERVE juices. Keep brisket in foil and transfer to BBQ. Use a tray to keep the brisket from falling apart or sticking. Do whatever you do to provide meat with smoke (BBQ set low with a smoker -- or an actual smoker, either is good). The key is low heat! Keep the meat covered but slightly open to promote smoke flavor. You should be able to "forget" about the meat for another 2 hours on the BBQ. If you need to tend the meat on the BBQ then its probably too hot.
• Combine 2 cups of BBQ sauce with the juices from the roasting pan (should be almost 2 cups of juice) and cook over low/med heat to simmer. Cook for 15 minutes at a good simmer -- skim as much fat as you can and keep sauce warm.
• Let Brisket sit for 20 minutes before slicing. Open foil and LIGHTLY salt the brisket. Remove as many truffle slices as you can and RESERVE. Slice ACROSS the grain of the brisket then "pull" apart meat with fingers. You can slice it all and mix in the sauce to one big bowl to combine and serve a large party easily OR slice what you need and put sauce on individual buns -- saving the rest for later use.
• Either way put around 200 grams of beef on a bun bottom and cover/smother with sauce. Add a bit of truffle and the bun top and you're ready to go. Actually, open-faced is more attractive and can be served on more occasions. Plus it shows the truffles. As a sandwich serve with corn on the cob, Potato salad or maybe "mashed" potato and a Caesar? Open-faced serve with you're favorite fancy dinner veg -- could be anything.

BRAISED BEEF BRISKET

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Using a large casserole, brown the brisket and pour away the fat. Set the brisket aside. Add the pig's feet and brown lightly with the leeks, celery, garlic and carrots. Cook for five minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add the tomato paste, wine, cognac, thyme and orange peel. Return the brisket to the casserole. Season with salt and pepper and distribute the vegetables evenly around and on top of the brisket.
• Cover and bake for three hours, turning the brisket once, and basting it every half hour.
• Meanwhile, boil the onions until the skins are soft. Drain, cool and peel.
• Half an hour before the brisket is cooked, add the onions to the casserole. Meanwhile, peel the turnips and potatoes. If the potatoes are large, cut them into smaller cubes the same size as the turnips. Boil them until cooked, drain and keep warm.
• Place the brisket on a heated serving platter and arrange the vegetables around it. Remove the meat from the pig's feet and add.

BRAISED BRISKET WITH GARLIC

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grate 1 teaspoon zest from the lemon.
• Heat the olive oil in a roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until well browned on both sides. Remove the beef from the pan. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon pan drippings.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic cloves to the pan and cook until golden, stirring occasionally. Add the vinegar to the pan and cook and stir for 1 minute, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the stock, thyme and rosemary sprigs. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes. Season with black pepper.
• Return the beef to the pan. Spoon the stock mixture over the beef. Cover the pan.
• Bake for 2 1/2 hours or until the beef is fork-tender. Baste the beef with the pan juices every 30 minutes. Remove the beef from the pan, cover and keep warm.
• Strain the pan drippings through a sieve into a medium bowl, reserving the garlic and discarding the thyme and rosemary sprigs. Spoon off any fat.
• Place about half the garlic cloves and about 1 cup pan drippings into a food processor or blender. Cover and process until the mixture is smooth.
• Heat the garlic mixture, remaining garlic cloves, remaining pan drippings, chopped rosemary, minced garlic and lemon zest in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat to a boil. Cook and stir until the gravy is thickened. Serve the gravy with the beef.