Saturday, November 25, 2023 • SECTION D
Braised brisket
BRISKET
101
JULIE GIUFFRIDA
H
Los Angeles Times
anukkah, a.k.a. major bris-
ket season, is here. A classic
Jewish holiday food, bris-
ket is a cinch to prepare and
one large brisket can feed
many and last for several meals, easing
the cooking pressure for eight nights of
candle lighting.
As a child and well into adulthood, I
hated brisket. Granted, my experience
with it was limited to what my mother
made; it was always stringy, tough and not
particularly flavorful. Because she was an
otherwise excellent cook, I assumed that
was how it was supposed to be.
For years, I kept my disdain for brisket
to myself for fear of committing Jewish
culinary treason. But once I hosted my
first Passover seder, I began exploring
how to make my own brisket.
No-fuss recipes call for dumping pro-
cessed ingredients such as ketchup, on-
ion soup mix or Coca-Cola on the meat
before shoving it in the oven for 3 hours.
More complex ones involve searing the
meat and sauteing vegetables before add-
ing tomatoes, balsamic, red wine or apple
cider vinegar and honey or molasses to
the pan before cooking it.
Sweet or savory, simple or sophisti-
cated, three hours was the magic cook
time that almost every recipe specified.
Over the years, my approach to a good
brisket has been to stick with the basic
ingredients, and searing the meat and
sauteing the vegetables makes a huge
difference in the final product. Here are
some keys to the best brisket ever:
Variations
If using a pressure cooker or multicooker: Follow the same
instructions but in step 5 use your stovetop pressure cooker or the
sauté function of the Instant Pot set on high to sear the meat and
sauté the vegetables. Complete through step 7. Set the pressure
cooker to cook under high pressure for 1 hour. Allow the steam to
release naturally. Continue with steps 9 and 10.
00
1
How to make the most
tender, flavorful
meat every
Know your meat
Brisket is the chest muscle of the cow,
full of tough connective tissue. A whole
brisket has two parts: the front section,
or the point, is thicker and often has large
chunks of fat; and the back section, or
the flat, is leaner and more flavorful. The
flat is better for slicing; the point shreds
better.
Know your flavorings
Season the brisket with about a ta-
blespoon of salt per 5 pounds of meat. If
possible, salt it the day before you want
to cook it and let it sit overnight in the
refrigerator, making it more juicy and fla-
vorful. Sauteing aromatics, such as on-
ions, celery and carrots, in larger chunks
will caramelize them and release their
aromas to add more flavor. Acid in the
sauce, such as tomatoes, tomato sauce,
wine, vinegar and citrus juice, will help
to tenderize the proteins and brighten the
overall flavor.
Use your oven
The best way to transform a hunk of
tough muscle into something tender and
succulent is to braise it — that is, cook it
at low heat for a long time (in a covered
pan) in enough liquid to cover only about
of the roast. But first, sear the meat in a
hot pan over medium-high heat for a few
minutes on each side until it is beautifully
browned. A tip on searing: Score the fat
cap and sear that side first so that it will
render nicely. Next, saute the aromatics.
Then, add your liquid and other flavorings
to the pan and bring it all to a boil. Cover
If using a slow cooker:
Follow the same instructions but in steps 5 and 6, use a large, heavy-bottom skillet on the stovetop to sear
the meat and sauté the vegetables. In step 7, transfer ½ to of the vegetables to the slow cooker. Add the
brisket, fat side up and top with the remaining vegetables. Add the liquid, sliced garlic, bay leaf and thyme.
For step 8, cook for 5 hours on high or 9 hours on low and proceed with the instructions. Continue with steps
9 and 10.
time
DANIA MAXWELL,
LOS ANGELES TIMES
the pan and slide into a preheated oven.
The oven provides a constant temperature
around the pot, which allows the contents
to cook evenly.
Give it time
Buy the brisket at least a day before you
plan to cook it so that you can season it
and let it rest overnight. Cook the brisket
up to 4 days before you plan to serve it.
Cut it properly
It is easier to cut even, ½-inch thick
slices while the meat is cold and firm. Cut
against the grain to prevent shredding. To
identify the direction of the grain, turn
the brisket upside down and look for the
long muscle striations. Slice perpendicu-
lar to the direction of the striations.
Reheat gently
Once the meat is sliced, lay it out in an
ovenproof serving dish along with the
gravy. Cover and heat in a low to moderate
oven — no more than 350 degrees — for
30 to 60 minutes. As with the cooking,
reheating low and slow will keep the meat
tender and moist.
Remember the gravy
If you have too much liquid left in the
pan, boil it rapidly (separate from the
meat) to reduce and thicken it. If you
prefer a thicker gravy, puree the aromat-
ics with the jus. If it needs more sauce,
add some liquid such as water, broth or
tomato sauce and a bit of acid — a few
tablespoons of citrus or vinegar — to the
pan when reheating.
Delicious brisket does not require fancy
ingredients, a lot of work or special
equipment. If you focus on technique and
keep the ingredient list simple, you will
have delicious, tender results every time.
Time: 4 hours, largely unattended, plus
overnight chilling
Servings: 10 to 12
Ingredients
„ 1 5- to 6-pound „ 4 celery stalks,
brisket roughly chopped
„ 1 tablespoon (about 2 cups)
kosher salt „ 1 15-oz can petite
„ ½ teaspoon diced tomatoes in
ground black tomato juice
pepper „ 2 cups low
„ 6 cloves garlic sodium beef
(1 halved, broth, tomato
3 crushed and sauce or
2 thinly sliced) water (or any
„ 2 tablespoons combination
olive oil thereof)
„ 2 large onions, „ 1 dried bay leaf
chopped (about „ 3 sprigs fresh
4 cups) thyme
„ 4 medium „ Juice of 1 lemon
carrots, roughly „ ½ cup water, if
chopped (about 2 needed
cups)
Directions
1 The day before you cook the brisket,
trim any excess fat, leaving the cap
about ¼-inch thick. Sprinkle the salt and
pepper on all sides of the meat and use
your hands to rub in the seasoning. Wrap
in plastic or place in a zip-top bag and re-
frigerate overnight. (If cooking the brisket
the same day, pat it dry, sprinkle with 2
teaspoons kosher salt and ½ teaspoon
ground black pepper, use your hands to
rub in the seasonings and skip to step 3.)
2 When ready to cook, remove the bris-
ket from the refrigerator, unwrap and
pat dry with kitchen towels.
3 Heat oven to 325 degrees.
4 Rub the meat on all sides with the cut
side of the halved garlic clove. Using a
sharp knife, make several long, diagonal
slashes about to ¾ of the way through
the fat cap. Repeat, cutting in the opposite
direction to create a cross-hatch pattern.
5 In a heavy-bottomed casserole, heat
the oil over medium-high and when
the oil is hot (shimmering), add the bris-
ket, fat side down, and let it cook, undis-
turbed, until the bottom is well-browned,
2 to 3 minutes. Flip the meat and continue
searing until well-browned on all sides, 4
to 6 minutes total. Remove the meat to a
platter.
6 Add the onions, carrots and celery,
and cover the pan for about 2 min-
utes, until the vegetables have released
some of their juices. Uncover the pan, add
the crushed garlic and continue cooking
the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until
softened, 5 to 6 minutes.
7 With a large spoon, remove ½ to of
the vegetables from the pan. Add the
tomatoes and broth, tomato sauce or wa-
ter and bay leaf, stirring and scraping up
any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Return the brisket to the pan, fat side up,
along with any accumulated juices. Spoon
the previously removed vegetables over
the top of the meat, add the 2 garlic
halves, sliced garlic and thyme, and bring
to a boil. If needed, add more broth, to-
mato juice or water so that the meat is
about — but not fully — immersed in the
liquid.
Cover and slide the pan into the oven
8 and cook until it is fork tender, about
3 hours. (You know it is fork tender when
you can easily slide a fork into the meat
and remove it with little resistance.) Let
cool in the pan, then refrigerate the bris-
ket in its juices until the fat has solidified,
preferably overnight.
9 Remove solidified fat from the
chilled brisket and reserve for an-
other use or discard. (If serving immedi-
ately, skim the fat with a spoon or pour
the juices into a fat separator.) Separate
the brisket from the juices and cut,
against the grain, into ½-inch slices.
Transfer about a third of the sauce to an
ovenproof serving dish, lay the sliced
meat on the sauce, top with the remain-
ing sauce and add the lemon juice and, if
necessary, ½ cup or so of water.
For serving, heat, covered, in a
10 350-degree oven until simmering and
heated through, about 30 minutes. If the
sauce is too thin, uncover and let cook for
an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until
sauce reaches the desired consistency.