It’s the brisket you’ve been waiting for! 

 

 

 

My love of braising has been well documented on this site, but brisket holds special sentimental spot in my heart.  There is something magical about taking a tough, unfriendly cut of meat and through hours of slow cooking, transforming it into a rich, indulgent meal.  In this case, I had a special fate in mind for this brisket – I was working on a recipe to contribute to Mission Street Food.  As part of helping with the beer and menu, I’m contributing a dish – or at least, a basis for a dish – to the menu.  Anthony is going to take the basic recipe below and put the ‘ol Mission Street Food twist on it. As long as we’re embracing the Jewish theme with this dish, we’ll be serving it alongside of a world class latke. In fact, Eli takes her commitment to latke frying so seriously, she’s signed on the be in the kitchen that night, frying up latkes to order to be served on top of the brisket, next to a pour of Messiah Bold. 

 

 

 

The Messiah Bold is a fairly dark brown ale, which lends a nutty roasted flavor to the brisket, and the low hops bode well for the long cooking time and deeply reduced sauce. It’s surprisingly rich for being essentially a session beer, and a very food friendly clean finish.  The onion compote is cooked alongside the beef, and is drenched in gelatin and beef goodness. Plus, it’s amazingly simple to make. 

 

 

 

I started by dredging the brisket in flour, searing it off in a heavy duty dutch oven. Then sweating the onions in the remaining beef fat. 

 

  

 

After the onions took on some color, I added tomato paste, fresh thyme, and garlic.  A few more minutes and kitchen filled with aromas as the tomato paste began to take on some color.  Then, the namesake beer joined the party.

 

 

  

 

After the whole thing came to a boil, I scrubbed the bottom of the pot to make sure all of that fond made its way into the sauce. Next I added the brisket back in, and parked it in a 300 degree oven for 4 hours. 

 

 

 

Here’s the secret to this brisket: after you pull it out of the oven, allow it cool completely, in the juices.  Just crack the lid, make sure there’s decent liquid coverage on the meat, and let it hang out for an hour or two.  Then pull, the brisket, strain and reserve the sauce – I like to put it in a tall glass, so the fat floats to the service and makes a hockey puck – and save the onions on the side. Stick it all in the fridge overnight.  The next morning, you’ll be greatly rewarded:

 

 

 

Slice the cold brisket against the grain to make this tender piece of melt mouth wateringly tender. Bring the sauce up to a boil, add the meat, and warm the onions in a separate dish, adding a bit of malt or cider vinegar to brighten them.  Then top the brisket off with onions on a the plate with plenty of sauce.  Serve with a cool pint of Messiah Bold, potatoes  - preferably in latke form – and some dark winter veggies. 

 

 

 

Or if you’re not feeling up to the task of making this yourself – just stop by Mission Street Food on March 21st and try Anthony’s take on this dish.  It’ll be like this… only better.  The real question is what kind of ice cream to have for dessert? 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 3:53 am and is filed under etc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.