Slow-Roast Beef Brisket in Red Wine, with Mushrooms

Salted Brisket

by Cat, April 2011 (Photo, right, by Cat)

See also: Beet & Potato Salad with Creamy Horseradish Dressing

This recipe is adapted from Fine Cooking (1); originally by Joyce Goldstein. I made  this recipe for my 2011 Easter dinner (see below the recipe for testing). The original recipe uses an 8 1/2 – 9 lb brisket to serve 12, and roasts it at 350°F.  I’m using a 2.5 – 3 pound brisket (to serve 4 – 6), and slow-roast it at 275°F.

The smaller sized brisket, along with the lower oven temperature, will affect cooking time. The original recipe indicates total cooking time of 4 1/2 hours at 350°F for the large brisket; my small brisket took almost 5 1/2 hours at 275°F to be fork tender.

This is really good. I like the overnight dry-brine method.

Slow-Roast Beef Brisket

Ingredients & Equipment:

• 3 pounds beef brisket
• 2 – 3 tsp sweet paprika
• Unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 – 3 Tbsp lard or coconut oil
• 2 large yellow onions, diced (3 – 4 cups)
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 1 Tbsp Homemade Tomato Paste, diluted with 1 Tbsp stock or water
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 4 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 4 oz cremini or button mushrooms, quartered or halved, 1 – 1.5 cups
• small bowl
• saucier
• heavy-duty roasting pan (with optional lid)
• foil or waxed paper (see method)
• small saucepan
• mesh strainer

Method:

1. Trim fat from brisket, to a 1/4 inch layer.
2. Combine paprika with 1 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. Rub all over brisket. Cover and refrigerate overnight to brine, then let warm to room temp on counter for about 2 hours (or brine at room temp for 2 hours, rather than overnight, if you are in a hurry).
3. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 275⁰F (beef) or 250⁰F (buffalo).
4. Dice onions and slice garlic.
5. Heat fat/oil in pot over medium-high heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft and beginning to caramelize, 15 – 20 minutes. Transfer to heavy-duty roasting pan and spread in an even layer.
6. Add prepared brisket, fat side up. If your roasting pan has a lid, lay a sheet of waxed paper across the top of the pan and then add the lid. Otherwise, cover pan tightly with heavy-duty foil (or double layer of regular foil). Braise in oven 1 hour or so (mine braised for 80 minutes); as it cooks, it will give off quite a bit of liquid.
7. Mix tomato paste and stock/water until smooth, then stir into wine and pour around the brisket. Add thyme sprigs. Re-cover and braise another 2 – 2 1/2 hours (mine braised 2 hours, 15 minutes).
8. Meanwhile, scrub and cut carrots; quarter large mushrooms/halve smaller ones. Add both to the meat, cover,  and continue to braise until meat is fork-tender, about 2 hours hours. My small 2.5 lb brisket was fork tender after 1 hr, 45 minutes; total cooking time 5 hours, 20 minutes.
9. Transfer meat to cutting board and trim off fat. Transfer veggies to a serving bowl using a slotted spoon. Skim excess fat from pan juices; strain 1 cup of the juices into a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil until reduced by half. The sauce should be rich and flavorful. Adjust seasoning.
10. Slice brisket across the grain; serve with veggies and the reduce sauce. Wrap leftovers separately.

Assembly or Serving ideas

Accompaniment ideas:

• Garlic mashed potatoes, or potato latkes. In summer, serve with potato & grated zucchini latkes.
• Braised greens, seared green beans or asparagus, or wilted pea shoots on the side.
• Beet & Potato Salad with Creamy Horseradish Dressing or Beet, Fennel & Orange Salad.
• The leftovers can be reheated and served the same way; or serve brisket slices at room temperature, with the salad piled on top.

Testing Easter, 4/24/11: Last evening I rubbed in the salt mix, wrapped the brisket in waxed paper and let it brine in the fridge. This morning I sauteed the onions and put them in the roasting pan, then removed brisket from the fridge, placed it on top of the onions, covered with waxed paper & lid and left it to warm to room temp while I went to Easter Brunch. At 2 PM, I put it in the 275⁰F oven and cooked it 80 minutes, until 3:20. Removed lid (tossed the waxed paper because it was brittle). Thawed a frozen Tbsp of homemade tomato paste in a bit of water, stirred in the wine, and poured over the brisket, with thyme sprigs. Covered with fresh waxed paper and lid, and returned to the oven at 3:30. Prepared carrots and mushrooms; at 5:45, brisket was starting to get tender so I added the veggies. Brisket achieved ‘fork tender’ at 7:30. Total cooking time, 5 hrs, 20 minutes.

Result: Brisket is very good – not too salty. The sauce is amazing! Very intensely flavorful and didn’t need more salt/pepper. The veggies are good too. I served this with seared asparagus spears, and Beet & Potato Salad with Creamy Horseradish Dressing, which is also flavored with minced apple and onion. An excellent combination.

References: 

1. Fine Cooking brisket recipe: finecooking.com/recipes/red-wine-braised-brisket.aspx