KOACH Recipe: KOACH Recipe: Savory Beef Brisket

Maya Berezovsky
University of Minnesota
Editor
KOACH-on-Campus

A perfect meal for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a midnight snack

I can remember practicing piano in the living room while the smell of brisket cooking became my surroundings. Instead of Ode to Joy, I was playing my heart out, an original Maya: "Ode to Mom’s Special Brisket Recipe."

Bad joke, good brisket.

It’s the High Holidays? Brisket. I get to pick the meal? Brisket again. What’s that? We’re having someone over? It’s the second Tuesday of March? Brisket! The morning after those meals, it’s a jog to the fridge for leftover brisket. No time for forks or a plate, no time for the microwave. If I can’t finish it at dawn, lunch is served.

It’s such a fitting name. Brisket. Sounds like it tastes. Brisket. Each bite is light, but filling. Full of taste, but never rich. Onions adorn the brisket, with an onion-to-slice of meat ratio of approximately 3:1 (See recipe). Not too much, not too little. You can’t fail.

I like to rave about food, especially my mom’s cooking. I enjoy finding new ways to describe her gold-medal winning dishes. I fret, however, that if I rave about a variety of foods, my "nine thumbs up" critique on the brisket will not stand out. What can I say? "Best" and "mom’s cooking" go together regularly.

Believe me on the brisket, though. It’s the best. You cannot come over for dinner but you can try the recipe. While you are snacking on leftover brisket for breakfast, check for more "best recipes" at KOACH on Campus.

Skip better. You’ve found best.

1 4 ½ -5 pound boneless brisket, trimmed

1 Tablespoon oil

2 cups sliced, peeled onions

1 cup red wine

1 cup strong coffee

3 Tablespoons chili sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon garlic, mashed with…

… ½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

1 ½ cup water, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

Cut meat in 2 to fit in skillet.

Heat oil.

Add one piece of meat and cook 10-12 minutes, turning 3 or 4 times.

Remove to plate; repeat with remaining piece.

Add onions and stir-fry 2-3 minutes.

Stir in wine, coffee, chili sauce, sugar, garlic paste, pepper, and bay leaf.

Return meat to pan.

Spoon onions and liquid over meat.

Bring to boil; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 1 ½ hours, turning meat halfway.

Discard bay leaf.

Transfer meat and liquid to storage container.

Add water and refrigerate up to 48 hours.

Discard hardened fat.

Remove meat from liquid and slice thin.

Mix ¼ cup of cooking liquid with cornstarch and tomato paste.

Transfer liquid and onions to skillet and bring to boil.

Stir cornstarch mixture and add to skillet.

Bring to a boil, stir, and simmer 1 minute.

To serve right away, add meat and heat through.

To serve later, arrange meat in baking dish and pour sauce over meat.

Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours.

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees 20-30 minutes.

Serves 6-8.

[Posted 9/29/05]