Braised Brisket: The Topic

[bloviatrix]

Did the other guests say anything about how it compared to the briskets of their past?

The perfect title for an upcoming bestseller: Briskets of My Past .....

What about Briskets I Have Known, and Loved??

GG -- how did yours turn out? Blovie and I determined that my brisket last weekend was better than his mom's for seder #2.

Yeah Al!! I'm waiting for you to become brisket obsessed.

[Gifted Gourmet]

What about Briskets I Have Known, and Loved??

GG -- how did yours turn out? Blovie and I determined that my brisket last weekend was better than his mom's for seder #2.

How about "The Brisket that Devoured Cleveland" at your local multiplex??

Mine was delightful!! The frozen turkey still sitting in my freezer and very bemacht!!!

[maggiethecat]

As if by magic, a brisket has appeared in my fridge, from an excellent local meat source, Bobak's. It's one sorry brisket. One and three quarter pounds, skinny and lean. It looks more like a thick flank steak than a brisket.

Should I just do the low and slow thing? Should I slather it with lard? Bacon? Mirepoix? Cook it in a crockpot like corned beef? If I had a brisket with some heft and fat it would present no problem, but I have the greyhound, the whippet of briskets. Sorry to bring up doggie imagery, but you know where I'm coming from. And I know that there are more brisket mavens on this site than raisins in a Spotted, er, Dog.

What should I do?

[snowangel]

Sounds to me like you have the flat part of a small brisket. Not the most ideal of cuts, but for some reason, they are popular. Me, I'm all over that nice thick end with all of the fat, perfect for the smoker.

But, alas and alak, that's not in your fridge.

There is a recipe in Molly Steven's "All About Braising" that I'm hot to try. Brisket Braised with Rhubarb and Honey. If you don't have the book, hie thyself to the bookstore and buy it (worth it's weight in innovative ways to use cheap cuts of meat) or to your local library.

Sure, it's supposedly past time to pick rhubarb (there's that old "don't pick after the 4th of July" adage), but I think your plant would love giving something up to a dish that sounds as wonderful as that particular dish.

Regardless of whether you take my suggestion or not, me does think that a braise is in order.

[Abra]

I'd make this with it, and maybe serve it with potato pancakes. It takes all afternoon to make, but it's a really nice thing for that super-lean meat. Supposedly it's an Eastern European style of brisket. This recipe has passed through several hands, and is edited here.

3 pounds brisket, trimmed -- Use flat cut

brisket, trimmed of most of it's fat.

3 tablespoons unbleached flour

1/4 cup canola oil

4 onions -- thickly sliced,

separated into rings.

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon salt

coarsely ground pepper -- to taste

4 cloves garlic -- chopped

1 pound baby carrots

Dredge meat in flour, salt, and pepper then brown deeply in a heavy Dutch oven in the hot oil.

Set meat aside. Add the onions to the pan you browned the meat in and stir, scraping up the brown bits. Cook until the onions are well browned, 10-15 minutes.

Off heat, set meat atop onions, pour over any accumulated juices. Spread the tomato paste overmeat. Sprinkle with pepper and salt. Add the garlic and cover tightly. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove meat from oven, and transfer to cutting board. Cut it into 1/8- to a 1/4-inch slices, against the grain. Return the slices to the pan, overlapping them at an angle so it's like reassembling the brisket. Add the carrots.

Cover, and return pan to the oven. Cook until the meat is very tender, 1 3/4 to 2 hours longer.

Edited September 28, 2005 by Abra (log)

[mtigges]

Remove meat from oven, and transfer to cutting board. Cut it into 1/8- to a 1/4-inch slices, against the grain. Return the slices to the pan, overlapping them at an angle so it's like reassembling the brisket. Add the carrots.

Cover, and return pan to the oven. Cook until the meat is very tender, 1 3/4 to 2 hours longer.

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Why the slice? I've never braised a brisket before. And I've never heard of braise where this is done. What is the reason? Would it just take longer without the slices?

Mark.

[Luckylies]

Remove meat from oven, and transfer to cutting board. Cut it into 1/8- to a 1/4-inch slices, against the grain. Return the slices to the pan, overlapping them at an angle so it's like reassembling the brisket. Add the carrots.

Cover, and return pan to the oven. Cook until the meat is very tender, 1 3/4 to 2 hours longer.

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Why the slice? I've never braised a brisket before. And I've never heard of braise where this is done. What is the reason? Would it just take longer without the slices?

Mark.

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it's sometimes hard to slice thinly, super-tender braised meats... it makes it easier to get slices insted of crumbles...

[JEL]

As if by magic, a brisket has appeared in my fridge, from an excellent local meat source, Bobak's.  It's one sorry brisket.  One and three quarter pounds, skinny and lean.  It  looks more like a thick flank steak than a brisket.

Should I just do the low and slow thing? Should I slather it with lard? Bacon? Mirepoix?  Cook it in a crockpot like corned beef?  If I had a brisket with some heft and fat it would present no problem, but I have the greyhound, the whippet of briskets.  Sorry to bring up doggie imagery, but you know where I'm coming from. And I know that there are more brisket mavens on this site than raisins in a Spotted, er, Dog.

What should I do?

←

you could grind it up with some bacon ends, and smoke a pretty nice meatloaf.......

while it's smoking you could go buy a good brisket, and find out who put that skinny little thing in your fridge.........

maybe even have time to kick them in the butt a time or two......(just for the grief)....

[maggiethecat]

Thank you for all your terrific ideas---all of them sound wonderful. A Braise of Brisket....hmmm.

(I know who put it there! He'll get lucky around Labor Day.)

[ronnie_suburban]

Braising is definitely the way to go -- and I like Abra's suggestion -- but her omission of sweet Hungarian paprika is a serious flaw

=R=

[Priscilla]

MtheC, I was thinking you could cut it yet thinner lengthwise, either butterflied or in two separate slabettes, and stuff and roll, or roll and stuff, before braising.

My Mom used to do something like this with flank steak -- course there is no guarantee if not prepared in a flame orange Descoware oval oven or a Presto pressure cooker.

That said, the pinwheel slices are pretty and delicious pan sauce is easy peasy lemon squeezy.

[melkor]

I'm turning a 3 1/2 pound brisket into cuban pot roast today. I'll take some pictures and post them in a few hours along with a recipe.

[maggiethecat]

The die was cast last night, long before I'd had a chance tp profit from the fabulous advice here, We rubbed the lean thing with Hungarian paprika, cumin, Vietnamese chili paste and thyme, then enclosed it tightly in a foil package. When I came home for lunch I took the silver packet from the fridge and stuck it in a 200 degree oven, very, very dubious.

At seven I upwrapped it. Holy, um, Cow. Fork tender, easily sliced and running with jus. (Very spicy, too!) We'll serve it up shortly on mini-baguettes, coleslaw on the side.

And if it's on sale at Boback's again for 1.49 a pound, we'll snap up its skinny ass and try out one of your alternative recipes.

[Abra]

What Emma said about the slices, plus it allows the nice sauce to get into every bite of the meat. Paprika would indeed be a good addition.

[snowangel]

When I came home for lunch I took the silver packet from the fridge and stuck it in a 200 degree oven, very, very dubious.

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Low and slow. The rule for braising and smoking. Sounds like it works as well for a rubbed, foil-wrapped skinny ass brisket, too. Low and slow.

[richards1052]

My wife uses the Silver Palette Cookbook brisket recipe and has found it to be a killer recipe. Far & away the best I've ever had the pleasure of eating.

But I don't understand why the texture of the meat can be oozingly deicious some years and tough as shoe leather others. We use the same ingredients & cook it precisely the same way every year.

My wife thinks it has to do with a difference between kosher & non-kosher meat & that kosher is the more tender variety. I'm not sure if that's even possible as a valid explanation in culinary terms. I thought my wife's theory was true myself until last year when we bought kosher meat from our QFC here in Seattle (recently bought by Kroger's) and it turned out tough as shoe leather.

Can anyone with serious experience making brisket explain to me in culinary terms why a brisket can be so different fr. one yr to the next & whether there are things one can do to ensure a tender one?

[Gifted Gourmet]

My wife thinks it has to do with a difference between kosher & non-kosher meat & that kosher is the more tender variety. 

Can anyone with serious experience making brisket explain to me in culinary terms why a brisket can be so different fr. one yr to the next & whether there are things one can do to ensure a tender one?

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It has nothing to do with kosher or nonkosher ... mine are very tender and are always kosher ...

Trick has to do with length of time ... typical braising technique: sear outside, add liquids and spices, simmer til tender, depending upon the size of the meat ... if it is tough, then continue cooking a bit longer ... then I slice it and return to the pot with the gravy which has formed, thicken the gravy, and serve ...

more information

Edited September 8, 2006 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[Marlene]

Which recipe in the Silver Palette. I just looked a both my SP cookbooks and didn't actually see a brisket recipe. Having said that, as GG says, brisket's got to be cooked low and slow for a fairly long time.

Based on your post in the Seattle forum, I can't tell if you're looking for brisket or flank steak, which while they come from the same area, are different cuts and need to be treated differently

In addition, all cows are not really created equal, so you may be getting the ocassional piece of meat from a cow that is less than stellar.

Edited September 8, 2006 by Marlene (log)

[snowangel]

Yes, braise very low and slow. The liquid should barely be burbling.

And, are you cooking whole briskets? If not, are you consistently using the same part of the brisket? There can be a big difference between the flat and the point, the latter being much more fatty and well-marbled.

[bigbear]

Are the Kosher briskets brined?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Are the Kosher briskets brined?

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By way of explanation ... in kashering meat, salt is used to draw the blood from the freshly cut meat .. the process explained best here ... ... so it isn't brining in the classic sense really ... hope this makes sense!

The meat is then placed on a special board, either grooved or perforated, which is slanted, in order to allow the blood to flow down.

The meat is then sprinkled with medium-coarse salt. Fine (table) salt is not used because it dissolves too easily, while salt that is too coarse falls off.

Edited September 8, 2006 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[snowangel]

Are the Kosher briskets brined?

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And isn't a brined brisket corned beef?

[scubadoo97]

I know the fat content can vary significantly from one brisket to another. This may also cause a change the outcome of the dish.

[bigbear]

Are the Kosher briskets brined?

←

By way of explanation ... in kashering meat, salt is used to draw the blood from the freshly cut meat .. the process explained best here ... ... so it isn't brining in the classic sense really ... hope this makes sense!

The meat is then placed on a special board, either grooved or perforated, which is slanted, in order to allow the blood to flow down.

The meat is then sprinkled with medium-coarse salt. Fine (table) salt is not used because it dissolves too easily, while salt that is too coarse falls off.

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I thought it was a one-step, brining process. Obviously, there is a soaking, then a salting. Thanks.

Before the meat and bones are salted they are fully submerged in clean, cold water (in a vessel saved only for this use) for 30 minutes. This soaking removes surface blood and opens the pores, enabling the salt to draw the blood out of the softened meat.

The meat is then placed on a special board, either grooved or perforated, which is slanted, in order to allow the blood to flow down.

The meat is then sprinkled with medium-coarse salt. Fine (table) salt is not used because it dissolves too easily, while salt that is too coarse falls off.

[slo_ted]

I'll second Snowangel's question above. Is there any difference between brined brisket and corned beef?