The best beef brisket braised in red wine

try saying that three times fast…

I’ve already shared my mom’s brisket recipe, the one that has always graced our table for Passover and Rosh Hashanah. It’s about as 1960s as a recipe can get. Mom is gone, but her brisket lives on. Relatives still travel from far and near, citing this brisket, not us, as their reason for making the trip (it’s kind of a family joke).

That brisket is so good that it made AARP’s 10 Best Passover Recipes list.

That recipe uses only 3 ingredients, plus the meat.

This one is a little more complex, but it’s a very different dish, and includes vegetables, potentially making it, with the addition of a salad, a one dish meal. That’s especially true if you add potatoes, which you can totally do, but I usually leave them out so that I can make a big bowl of mash to soak up the gravy.

There are a lot of recipes for brisket braised in red wine out there, and this one is the very best.

Of course it is!

I wouldn’t be sharing it with you if it were only second best.

What makes it so fabulous?

The beef stock and tomatoes mingle with the red wine, the rich dried fruits, and sweet spices to create the most amazing gravy. The vegetables bring their own flavors to the party.

And the orange liqueur brings it all to a whole new level of fabulous.

This brisket recipe is best made a day in advance, which makes it perfect for Holidays, Shabbat, or any festive occasion.

Ingredients:

• a first cut, brisket 3-4 pounds

• 2 tablespoons fruity olive oil

• 3 large carrots, in peeled and cut into 1 inch slices

• 2 stalks celery, optionally peeled, in 1 inch slices

• 2 onions, cut into large dice

• 4 medium turnips, peeled and quartered

• 8 oz white or brown mushrooms, quartered

• 12 pitted prunes

• 12 dried figs

• 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves

• ½ teaspoon ground allspice

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 6 cloves garlic

• 2 cups beef stock

• 1 cup red wine

• 1 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes, drained, chopped, juice reserved

• ½ cup triple sec or other orange liqueur

• 1 bay leaf

• Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

Sear the meat

• Warm the oil in a large dutch oven.  Over high heat, sear the meat quickly, fat side down, until it has a nice brown crust. Then flip it over and sear the other side. Remove the meat from the pot and set it aside. 

Caramelize the vegetables

• Add vegetables and seasonings to pot, adding another small glug of oil if needed.  Sauté until the onions and mushrooms are nicely caramelized. 

• Add the chopped garlic and sauté for another minute.

Deglaze the pot

• Scoop the vegetables out of the pot and set them aside. Pour the orange liqueur into the pot and cook, stirring, to gently to scrape up all the tasty fond at the bottom of the pot.

Season and braise the brisket

• When the liqueur is reduced by half, Add the meat back into pot and then add the vegetables back in on top of the meat.

• Add the figs and prunes

• Sprinkle the allspice and cinnamon over the vegetables.

• Add the chopped tomatoes with their juice, the beef stock, the bay leaf, the thyme, and the wine.  Add a few twists of the pepper mill and a little salt if needed, depending upon the saltiness of your stock.

• Cover and cook at a low simmer for 3 hours on top of stove, checking it from time to time to make sure the gravy isn’t cooking out. If it seems to be getting a little too thick, add more stock or water and stir it through.

• Alternatively, you can braise the brisket in the oven at 300°. 

• The brisket is done when a fork slips easily into the meat. The sweet spot is to get it very tender, but not falling apart.

Store the brisket and vegetables

• Allow the brisket to cool in the pot for 30 minutes before removing it. Store it in the fridge, separately from the sauce and vegetables.

• The meat is much easier to slice when it’s cold. Remove it from the fridge, place it on a cutting board, and slice it ¼ inch thick, being sure to go against the grain to prevent it from becoming stringy. It’s possible for the grain to change direction while you’re slicing it, so be aware and adjust the direction as needed. Hold your knife at an angle to cut your slices on the bias.

Reheat the brisket and vegetables

• Preheat the oven to 350°.

• Lay the slices out nicely, overlapping them slightly, in an oven safe Pyrex or ceramic dish. Pour the gravy and vegetables evenly over the meat, and cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil, or its own cover if it has one. Bake it for about half an hour. If the gravy seems to have cooked out too much, carefully add a little hot water to the dish.

• Serve the brisket and vegetables right from the baking dish, or transfer them to a nice serving platter. 

Pareve Mashed Potatoes

You could serve this brisket with noodles or rice, but I love serving it with a fluffy mountain of mashed potatoes on the side.

I’m a big fan of buttery, creamy mash, but if you do kosher, that’s not going to work here. These mashed potatoes have a slightly different flavor profile, but they’re equally delicious, and are, admittedly, healthier as well.

I don’t really measure when I make these. The measurements are just a guide. Feel free to adjust the proportions to your taste.

Ingredients:

• 4 large Yukon Gold potatoes

• ½ onion, diced small

• 2-4 tablespoons fruity extra-virgin olive oil

• ⅓-½ cup chicken or chicken-less stock

• salt and white pepper to taste

Method:

• Scrub and peel the potatoes. Cut them into four wedges lengthwise, and then cut each wedge in half, crosswise. I don’t know why, but I’ve found that the way they’re cut affects the overall texture of the mash.

• Place the cut potatoes into a saucepan with the chopped onion and a pinch of salt, and add water to cover. I find that salting the water before cooking, rather than salting the mash at the end, also makes a difference. But, since your stock may be salty, I’m careful not to over-salt them at this point.

• Bring the pot to the boil, and boil until the potatoes are very soft. Drain the potatoes and return the pot to the stove over very low heat, to dry them out. Don’t let them scorch on the bottom.

• Add the olive oil and mash them well, using a potato masher. You’ll find that the onion mashes right in and pretty much disappears, leaving only its flavor behind.

• Slowly add the stock, continuing to mash them until they’re smooth and creamy. Add white pepper to taste; taste and adjust the salt if needed.

Painting the lily

Delicious is even more delicious with the addition of roasted garlic and/or a swirl of truffle oil. To roast garlic, grab a large, firm head of garlic and slice off the top of it to reveal the tips of the cloves. Drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in foil. You want the foil to be completely sealed, but tented around the garlic. Toss it in the oven. If you’ve got other stuff roasting at the same time, have no fear. The garlic can be roasted at any temperature between 350° and 450°. It’s done when it’s easily pierced with a fork, which takes about an hour. When the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the individual cloves. The creamy, garlicky goodness will pop right out. Stir as much as you like into the mash. The garlic should remain a bit chunky and rustic. If you have any left, save it for schmearing on bread.