Braised Brisket
Ingredients
- 1 5lb beef brisket
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1-2 large carrots
- 5 garlic cloves
- 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 750 ml bottle of red wine
- 2 bay leaves
- Fresh thyme
- salt + pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. See recipe notes below regarding browning brisket in a large pot. Once browned, remove brisket from pot briefly while adding remaining ingredients. Stir to incorporate and then return brisket to pot. Cover with a lid and place in oven, basting with juices every 30 minutes or so. Cooking time depends on the cooking vessel used, see notes. Cook until fork tender, 3 to 3.5 hours, and then let rest before serving. Strain fat from pan sauce. You can choose to serve the sauce as-is with the brisket or blend it all together for a smooth accompaniment to the tender brisket.
Recipe Notes
A five pound brisket is very large. In order to fit a whole cut of brisket into a pot at one time with enough room for the wine and vegetables to reduce properly, you’ll need a big, 7+ quart enameled cast iron dutch oven or possibly a large roasting pan with a lid. My 6-quart enameled cast iron dutch oven was not going to do the job, so I cut my brisket in half and basically did half the recipe in enameled cast iron, and half in a standard stainless steel stock pot with a lid. This process actually allowed me to compare cooking times between enameled cast iron and stainless steel. I prefer a cast iron dutch oven when braising because it has excellent heat retention. Both cooking vessels are capable of braising with similar results, but the cast iron dutch oven was done 30 minutes earlier than its stainless steel counterpart.
We ate the sliced brisket with the pan sauce and vegetables right as they came from the pot, with as much of the fat strained out as possible. I blended the sauce afterwards and saved it for serving with leftovers.
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References
Adapted from Red Wine Braised Brisket by Bon Appetit
