Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Beef Brisket


A friend came over around Thanksgiving and we shared in the task of making a meal together. Actually, my kitchen is pretty small and I don't play nicely with others, so she made her course (soup) beforehand. Here's what I made:

First, you'll notice some apples, challah and honey. We also missed Rosh Hashanah, so we had to catch up on those two staples. You can also see the leak and potato soup my friend brought. It had cumin and cheddar cheese in it. It had a good flavour, but I would probably opt for a different cheese next time because the cheddar melts in a curdled-like consistency.


I was really excited about the cherry tomatoes. When I grow a garden again, I'll be planting lots of these.


The salad included mini bocconcini and some of my window sill basil.


This salad is on my top 10 favourite discoveries (or Caprese salad in general) of 2008 (yes, I'm behind).

But the best part of the meal was the brisket. As I mentioned, I love horseradish. On occasion, I look for recipes that will be good with horseradish. Brisket is one of those recipes. Not to mention that it's hard to screw up and tastes great. This time, I used a Noreen Gilletz recipe.

Marinated Brisket

3-4 onions
4-5 lb brisket
2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp dry mustard
4 cloves garlic
½ cup soya sauce
2-3 Tbsp honey or maple syrup

Slice onions, place in bottom of a large roasting pan. Rub brisket on all sides with salt, pepper, paprika and mustard. Place in pan

Drop garlic through feed tube of processor or mince by hand, add soya sauce and honey and either process 2-3 seconds or mix together. Pour mixture over brisket and rub into meat on all sides. Cover pan with tinfoil. Let marinate at least 1 hour at room temperature (or overnight in fridge)

Bake covered at 325 F. Allow 45 minutes per pound, or until meat is fork tender. Uncover for the last hour and baste occasionally. Let stand 20-30 minutes before slicing. Reheat for a few minutes in pan gravy.


Part way through cooking the brisket, I decided that I should also make potatoes. So, I added a bunch of potatoes to the roaster along with about 2 cups of water and a beef bouillon cube.


Delicious! With a 4 lb brisket, we had about 8-10 portions - which made for great leftovers. I also shared this recipe with a colleague who made it with a more tender cut of beef. It ended up more like pulled beef, but was a hit with her family.

I'm sending this recipe to World Food Day - Thanksgiving event being planned by Ivy and Bellini Valli.


The purpose of this event is to continue bringing awareness to hunger problems that exist around the world and which seem to be getting worse day after day. Ivy would like for us to talk about why we are thankful for what we have.

I really like the way Peanut Butter Boy put it a while ago. He said, "We are a lucky bunch indeed, we even have sophisticated electronic devices that can fit on your lap so we can talk about food with each other - it's pretty incredible". My main concern when it comes to food is - what to make for dinner. Never - where am I going to find the money I need to buy food to eat for dinner.

I am also very thankfully to have loved ones to share this food with. Here's a closer look at the flowers on the table. R gave them to me on my birthday. With the exception of the gerberas (my favourite flower), the flowers are still going strong on my table (almost 3 weeks later).

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21 comments:

Mary said...

Your brisket looks great! I'm a big fan of slow cooked cheap cuts of meat. And you're totally right. We do have a lot to be thankful for.

Anonymous said...

My mouth just watered, I mean seriously what a piece of meat!

Hopie said...

Wow that looks amazingly delicious. The marinade sounds like a great combo of flavors. I totally know what you mean about tomato, mozzarella and basil. Is there anything better? Lovely birthday flowers!

Ivy said...

Wow, I am drooling. The marinade sounds a lovely combination of ingredients and those onions must have given a sweetness to the meat. Thanks for the lovely recipe Psychgrad.

Laura Paterson said...

Also a big brisket fan - I'll need to remember this marinade for the next time I roast it!!

Anonymous said...

WOW! It all looks sooooooo good!!

Darius T. Williams said...

Such a great looking meal and piece of meat...it totally makes me want to have an invite next time *hint, hint*

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

Deborah said...

I have been wanting to make a brisket, and this one sounds delicious!

Bunny said...

When my husband and I go to the grocery store we always see the beef brisket but don't know how to cook it, now I do! Thank You!! We'll be buying some this week! Your flowers are so pretty!

The Peanut Butter Boy said...

Brisket looks fantastic, it's such an excellent cut, it really is difficult to screw up.

I'm surprised you remembered/found my quote. It's always nice to take a step back, clear your mind and look at everything around you. It is truly incredible what we have. And to think that others in this world cannot even fathom most of the things we have.

kat said...

that brisket looks so wonderful & juicy

Melissa said...

We should certainly all always live in gratitude. Yes.

The brisket looks lovely but I honed in on this:

This salad is on my top 10 favourite discoveries (or Caprese salad in general) of 2008 (yes, I'm behind).

Me too PG! I had it for the first time this summer when my best foodie friend told me to chiffonade some basil, slice up some cherry or grape tomatoes, boil and chill some pasta and dump in as much mozzarella and olive oil as I liked, with a little bit of salt and pepper... oh boy. I ate that for lunch for about 3 weeks straight. Then I made a Caprese sandwich with turkey and went through 5 of those in about 8 days. Man, those flavor are the best together. We were just late to find out. :D

Elly said...

Mmm, I love a good brisket and this one looks great!

La Bella Cooks said...

Now that is a gorgeous piece of meat. I love the salad as well with all the fresh flavors going on. Looks like you had yourself a feast!

Adam said...

Now we're talking... BRISKET! It is such a delicious cut of meat, oh and with some horseradish... that's a meal, good buddy :)

Nice flowers, if a guy may say something like that... and Happy Belated Thanksgiving :)

grace said...

tender. tender, tender, and more tender. oh, and drool. these are the words in my head right now. :)

Rosie said...

Oh wow your brisket looks mouth watering and such a great entry for this event. With the wonderful marinade this is a sure winner!

Rosie x

Anonymous said...

I love slow-cooked brisket. 45 minutes per pound is a good rule of thumb I'll easily remember.

Fifi Flowers said...

Lovely table setting and the brisket sounds WONDERFUL... I"m going to save this recipe. And I am going to paint your photo of flowers and turn it into stationery... I was looking for one more photo and I've found it! I will let you know when I have it on my site with a link to you of course... thanks for sharing!
ENJOY your day!
Fifi

Unknown said...

Everything looks wonderful but I'm envious of the beautiful challah.

Elle said...

I've always wanted to try making brisket. This one looks incredible!

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