Equal Opportunity Kitchen: Onion-Braised Brisket

I can't remember the last time we had company for dinner. More recently, the idea of catching up to the household chores and making a dinner has seemed insurmountable. So, we've been opting to go out for dinner with friends instead.

A few weeks ago, I had a moment of denial (about the state of my house) and decided to invite a couple of friends for a pre-Passover seder. I call it "pre-Passover"because we did it on Sunday night rather than Monday, after work. Also, it wasn't really a seder. We just ate a nice meal with some of the foods we'd traditionally eat at Passover and were motivated by knowing that our families would be doing the same thing in different parts of the world.

There are a few things I love about Passover. Yes, of course, they're mostly food related. I love chicken soup with matzo balls. I love charoset (with or without horseradish). Last, but not least, I love horseradish and any dish that lets me indulge in my love for horseradish. Food aside, I like the getting together with family aspect too, assuming those around the table have similar ideas about how long a seder should last.

I recently received a sample of the second edition of The Healthy Slow Cooker. After taking a first look through, I was immediately drawn to the brisket recipe.

Onion-Braised Brisket

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

4 - 5 lbs. double beef brisket, trimmed

4 onions, thinly sliced on the vertical

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup beef stock

2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup beef stock

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley leaves

1. In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil over medium-high heat. Add brisket and brown well on both sides, about 6 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.

2. Add remaining tbsp of oil to stoneware (note: I think this should say skillet instead of stoneware). Add onions and cook, stirring until they begin to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, salt and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add vinegar, mustard and wine and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring and scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan, for 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and stock.

3. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours, until brisket is very tender.

4. Transfer meat to a deep platter, slice and keep warm. Transfer sauce to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce head and simmer for 5 minutes to slightly reduce. Remove from heat and add cornstarch solution, stirring until sauce thickens. Pour over meat and garnish with parsley.

Verdict: The brisket was a bit of a saga. Not at all due to the recipe itself. I had to do quite a bit of work to get the brisket. Initially, I figured I would just get a brisket from the kosher butcher. But then I saw the price: $58 for 1.86 kg (4.1 lbs.). There was no way I was going to spend that much on a brisket, particularly if no one eating it cared if it was kosher. So, then I tried a non-kosher butcher. They were $6.99/lb. The price was better, but I wanted to check with one other place -- the beef coop I often order my beef from, Fitzroy Beef Farmers. It was a bit of a long shot because the only way you can get beef from them at this time of year is to pick it up at their drop off locations (a random parking lot) on their predetermined drop off days. But luck was on my side. Their briskets were $4.50/lb. and they had a drop off scheduled for the day before my dinner party. Sold! I requested a 4-5 lb. brisket.

My next challenge came upon pick up. You don't always know what you're going to get size-wise. So, when R came home with a 7.29 lb. (frozen) brisket, I was a bit nervous about doing it in the slowcooker.

Since it was frozen, I really couldn't separate it. The brisket couldn't even fit into my largest frying pan!

I quickly gave up hope of getting this thing in my moderately-sized slow cooker. I took out the turkey roaster instead.

That may have decreased the liquid. That, and the fact that I didn't double the other portions of the recipe. There wasn't enough sauce leftover to do step four. But, there was still plenty of flavour. It ended up coming out like pulled beef. Everyone loved it! I would definitely make this again. Sorry for the lack of a nicely plated picture. There was too much going on to pull that together.

Aside from the brisket, we had potatoes, chicken soup and matzo balls, salad, matzo...

...and my other two favourite: charoset and horseradish. I used this recipe for the charoset with some modifications such as using grape juice instead of wine and almonds instead of walnuts. Aside from that, I added more cinnamon and played with the quantities a bit to get the flavour I wanted.