how to cook Brisket
Source of Recipe
COOKS ILLUSTRATED
Recipe Introduction
Juicy, Flavorful Brisket
The perfect balance of oven heat and cooking time yields a beef brisket that is both juicy and flavorful.
he challenge: Cooking beef brisket has traditionally been a lesson in compromise. Nature supplies the cut with a hearty taste, so producing flavor is not difficult. The tricky part is the delicate balance between toughness and moisture -- you can have one or you can have the other, but it is very difficult to get both in the same piece of meat. Even today, it seems the standard practice in most recipes is to cook the meat to the point of complete dehydration in an effort to make tough meat seem tender. We wanted to lessen the need for compromise -- that is, to make a brisket that had really big beef flavor and was reasonably tender and still moist.
The solution: After cooking over a hundred pounds of beef according to a cross-referential system of time, temperature, and technique, we have found that you can make a better brisket than the one produced by following most recipes, but you can't completely escape the need to compromise. Through all of our testing, we arrived at a method that produced deep browning, retained some moisture, and adequately tenderized the meat. Our method involves pan browning followed by a short time in a very hot oven with a small amount of prewarmed stock to complete the browning of both the meat and the vegetables. The heat is then reduced, and the meat slowly comes to an internal temperature between 160 and 175 degrees. In terms of flavor, the browning from the hot oven accounts for most of it, but a good homemade stock was also helpful, especially in terms of providing a gelatin-rich sauce. Using a food processor or a blender to extract the essence of the vegetables will also greatly improve the sauce.
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List of Ingredients
BRAISED BEEF BRISKET
Serves 8
It is important to have a good quality, instant-read thermometer with a scale of 0 to 220 degrees. An accurate oven thermometer is useful as well. Basting with the braising liquid produces a rich, flavorful glaze. To chop fennel seeds pour just enough oil or water on a small pile of the seeds to moisten them, then chop with a chef's knife. All the other spices can be crushed by rolling the bottom of a heavy sauté pan back and forth over them.
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
2 teaspoons whole fennel seeds
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
1 whole choice beef brisket (about 5 pounds), surface fat retained
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup dry red wine
4–6 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
Salt
2 medium onions, quartered and separated into sections
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
3 celery stalks, chopped coarsely
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped coarsely
Parsley sprigs for garnish
1. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Crush spices or grind them coarsely; press them into brisket and set aside.
2. Using two burners if necessary, heat oil in large, heavy roasting pan long and wide enough to hold brisket and at least 2 inches deep. Add brisket; cook over medium-high heat, turning once with tongs, until brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. Remove brisket and set aside. Add wine; bring to boil, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen brown bits; reduce by half. Add 2 cups chicken stock; bring to simmer. Remove pan from heat. Season brisket lightly with salt, and return to roasting pan. Scatter vegetables around brisket.
3. Put roasting pan in oven and cook, stirring vegetables occasionally to avoid burning, until thickest part of brisket reaches an internal temperature of around 130 degrees, about 20 minutes.
4. Remove pan from oven; reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees. Do not return brisket to oven until temperature drops to 250 degrees. Add enough chicken stock to pan so that liquid comes about halfway up side of meat, baste brisket, and return to oven. Braise brisket, basting and turning every 1/2 hour or so, until meat just gives when pierced with meat thermometer and brisket’s internal temperature registers around 175 degrees, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.
5. Remove brisket from braising liquid and wrap in foil. Strain braising liquid into large mixing bowl. Reserve vegetables, squeezing garlic cloves from heads. Transfer braising liquid to tall, narrow container, and let stand until fat rises. Skim and discard fat. Puree vegetables, including garlic, with 1/2 cup braising liquid in food processor or blender. Add pureed vegetables and braising liquid to a sauté pan and simmer until reduced to thin sauce consistency.
6. Meanwhile, cut brisket across the grain into thin slices (about 1/8-inch thick). Arrange slices of meat on warm plates; generously ladle sauce over meat. Garnish with parsley, and serve immediately.
Recipe
BRAISED BRISKET, SOUTHERN ITALIAN STYLE
Serves 8 to 10
Follow the recipe for Braised Beef Brisket, omitting the coriander seeds and allspice and adding 1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes to the spice rub. Decrease the wine to 1/4 cup and add it to the pan, along with 1 cup chicken stock, and 2 pounds peeled and chopped Italian plum tomatoes (or one 28-ounce can). Bring to a simmer. (If using fresh tomatoes, simmer until the tomatoes release their juices.) When seasoning the brisket with salt, sprinkle 2 teaspoons dried rosemary and 2 teaspoons dried oregano over it. Add 4 ounces chopped, sliced bacon or pancetta and the braising vegetables, adding one extra onion and omitting celery and carrots. Once the brisket has reached an internal temperature of 130 degrees, add enough stock to the pan to come about halfway up the side of the meat (another 1 to 3 cups). Continue with the recipe, removing the brisket from the braising liquid when it is fully cooked. Add 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives to the braising liquid (which is thickened with the pureed braising vegetables as in the Braised Beef Brisket recipe) and reduce it to a thin, pasta-sauce consistency, 15 to 20 minutes. Slice the brisket and serve it and the sauce with pasta or creamy polenta.
BRAISED BRISKET, OAXACAN STYLE
Serves 8
Follow the recipe for Braised Beef Brisket, omitting the fennel seeds and allspice and adding 2 teaspoons cumin seeds and 1 tablespoon chili powder to the spice rub. Omit the wine and add 1 cup chicken stock, 2 pounds peeled and chopped Italian plum tomatoes (or one 28-ounce can), and 2 ounces dried, seeded Pasilla chiles to the pan once the browned brisket has been removed. Bring to a simmer. (If using fresh tomatoes, simmer until the tomatoes release their juices.) When seasoning the brisket with salt, sprinkle 2 teaspoons dried thyme and 2 teaspoons dried oregano over it. Add the braising vegetables, adding one extra onion and omitting celery and carrots. Once the brisket has reached an internal temperature of 130 degrees, add enough stock to the pan to come about halfway up the side of the meat (another 2 to 4 cups). Continue with the recipe, reducing the braising liquid (which is thickened with the pureed braising vegetables as in the Braised Brisket recipe) to a thick sauce consistency, about 20 minutes. Slice the brisket and serve it and the sauce with warm flour tortillas and fresh salsa.
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