Brisket!

 

As a mom of two little ones, I'm always looking for recipes that are easy and that will yield tasty leftovers. This brisket recipe is both! It was great to prepare in the morning and then forget about it the rest of the day. The next night I reinvented it, using the meat for fajitas. You could use it in tacos, chili or quesadillas. Save all of the juices when you throw the leftovers in the fridge! They keep the meat moist when you reheat in future meals (and saturated fat is not bad like it's made out to be!!). 

What You'll Need:

• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 1 5-to-6-pound first-cut or flat-cut brisket, cut into 3 pieces (this really does feed A LOT-- if you're cooking for two and aren't interested in leftovers, I'd halve the entire recipe)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
• 1 12-ounce bottle stout beer (I ended up using Heineken b/c it's what was sold in individual cans and it tasted just fine...I'm sure whatever you've got in the fridge will do as long as it's not "light")
• 4 stalks celery, cut into large pieces
• 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 2 brioche or other rolls, split open and toasted
• Coleslaw, for serving (I made Bobby Flay's coleslaw with lime-and-cumin-vinagrette because we're a mayo-free household. I would modify the recipe and use half as much red onion and little more honey. Bobby Flay's lime-and-cumin-vinagrette Coleslaw )

 

What to Do:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the brisket with salt and pepper, then brown on all sides, about 10 minutes, adding the garlic in the last 2 minutes.

Set the meat aside.

Pour the beer into the skillet to deglaze and get all those yummy, meaty flavors, about 30 seconds. Add the brown sugar, tomato paste, vinegar, mustard, soy sauce, bay leaves and paprika and stir until the ingredients are well mixed.

Put the meat in the slow cooker and nestle the celery sticks around the meat. Pour the skillet juice mixture over the meat, add the lid and cook on low 8 hours or on high 6 hours.

The brisket right after prep, before the glorious slow cooking began.

Transfer the meat to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes, then thinly slice.

If you want a thicker juice to drizzle over the meat, you can transfer the juices back into a skillet and reduce.


Serve on brioche halves with coleslaw; drizzle with the cooking liquid.