Saturday, November 01, 2008

Ari's Beef Brisket

We recently had an international food day at work, and this recipe was one of my favorites. Ari brought in a traditional recipe that has been in his family for a long time. This Beef Brisket is very easy to make, and results in a delicous, tender beef with a nicely sweet gravy. I just made this today for dinner and it turned out great!

Shopping List (Serves 4 to 6)

3 to 3 1/2 lb. fresh beef brisket (This is not corned beef. Simply ask for Beef Brisket at the butcher shop)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 envelope regular onion soup mix

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3/4 cup ketchup

1 disposable roasting pan

Instructions:

Use disposable roasting pan that fits brisket with some space, and place brisket in pan. Sprinkle / Rub sugar,soup mix, garlic powder over meat. Drizzle ketchup over all. Add water to bottom, enough to come up to the meat, and if it comes up over the meat a little, its okay. Wrap over with foil sealing securely, leave some air space.

Bake in 325 over for 3.5 hrs. I put mine of the oven bottom shelf. Take a look at the brisket and see if its cooked enough, it may need another 15 - 30 minutes depending on strength of your oven. The way to tell is how evenly the meat is throughout so you may need to cut it to see.

Take meat and place on cutting surface. Let cool. Trim fat from bottom and then slice thin across grain to get it into serving portions.

Save sauce and after you have sliced it, put sauce over meat in a serving dish.

Hint: After a day of refrigeration, when it was warming up, I added some more water (sprinkling it over the meat) and a little more ketchup and then mixed it all in, rotating the pieces of sliced meat from bottom to top to ensure even simmering. I let it simmer again like a soup... and that made it even more tender and juicy.

You can get bottle of horseradish to serve with it if you want.

You can't really overcook brisket if enough water is involved.

I served the brisket with sliced potatoes and onions sauteed in the frying pan, along with some cinammon streusel muffins. It was a nice combination. And for the kids, naturally we had some macaroni and cheese!