Soulfully Spicy Brisket (tacos or otherwise)

Finally!  Some meat!

You were starting to think I dieting on nothing but kale and salads, and a kale salad for when I was feeling indulgent.  Not so!  

While I usually don't cook meat at home, on occasion I will and it's not boneless skinless nothin'.  It's usually something slow-cooked, because that's what I love the most, and it just tastes better when you've put so much time in it.

Brisket is one of my favorite cuts.  The horror of it all:  when I moved to France, I couldn't find it.  They butcher their cows a bit different there.  I had to go to a kosher butcher in Les Marais to acquire my beautiful hunk of pectoral muscle, otherwise, the franco butcher would just shrug and try to sell me on poitrine, which encompasses a much larger area than what I would call brisket.  Tough luck, tender brisket.  

This dish would work nicely for Passover if I ever remember to celebrate, but usually about once a year I'll spend a weekend making a brisket.  I've tweaked and adapted the spices over the years, taking ideas from several sources, but my hat is tipped to Smitten Kitchen on this one, and her's, in turn, to Emierl Legasse. 

  

I do love this spicy though.  Feel free to tone it down if you can't take the heat.  This past incarnation, I found tacos and we quick-pickled some carrots and had a little brisket taco feast, but if you could be arsed to make potatoes and a vege and a yorkshire pud, this would be beyond acceptable Sunday lunch.  

This does take some time.  The brisket needs to rest once it's cooked, and kept in the fridge overnight.  Not only does this make defatting the sauce and the meat loads easier, it makes the meat turn into a tender, flavorful perfectly spicy dish.  While brisket is rarely elegant, this might come close. 

If you have a crock pot (I don't) this would be an easy thing to throw together and forget about.  

I usually make this to feed a crowd, but you can very easily find a smaller brisket and halve the sauce.  Except the garlic.  Keep that full-on I DARE YOU.  

Recipe:  Soulfully Spicy Brisket

serves 8

8 to 10 pound brisket, trimmed of excess fat

3 large onions, sliced

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons salt

1Tablepoons garlic powder

1 1/4 teaspoons black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (adjust to your heat preference)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

16 oz (2 cups) beef stock (unsalted or low salt)

8.5 oz (1 cup) ketchup

8.5 oz (1 cup) chili sauce- Sambal Sauce is my go-to.  

200 g (1 cup) brown sugar 

Preheat the oven to 180c/350f

Make your sauce:  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and sauté onions in vegetable oil, stirring occasionally, until caramelized and most of liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add halved garlic cloves and saute for 3 minutes more. Stir in spices- paprika, salt, garlic and onion powders, black pepper, cayenne, oregano and thyme- and cook for 2 minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the beef stock, ketchup, chili sauce and brown sugar. 

Place brisket in a baking dish or casserole, spread onion mixture over the top, then pour sauce mixture over the entire dish. Cover tightly with foil bake until very tender but not falling apart, about 3 to 4 hours.

Rest the dish: When the brisket is cooked but still hot, use a spoon to scrape off any large fat deposits adhered to the top and bottom of the brisket.

Once the brisket has cooled a bit, chill the entire dish in the fridge overnight. 

The next day, preheat your oven to 150c/300f. Take the meat out of the fridge.  All those white globs?  use a spoon and scoop them out and discard.  You don't want a greasy oily sauce here.

Scrape the sauce off and transfer the brisket to a cutting board.  Slice into 1/2 inch segments.  Use a wooden spoon to smash up the sauce into a smooth paste- the onions should just kind of be on the verge of dissolving at this point.

Transfer the brisket slices back to the saucy dish. Cover tightly and reheat in the oven until hot and bubbly- about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.   

To make simple but amazing tacos:  Quick-pickle some carrots while the brisket is having its second turn in the oven.  Place the slices of meat onto a corn or flour tortilla, top with carrots and sprinkle a little coriander on top for an indulgent and grand dinner.