Best Brisket Ever!

Look at that slab of meat-

Happy Passover to all you Jews out there.  Passover came and went like a blink of an eye.  The secret to great brisket is to make it two days ahead and let it sit and soak up all it’s juices.   It’s important for all of the ingredients to get to know one another and mesh well because if they don’t, then you just might have an unsettled stomach.

Braised Beef Brisket: Gourmet Magazine Oct. 2009 (very recent obviously)

• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 (2-pounds) piece beef brisket (preferably second-cut)
• 2 large white onions, chopped
• 4 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 celery ribs, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (28-ounces) can crushed tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in lower third.

Heat oil in a wide 5-to 6-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Season brisket with 1 tsp each of salt and pepper, then brown brisket, turning once, about 8 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Add onions to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden-brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Add carrots, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Add vinegar, stirring and scraping up brown bits. Add stock and tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Return brisket to pot, nestling it in braising liquid (liquid will not cover meat). Cover with a tight-fitting lid and braise in oven until fork-tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

Very simple- I was responsible for the brisket and it turned out fantastic! I don’t know if it’s necessary to transfer to a plate but that step didn’t effect its moisture.  I will advise not to eat it that day- the gravy was very fatty- it’s best when you skim off the fat the next day and let it sit until it’s ready to serve.

For dessert Mom made macaroons from scratch- She asked Kim as the fifth question “Why do we make macaroons from scratch? Because store bought ones are crap.”

This recipe is for one lonely macaroon.   Mom tripled it and said it was easy to make and they turned out light and fluffy.

Coconut Macaroons: Gourmet Magazine May 2005

• Butter and flour for preparing baking sheet and foil
• 1 large egg white
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 300°F. Butter a baking sheet, then line with foil and lightly butter and flour foil, knocking off excess flour.

Stir together egg white, sugar, vanilla, almond extract, and a pinch of salt until combined, then stir in coconut. Divide coconut mixture into fourths, then drop in 4 mounds (about 2 inches apart) onto baking sheet.

Bake until tops are pale golden in spots, 15 to 20 minutes, then carefully lift foil with cookies from baking sheet and transfer to a rack to cool completely, about 15 minutes. Peel macaroons from foil.

Ratings: Brisket

Do-Ability: 4- I almost dropped brisket while transferring it to plate

Taste: 5+ Loved the crushed tomatoes addition…

Macaroons:

Do-Ability: 5

Taste: 5

Happy Passover

Week 1: Family Night- Main Dish: Caramelized Chipotle Chicken, Total Recipes: 3

When growing up in New York, it’s hard to learn to cook in those alley way type kitchens with no windows where only one person can be in the kitchen. Over the years, as we kept moving apartments and our kitchen kept upgrading, gradually I developed an interest for food and cooking. Family night in our household is almost every Sunday night. I have a mom, dad, a sister, Kim, a new brother-in-law, Drew, and a dog, Nikki. This week, I decided to make a Caramelized Chipotle Chicken and a Cheesy Creamed Corn with Cilantro from the September 2009 issue.

It’s kind of a funny thing because the corn recipe called for fresh corn kernels from 12 ears of corn, but I did not have the time to shuck 12 ears of corn and cut off all the kernels. I went to the super market and looked in the canned food section and thought about the can-to-corn ratio. I decided to buy ten cans of corn but used only eight. My theory is: it’s always better to have too much then too little. I didn’t have to worry about not having enough. I had enough to feed an entire army.

Chipotle peppers were a little difficult to find in the super markets near my house because there usually isn’t much diversity in cuisine.  I needed canned chipotle peppers. If I couldn’t find them, I was doomed for sure. When I asked about them, the manager looked at me like I had a big giant mustache drawn on my face. Finally, one of the cashiers showed me green chilies in their tiny Mexican section and asked if this would be OK. Green chilies? No way. I had to go to three different super markets before I could find canned chipotle peppers.

I learned that on those cooking shows that you see on TV where the chef makes everything look and sound so simple? It looks so simple because they have culinary professionals who measure out all the ingredients so the chefs can cook in TV time. In real time, measuring out all those ingredients took me forever. Have you ever really diced an onion? My technique is getting better although the ones that I normally buy are probably genetically modified and don’t kill your eyes the way that these ones did. I was chopping away and crying that my eyes got blurry and I couldn’t see. I had to stop for a bit and let my eyes dry up. Finally, I finished the task with chopped onions in different shapes and sizes.

Dinner started and I made a little toast to thank them all for being my first round of guinea pigs. When we sat down, my mom put in her pancake dessert she made from the April 2009 issue. When she took it out of the oven, it looked like a popover-ish pancake. It was large and flat like a pancake but hollow and fluffy in the middle like a popover. It was definitely not the healthiest meal or anything we’re used to eating in my family, but it was scrumptious. We all agreed the corn was the best. Of course it was. It’s called butter and heavy cream. The cilantro added nice flavoring but Kim and I agreed that the feta cheese didn’t do it for us. Granted, we’re not into feta cheese that much, but the corn was so rich and filling to begin with that we couldn’t taste much of the feta. Perhaps, there wasn’t enough on our plates? My dad rated the corn a ten and said that’s on the list for Thanksgiving. My mom was finding ways to substitute the cream to make it healthier- butter milk perhaps? Drew mentioned that the chicken probably should have marinated in the chipotle sauce because the skin had great flavoring and was very crispy, but there wasn’t any flavoring in the meat and it was a little dry. The pancake dessert tasted the way it looked: light and fluffy and the brown sugar added sweetness which cleansed our palates. We did take note that the next time we do it, we’ll have ice cream on the side.

All in all we left the table with full bellys and smiles 🙂