Temple Emanu-El Brisket

Amarante

Tue, Feb 23 2021, 7:53 am

I am doing a half hearted organization of my recipes which I made a few years ago. It is very good and super easy to make - one of those "secret ingredient" type recipes that are almost embarrassing to reveal. This is an Ashkenazi style recipe - sweet and garlicky. If you are using paprika, do use the good stuff that has some flavor and not the sad tins of red tasteless powder Smile

The technique of cooking the day before and removing the fat when it has congealed and then reheating the slices in the sauce is a good one and can be adapted to any brisket recipe.

Temple Emanu-El Brisket

Excerpt From: Stephanie Pierson - The Brisket Book: A Love Story with Recipes

Serves 8–10

Quivering cranberry slices that melt into the meat and slowly caramelize give this brisket its lovely character. Even better, it takes so little effort for this sweet alchemy to work. Roberta Greenberg, the long-time assistant to the rabbis at this well-known New York City synagogue and the keeper of this recipe, suggests reducing the sauce on the stove after reheating it if you prefer it thicker. It is good enough to make you convert.

1 (4- to 5-pound) beef brisket
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large onions, peeled and cut into eighths
2 (14-ounce) cans jellied cranberry sauce, sliced

Sprinkle both sides of the brisket with the garlic powder, paprika, and salt and pepper. Tightly cover the brisket with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 days.

When you’re ready to finish the dish, preheat the oven to 500°F.

Unwrap the brisket, place it in a roasting pan, and roast for 20 minutes on each side. Remove the pan from the oven and decrease the temperature to 350°F. Place the onions under and around the brisket, then cover the top of the meat with the cranberry sauce slices. Tightly cover the pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil and cook until fork-tender, about 3 hours.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow the brisket to cool. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, trim the fat, then slice the meat against the grain to the desired thickness.Return the slices to the pot, overlapping them at an angle so that you can see a bit of the top edge of each slice, cover the pan with foil, and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, remove any congealed fat from the top of the sauce. Heat the brisket, covered, at 350°F for 20 minutes, then, uncovered, for another 20 to 30 minutes, until hot and the sauce has reduced a bit. Serve with the sauce.

All recipes come with permission. This one comes with a blessing. I had begged both Ms. Greenberg and Rabbi Posner for this recipe, which I found on Temple Emanu-El’s Web site. Surely they couldn’t keep it to themselves—I couldn’t imagine the book without it. Ms. Greenberg properly asked me to check with the head rabbi, David M. Posner. Rabbi Posner, every bit as sweet and tender as the brisket recipe itself, made me smile with the following e-mail: “I ran this, of course, by my wife, of 41 years. She said, ‘Davey … what about my recipe for ‘steak continental?’ I responded, ‘Tzipi … please … don’t get involved … I want to keep my job.’ You have my permission. Best wishes …