Brisket in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Amarante

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 10:38 am

I made this very "classic" brisket recipe which was enjoyed by everyone. A very good basic recipe. Best made the day before and then sliced and reheated in the defatted sauce.

Brisket in Sweet and Sour Sauce
Joan Nathan

Yield: 12 servings

Brisket is the Zelig of the kitchen. It takes on the character of whoever cooks it. In the early part of the 20th century, when ''The Settlement Cook Book'' reigned supreme in American Jewish households, recipes for savory briskets of beef with sauerkraut, cabbage or lima beans were the norm. As tastes became more exotic, cranberry or barbecue sauce, root beer, lemonade and even sake worked their way into recipes. Here, Coca-Cola is the secret ingredient, along with ginger.
The result is sublime and the dish only improves if it's cooked a day in advance of serving it. However, you can prepare and serve it the same day, if you'd like, though you may want to use a fat separator to strain the fat from the finished sauce. The brisket now cooks for 5 to 6 hours, covered, at 325 degrees. Please also note that this recipe is not kosher for Passover.

Ingredients

1  first-cut brisket, 6 to 7 pounds, rinsed and patted thoroughly dry 
1  medium onion, peeled and quartered
 1  2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, cut into chunks
 6  large cloves garlic 
1  cup ketchup
 ½  cup dry red wine
 ¼ cup cider vinegar
 ¼  cup soy sauce
 ¼  cup honey 
¼  cup Dijon mustard 
1  tablespoon coarsely ground pepper, or to taste 
¼  teaspoon ground cloves
 1½  cups Coca-Cola - do not use sugar free
½  cup olive oil

Preparation

Let meat stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Heat oven to 325 degrees.

Place everything but the soda, olive oil and brisket into a food processor, and process with steel blade until smooth. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and whisk in soda and olive oil.

 Place brisket, fat side up, into a heavy baking pan just large enough to hold it, and pour sauce over it. Cover tightly and bake for 3 hours. Turn brisket over, cover pan, and bake 2 to 3 hours more or until fork-tender. Cool, cover brisket and refrigerate overnight in cooking pan.

 The next day, transfer brisket to a cutting board, cut off fat and slice with a sharp knife against grain, to desired thickness. Set meat aside. Remove any congealed fat from sauce and bring to a boil on top of stove.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Taste sauce to see if it needs reducing. If so, boil it down for a few minutes or as needed. Return meat to sauce and warm in oven for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Last edited by Amarante on Wed, Sep 28 2022, 1:18 pm; edited 2 times in total

Amarante

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 11:00 am

etky wrote:

I like that this recipe does not require you to sear the meat.
I'm going to file it away for the next time I make a brisket, as a sweeter alternative to my go-to recipe - Jamie Geller's Soy/Silan Brisket which also doesn't require searing (or rather, you sear the meat in the oven, not on the stove, so it's a much 'cleaner' procedure).

This is a very traditional recipe but a little updated.

There is a whole family of brisket recipes that are sometimes called Atlanta Brisket because of the Coca Cola in the recipe. I think the original recipe was from a Hadassah lady in Atlanta because Atlanta has a long history of Jews there predating the Civil War. Very Happy

Yes I have my doubts about the necessity of searing a meat that is then braised for a long period of time. I also sometimes wonder about chicken dishes that require one to bread and saute the chicken cutlets but then have them finished in a sauce which completely obliterates the crispiness of the coating which is the whole purpose - in my opinion - of sautéing a breaded cutlet.

ETA - I have my Bubbe's copy of The Settlement Cookbook - much stained and the cover becoming detached. It is subtitled The Way To A Man's Heart. LOL

There were three cookbooks that came out of the Settlement movement and this one originated in the Midwest and was geared to Jewish women as it had traditional Jewish dishes along with "American" recipes for the modern balabusta.

etky

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 11:29 am

Amarante wrote:

I also have my (maternal) grandmother's copy. It's fascinating reading. I love the ads too Smile

I also have a cookbook from the early 1920's I think (the title page is missing) called The International Jewish Cookbook. It's more traditional than the Settlement Cookbook. I guess it was aimed at more recent immigrants who were still keeping kosher. I suppose it was also my grandmother's although she certainly didn't keep kosher.

Amarante

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 12:59 pm

etky wrote:

I also have my (maternal) grandmother's copy. It's fascinating reading. I love the ads too Smile

I was a History Major with a specialization in American "Cultural" History - for lack of a better way to explain it. Essentially it was a given that I had knowledge of the "great events" of history so this was exploring the cultural history. I explored how the "little people" lived and just like an anthropologist I went to the artifacts and primary sources.

In terms of the home there are fascinating books on the history of housework; food - even knitting. There is a wonderful biography of Irma Romauer who authored Joy of Cooking - the original Joy was published in the 1920's and was a revolution in terms of what a cookbook was - both in style and content.

Reading old cookbooks which I collected for awhile really lets you imagine how people lived and seeing how tastes and cooking knowledge expanded and contracted. I have a lot of the Pillsbury Bakeoff pamphlets that had all of the prize winners and it really illustrates what happened to how people cook - It started in 1949 and through the mid 1960's the baked goods were really astoundingly good and showed that people still knew how to bake but OMG the entree stuff was challuscious LOL

but then the quality of the baked goods got dumbed down and the sophistication of the entrees went up as tastes changed.

Amarante

Wed, Sep 28 2022, 1:24 pm

I might try to locate this book as it seems as if it might be interesting

From the Jewish Heartland: Two Centuries of Midwest Foodways reveals the distinctive flavor of Jewish foods in the Midwest and tracks regional culinary changes through time. Exploring Jewish culinary innovation in America's heartland from the 1800s to today, Ellen F. Steinberg and Jack H. Prost examine recipes from numerous midwestern sources, both kosher and nonkosher, including Jewish homemakers' handwritten manuscripts and notebooks, published journals and newspaper columns, and interviews with Jewish cooks, bakers, and delicatessen owners.

With the influx of hundreds of thousands of Jews during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries came new recipes and foodways that transformed the culture of the region. Settling into the cities, towns, and farm communities of Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota, Jewish immigrants incorporated local fruits, vegetables, and other comestibles into traditional recipes. Such incomparable gustatory delights include Tzizel bagels and rye breads coated in midwestern cornmeal, baklava studded with locally grown cranberries, dark pumpernickel bread sprinkled with almonds and crunchy Iowa sunflower seeds, tangy ketchup concocted from wild sour grapes, Sephardic borekas (turnovers) made with sweet cherries from Michigan, rich Chicago cheesecakes, native huckleberry pie from St. Paul, and savory gefilte fish from Minnesota northern pike.

Steinberg and Prost also consider the effect of improved preservation and transportation on rural and urban Jewish foodways, as reported in contemporary newspapers, magazines, and published accounts. They give special attention to the impact on these foodways of large-scale immigration, relocation, and Americanization processes during the nineteenth century and the efforts of social and culinary reformers to modify traditional Jewish food preparation and ingredients.

Including dozens of sample recipes, From the Jewish Heartland: Two Centuries of Midwest Foodways takes readers on a memorable and unique tour of midwestern Jewish cooking and culture.
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