Comfort Food: Braised Beef Brisket

Many families have a slow cooked meal that takes all day to cook. Be it chili con carne, pot roast, marinara sauce, pulled pork, or beef stew we enjoy slow cooked food. When you cook low and slow, you can taste the love in a dish. My family, like many other Jewish American families, make braised beef brisket. It takes almost all afternoon for the brisket to cook and become tender. It reminds me of home, holidays, and most importantly family. There are many variations of making brisket in the oven, but are always cooked at a low temperature for a long time. With slow cooked dishes such as brisket there is a certain amount of love that has to be put into making the dish. If you do not make the brisket with love, it will not come out perfect. This brisket recipe is fantastic for a cold winter day and will last for a few meals which is always a plus.

Ingredients:
Beef Brisket
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup whole grain dijon mustard
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
2 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped
3 washed potatoes and cut into quarters
3 crushed cloves of garlic
two onions chopped
salt
black pepper
canola oil

Method:
Preheat your oven to 325 °F. You will need a large skillet to sear the brisket before transferring to a roasting pan. Add about a tablespoon of canola oil to the large skillet over medium heat. Season both sides of the brisket with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sear the brisket on both sides for 3 minutes per side. After the brisket is seared, transfer to the roasting pan with the fat side facing up. After searing the brisket you will notice that there will be stuck on bits in the pan. Leave these bits in the pan because we will be deglazing the pan to bring up the bits which have tons of flavor. After searing the brisket, add the chopped onions, celery, and garlic. Cook the vegetables for about 3 minutes. With a wooden spoon be sure to scrape the stuck on bits. Next, add the water, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, whole grain Dijon mustard, and the chili sauce. Mix all of the ingredients until blended. Once the sauce has come together, transfer the sauce to the roasting pan with the brisket. Add the chopped carrots and quartered potatoes to the roasting pan. Cover the roasting pan with aluminium foil and cook for about 3 hours at 325 °F. After cooking for three hours the brisket should be done. Let the brisket rest for about 15 minutes before slicing. If you slice the brisket while it is still hot it will fall apart and you will not have nice slices. After resting, slice the brisket against the grain of the meat to create tender slices. Serve with the remaining sauce, and vegetables.