Recipe: Barbecue Braised Brisket with Butter Beans (crock pot, serves 2)

BARBECUE BRAISED BRISKET WITH BUTTER BEANS

"I adore this recipe, especially during the winter. The butter beans, a favorite of my mother's and always included in every baked bean recipe she makes, are an unusual touch. Always keep one bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce in the pantry for culinary inspirations like this one. This recipe is best made the day before, if you can wait that long to eat it."

COOKER: 3 quart
SETTING AND COOK TIME: LOW for 10 to 12 hours

1/2 cup barbecue sauce of your choice
1/3 cup ginger ale
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 medium-size yellow onions, sliced
2 1/2 pounds beef brisket, trimmed of as much fat as possible and blotted dry
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 (15 ounce) can butter (lima) beans, drained

In a small bowl, combine the barbecue sauce, ginger ale, brown sugar, and honey.

Place the onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Lay the meat on top, fitting snugly and seasoning with salt and pepper. If the meat is too big to lay flat in your cooker, cut it in half and stack the pieces one atop the other. Pour the sauce over the meat.

Cover crock pot and cook on LOW for 10 to 12 hours. If you plan to eat this right away, add the butter beans during the last hour to heat through. Otherwise, leave them out.

You may serve immediately, slicing the meat against the grain. Or place the meat on a piece of foil and cool before refrigerating. Refrigerate the sauce separately. When ready to serve, degrease the cold sauce and discard the hardened piece of fat. Add the butter beans to the sauce, and reheat the brisket in the onions and sauce.

Makes 2 servings with leftovers
Source: Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two by Beth Hensperger