Recipe: Brisket for Hanukah

BRISKET FOR HANUKAH
Source: LA Times, 1998

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions, cut in half, then into strips
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound white mushrooms, sliced
1 cup red wine
1 10 1/2-ounce) cans double-strength beef broth
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup currant jelly
Salt, pepper
1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) beef brisket

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in Dutch oven or roaster. Add onion strips and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add minced garlic and saute 1 minute.

Add mushrooms and red wine. Increase heat to high and reduce liquid by cooking, stirring often, until liquid is gone, 10 to 12 minutes.

While mushrooms and onions cook, whisk together broth, tomato paste and currant jelly in nonreactive mixing bowl. Add to mushrooms and onions when wine reduces. Stir to incorporate and season with salt and pepper to taste. Scrape mushrooms and onions into bowl.

Sear brisket, fat side down, in same pan used for mushrooms and onions over high heat 2 to 3 minutes, then turn over and sear other side 2 to 3 more minutes. Pour sauce over top of brisket. Lift edges of meat so liquid goes underneath.

Bake brisket, covered, at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Remove brisket from oven and let stand, uncovered, at room temperature 1 hour.

Wrap brisket in foil. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, or up to 2 days. Refrigerate cooking liquid in separate container.

About 1 1/2 hours before serving dinner, remove meat and cooking liquid from refrigerator. Remove congealed fat from top of cooking liquid. Using sharp knife, remove entire fatty top side of brisket and all other visible fat. Slice meat into 1/4-inch-thick slices (cut meat across the grain for maximum tenderness). Place slices in pan and cover with defatted juices.

Bake, covered, at 300 degrees 1 to 1 1/2 hours.